Jamie Lee Curtis’ sister, Kelly Lee Curtis, died of natural causes, Page Six has confirmed.
Jamie shared on Instagram that his sister passed away on Saturday morning, writing that Kelly passed away “peacefully” at home. She was 69 years old.
Kelly passed away at 2:30 a.m. Saturday and had been receiving hospice care for the past week before her death, Us Weekly reported. She will be cremated, the newspaper said.
Kelly also worked as an actress, starring in 1987’s Magic Sticks and 1991’s The Devil’s Daughter. At the time of her death, she was married to film director John Marsh.
Jamie and Kelly’s parents are actors Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh, and they were married for 11 years before divorcing in 1962. Tony had four children from his subsequent marriages: Alexandra, Allegra, Benjamin, and Nicholas, who died of a heroin overdose in 1994 at the age of 23.
In Jamie’s eulogy for Kelly, the Halloween actress, 67, called her sister her “first friend and lifelong confidant.”
Jamie wrote of her only full sibling, “She was a stunningly beautiful and talented actress. She loved playing the wicked game of hearts, collecting turtles, her family, nature, music, thrifting, traveling, Facebook, and Pokémon Go. She was proud of her Danish roots and Hungarian-Jewish ancestry, and was a devoted American patriot.”
“She will be remembered for her loving generosity, strong opinions, endless curiosity, unique style, and for her Christmas almond and crescent powder cookies, which gave her the name Aunt Cookie,” she continued.
Journalist Chris Connelly commented on the post with his own memories of Kelly.
“She joined our senior year of high school and it was like she came down from a meteorite,” he recalled. “Walked in the beauty of the night, quoting the Tumbleweed Connection lyrics from the top page of our yearbook. To our New York world, she was the coolest breeze of fresh air…and will always be remembered.”
Jamie then shared a never-before-seen photo of himself and Kelly on Instagram, taken while Kelly was asleep the night before Jamie married husband Christopher Guest in December 1984.
“My sister and I were close as children, but there was a time when we fought as siblings for the attention and affection of our divorced parents. We are very different and lived apart for years, but we came home together for my wedding and never left again,” she said.
“I miss her today, but I take heart knowing she is at peace,” she concluded.
