Actress and filmmaker Kelly Curtis has died at 69. Her sister, Jamie Lee Curtis, announced her passing on social media on Saturday, May 30, writing, “A warm aloha to my older sister, Kelly Lee Curtis. She passed away this morning. In her home. In nature. At peace.”
“She was my first friend and lifelong confidant. She was jaw droppingly beautiful, and a talented actress. She played a mean game of hearts, collected turtles, loved her family, nature, music, thrifting, travel, Facebook, and Pokémon Go. She was proud of her Danish roots and Hungarian Jewish ancestry and was a devoted American patriot.”
In the Instagram post, she added that she will remember Kelly for “her loving generosity, fierce opinions, endless curiosity, unique style, and her powdered, almond, crescent cookies at Christmas, hence her name, Auntie Cookie.”
She then shared something special about how her sister said good-bye in letters and emails. She stated, “Kelly always signed off any message or fare thee well with a Hungarian blessing…Isten Veled, God is with you.”
“Isten Veled to my sister of the sun and the moon, my Tai. I’ll see you on down the line,” she concluded.
Chris Connelly commented on Jamie Lee’s post with his condolences. He shared, “I’m so terribly sad to see this and so sorry for your loss. She joined our high school class senior year, and it was as if she’d stepped off a meteorite. Walked in beauty, like the night. Quoted lyrics from Tumbleweed Connection on her senior page in our yearbook. Into our NYC world, she was the coolest breeze of fresh air ..and always to be remembered.”
Laura Day, Kenan Thompson, Uzo Aduba, Sophia Bush, Sharon Stone, Cate Blanchett, Rosanna Arquette, and Ariana DeBose were among the celebrities who also left their condolences and shared their love for Jamie Lee and Kelly under the post.
Born Kelly Lee Curtis on June 17, 1956, in Santa Monica, she was the first child of two of the biggest movie stars of the time, Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh. She made her first, uncredited appearance in a feature film when she was just two years old, in The Vikings, the 1958 adventure movie that starred both her parents.
Kelly wasn’t always going to be an actress, though. She graduated from Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York, with a business degree, and she worked as a stockbroker. However, the acting bug eventually bit her, too, and she joined show business like her parents and younger sister Jamie Lee.
Kelly Curtis had a small role in the 1983 movie Trading Places, the 1983 comedy that featured her sister. She starred in the 1991 film The Devil’s Daughter. She also acted in the movies Magic Sticks, Checkpoint, Ex-Cop, and Mixed Blessings. She also appeared in TV shows such as Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, The Renegades, and The Equalizer.
Kelly and Jamie Lee remained close over the years. Kelly even served as Jamie Lee’s assistant on Freaky Friday, Christmas With the Kranks, and You Again, and she directed a short documentary chronicling Jamie’s appearance at a horror convention.
In the later years of her career, Kelly turned her focus to documentary filmmaking. She directed Marby Jets Are Go (2018), about an Australian high school track team, and Curling in Stanley (2019), about a small-town Idaho curling tournament.
Kelly Curtis passed away at her home in Bellevue, Idaho, on May 30, 2026. She’s survived by her husband Scott Morfee, who she had been married to since 1989.
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