According to a family statement to Variety, Anna Shay is dead and her cause of death was a stroke.
“It saddens our hearts to announce that Anna Shay, a loving mother, grandmother, charismatic star, and our brightest ray of sunshine, has passed away at the early age of 62 from a stroke.”
“Anna taught us many life lessons on how not to take life too seriously and to enjoy the finer things. Her impact on our lives will be forever missed but never forgotten”.
Actress Anna Shay is popularly known for her role in Netflix’s 2021 reality show, “Bling Empire”. She also starred alongside Kane Lim, Gabriel and Christine Chiu, Kim Lee, Jaime Xie, and other Asian American Los Angeles socialites. The show was often described as the real-life “Crazy Rich Asians”
Shay was born and raised in Japan to American businessman Edward Shay and half-Japanese, half-Russian mother Ai Oizumi Shay. Her father was the founder of the global defense contractor Pacific Architects and Engineers.
After her father’s death in 1995, Shay’s brother Allen became CEO of Pacific Architects. In 2006, Shay and her brother sold the company to Lockheed Martin, making them heirs to the company’s fortune.
In a 2021 profile written about her by Town & Country, she “thought about starring on ‘Bling Empire’ as doing something for herself, after spending years looking after her son, in the wake of her parents’ deaths”. Anna Shay is survived by her son Kenny Kemp.
Co “Bling Empire” star Kevin Kreider in a tribute on Instagram said;
“You never know when your last goodbye will be. So unexpected and wished when I saw you last for lunch I would have taken a moment to smell the roses and had one last adventure with you.”
“This is such a huge shock. I have so much love for Anna. I know that we had issues on the show but in real life, I had such a great connection with her outside of the show”, Co-star Kim Lee said.
“We saw eye to eye, and she gave me so many words of wisdom I will never forget. There’s no one like Anna Shay; she’s an incredible and unique person who was beloved by so many people. My thoughts are with her family at this difficult time”, he added.
