Rise to Fame
Laurie Forman was supposed to be a background character, the vaguely menacing older sister who floated in and out of the Forman basement. Kelly turned her into something much nastier. Playing Red's favorite child and Eric's tormentor, she slept with Kelso behind Jackie's back and deployed her meanness with precision. She appeared in roughly 50 episodes across the first three seasons, landing on the show at 28 after years of guest spots on everything from The X-Files to Charmed. She had a BFA from DePaul, the kind of formal training you don't expect from someone best known for playing a scheming party girl.
In the Spotlight
Drinking problems got her fired twice. The first time, the show explained Laurie away with a beauty school plot. When she came back, producers offered her 13 episodes of season 6. She filmed a few before they let her go again, this time for good. Christina Moore replaced her; the character quietly vanished after that season. Off-screen, the picture was four arrests in three years: DUI, domestic violence charges, another DUI on the I-5 in June 2013. She checked herself into Pax Rehab House in Altadena roughly two months later. She died there. The coroner ruled it accidental multiple drug intoxication.
Side Notes
The cheerleader-to-chaos arc has a specific origin point. In a 2012 ABC News interview, she said a pregnancy loss triggered her drinking and added: 'With That '70s Show I was guilty of a drinking problem, and I ran.' She acknowledged burning bridges she knew she'd burned. She wasn't some untrained bit player who got lucky either. She graduated from DePaul's Theatre School with a BFA in acting in 1992, spent six years doing guest spots on network TV, and landed Laurie Forman. The wreckage came later, and came fast.
Final Chapter
Kurtwood Smith issued a statement calling her 'a lovely, funny, and very talented young lady' and acknowledged her decade-long struggle. Danny Masterson tweeted a brief farewell. The Los Angeles coroner released findings in January 2014, ruling the death accidental. Her estranged husband Robert Gilliam filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Pax Rehab House alleging negligence, and the case settled in September 2015 on undisclosed terms.