Biography
Who is Shelley Long?
Early Life and Education
Shelley Lee Long was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, on August 23, 1949. She was the only child of Ivadine Williams, a schoolteacher, and Leland Long, who worked in the rubber industry before teaching. Raised in the Presbyterian faith, she participated in high school activities like the speech team.
In 1967, she achieved recognition by winning the National Forensic League National Championship in Original Oratory. After finishing her studies at South Side High School, she pursued drama studies at Northwestern University School of Communication.
Career Beginnings and Chicago
In the mid-1970s, her professional acting career started in the Chicago area. She appeared in local commercials for a furniture store called Homemakers. During this time, she joined The Second City, a famous comedy troupe. In 1975, she began writing, producing, and co-hosting a television program titled Sorting It Out on WMAQ-TV. Her work on this show earned her three Regional Emmy Awards.
She also appeared in print advertisements for VO5 shampoo and television commercials for Camay soap. By the late 1970s, she began landing roles in television, including a 1978 appearance on The Love Boat and a part in the 1979 film The Cracker Factory.
Cheers and Television Success
Shelley Long became widely known for her role as Diane Chambers on the sitcom Cheers, which began in 1982. The character was famous for her complex, on-and-off relationship with the character Sam Malone. While the show initially struggled to find an audience, it eventually became a major success. For her performance, she received five Emmy nominations and won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 1983. She also won two Golden Globe Awards for her work on the series.
Despite the show's popularity, she decided to leave the program after the fifth season in 1987. She later returned for the series finale in 1993, which earned her another Emmy nomination. She also reprised the character in the spinoff series Frasier.
Film and Later Projects
While working on television, she maintained a consistent film career. In 1982, she starred as Belinda in the comedy Night Shift alongside Michael Keaton and Henry Winkler. Other film credits from the 1980s include Irreconcilable Differences, The Money Pit, Outrageous Fortune, and Troop Beverly Hills. In 1990, she received critical praise for her work in the miniseries Voices Within: The Lives of Truddi Chase, where she portrayed nearly twenty different personalities.
Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, she continued to act in various television films and guest roles. She played Carol Brady in The Brady Bunch Movie in 1995 and its sequel, A Very Brady Sequel, in 1996. In 2000, she appeared in the film Dr. T & the Women, directed by Robert Altman. More recently, she held a recurring role as DeDe Pritchett on the ABC comedy series Modern Family from 2009 to 2018.
Birthday and age
Shelley Long was born on August 23, 1949, which makes Shelley 77 years old today. That birthday falls under the Virgo sign. Shelley shares the date with 31 other famous people.
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