Anna Shay, an heiress and Los Angeles socialite who turned a breakout star of the Netflix actuality present “Bling Empire,” has died. She was 62.
Her household confirmed her demise to The Associated Press in a press release, which mentioned the trigger was a stroke. It was not instantly clear when or the place she died.
“It saddens our hearts to announce that Anna Shay, a loving mom, grandmother, charismatic star, and our brightest ray of sunshine, has handed away,” mentioned the assertion offered to The A.P. “Anna taught us many life classes on how to not take life too severely and to benefit from the finer issues. Her affect on our lives can be eternally missed however by no means forgotten.”
“Bling Empire,” which ran for 3 seasons on Netflix beginning in 2021, centered on rich Asian and Asian American enjoyable seekers in Los Angeles and was billed as the true model of the movie “Crazy Rich Asians.” Ms. Shay appeared in 22 episodes, in keeping with the Internet Movie Database.
Jeff Jenkins, who produced the present and different actuality hits like “Keeping Up With the Kardashians,” praised Ms. Shay’s efficiency in an interview with Town & Country magazine in 2021.
“I think about it a private present that she agreed to take part,” he mentioned. “But it’s additionally a present to everyone watching.”
Ms. Shay’s presence on the present was that of a generally intimidating, however well-loved matriarch. “Anna is good to folks,” Guy Tang, one other forged member, mentioned in a single episode, “however you cross her line, she’s going to chop you.”
Born in Japan, Ms. Shay was the daughter of Ai Oizumi Shay, who died in 2015, and Edward Albert Shay, who died in 1995. Her dad and mom moved the household to Los Angeles from Tokyo in 1968, in keeping with a number of news studies.
Her father based the protection contractor Pacific Architects and Engineers, which she and her brother Allen Shay sold to Lockheed Martin in 2006 for an estimated $700 million.
Ms. Shay mentioned on the present that she had been married and divorced 4 times.
“I at all times meet folks after which we develop into pals and that’s it,” Ms. Shay mentioned, including that every one 4 spouses introduced journey to her life. (She met one in all them when she was studying to fly helicopters, she mentioned). Getting prepared for a blind date on “Bling Empire,” she mentioned she was open to marrying a fifth time. Ms. Shay by no means publicly shared her spouses’ identities.
She is survived by a son, Kenny Kemp. A full checklist of survivors was not instantly accessible.
After the news of Ms. Shay’s demise, her co-stars and different pals expressed their grief and posted tributes on social media.
“We spent many of the pandemic collectively, slaying it on Rodeo Dr., grocery buying, making Japanese plum wine and doing foolish issues,” Kane Lim, a fellow forged member who mentioned he solid an off-camera friendship with Ms. Shay, wrote on Instagram.
“You had a nonchalance about you that was mesmerizing,” he wrote. “I used to be fortunate to get to know the true you.”
She was identified on “Bling Empire” for her private fashion, a love for cooking and cutting zingers. In her first scene, she is seen sledgehammering a wall in her closet whereas sporting a purple ball robe and a glowing diamond necklace. When a pal requested what she was doing, she dryly answered, “I’m fixing my closet.”
Ms. Shay was at all times surrounded by a safety element, together with at her huge property in Beverly Hills, one thing she mentioned she had been used to from an early age as a member of a rich household.
“My father, he was extraordinarily protecting as I used to be rising up,” Ms. Shay mentioned on the present.
Even although she spent a lot of her remaining years in entrance of cameras, she remained considerably of a thriller. “Anna Shay can attain you, however you may’t attain Anna Shay,” Kelly Mi Li, one other “Bling Empire” star, said on a podcast final 12 months.
“She was one thing particular,” Pep Williams, an artwork photographer in Los Angeles, wrote on Facebook. “We used to race Ferraris and Lamborghinis from Beverly Hills to Palm Springs. So many good times simply hanging out on the home speaking about life, automobiles, and images.”
This spring, Netflix canceled “Bling Empire” in addition to its spinoff, “Bling Empire: New York.”
Mostly, Ms. Shay exuded a way of confidence among the many gossip and drama that the truth present evokes. “I don’t really feel this have to compete,” she mentioned in a single episode. “I discover it fiercely annoying.”
Content Source: www.nytimes.com