Shelley Long

Shelley Lee Long is an American actress, comedian, and singer best known for her television and feature film roles. Born on August 23, 1949, in Fort Wayne, Indiana, she is the daughter of Ivadine, a schoolteacher, and Leland Long, a rubber industry worker who also became a teacher. Raised in the Presbyterian faith, Long attended South Side High School, where she won the National Forensic League's National Championship in Original Oratory in 1967. She subsequently studied drama at Northwestern University.

Long began her career in the mid-1970s appearing in Chicago-area commercials for Homemakers furniture, Camay soap, and VO5 shampoo. In Chicago, she joined The Second City comedy troupe and, beginning in 1975, wrote, produced, and co-hosted the WMAQ-TV program Sorting It Out, receiving three Regional Emmy Awards. After early screen appearances on The Love Boat, Family, Trapper John, M.D., M*A*S*H, and the 1979 film The Cracker Factory, she made her feature debut in A Small Circle of Friends in 1980. She followed with roles in Caveman, Night Shift, and Losin' It.

Long achieved mainstream popularity starring as Diane Chambers on the television sitcom Cheers from 1982 to 1987. Her performance earned five Emmy Award nominations—winning in 1983 for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series—and two Golden Globe Awards. She departed Cheers after five seasons, later returning for the 1993 series finale, which yielded another Emmy nomination. Long also reprised her role as Diane Chambers in three episodes of the spin-off series Frasier, receiving a guest star Emmy nomination.

Throughout the 1980s, Long maintained an active film career, earning a Golden Globe nomination for Irreconcilable Differences in 1984 and starring in comedies including The Money Pit, Outrageous Fortune, Hello Again, and Troop Beverly Hills. In 1986, she signed a three-film production deal with The Walt Disney Studios through her company Itsbinso Long Inc. Her later film work included Don't Tell Her It's Me, Frozen Assets, and Dr. T & the Women.

During the 1990s, Long transitioned into television movies, earning praise for portraying multiple personalities in the miniseries Voices Within: The Lives of Truddi Chase. She also starred in television films such as Fatal Memories: The Eileen Franklin Story, A Message from Holly, and Vanished Without a Trace, and starred in the sitcom Good Advice. She played Carol Brady in the feature films The Brady Bunch Movie in 1995 and A Very Brady Sequel in 1996, later returning for the 2002 television movie The Brady Bunch in the White House.

From 2009 to 2018, Long played the recurring role of DeDe Pritchett on the comedy series Modern Family. Her later television work includes guest appearances on 8 Simple Rules, Yes Dear, Boston Legal, and Switched at Birth, along with television films including Falling in Love with the Girl Next Door. In 2016, she produced and acted in the feature film Different Flowers.