Valerie Mahaffey, actor recognized for Northern Exposure and Desperate Housewives, dies elderly 71

Valerie Mahaffey, the Emmy-award successful actor recognized for her roles on Northern Exposure, Desperate Housewives and Young Sheldon, died on Friday. She was once 71.

Her husband, actor Joseph Kell, stated in a commentary to Variety: “I have lost the love of my life, and America has lost one of its most endearing actresses. She will be missed.”

Kell stated she died on 30 May in Los Angeles after dwelling with most cancers.

Mahaffey had a occupation which spanned just about 50 years and was once recognized for enjoying eccentric characters, together with the only for which she received a supporting actress Emmy in 1992: as hypochondriac Eve dwelling within the fictional Alaska the city featured in Northern Exposure, which aired from 1990 to 1995.

Mahaffey maximum just lately won an Independent Spirit award nomination for her function because the constructive Madame Reynard in Azazel Jacobs’ 2020 darkish comedy French Exit.

Michelle Pfeiffer, who performed reverse Mahaffey in French Exit, posted on social media: “One of our brightest stars was stolen from us yesterday. Such a remarkable talent and human.”

She co-starred in Big Sky, David E Kelley’s ensemble detective drama sequence which aired on ABC from 2020 to 2021. She additionally portrayed the grandiose Lorna Harding within the first two seasons of Dead to Me, the Netflix comedy starring Christina Applegate.

Mahaffey was once born in Indonesia on 16 June 1953 and was once raised there till she was once 11 prior to graduating from highschool in Texas and occurring to check on the University of Texas. She started her performing occupation at the degree in New York City, showing in six Broadway six performs together with Dracula reverse Raul Julia and Play Memory directed by means of Harold Prince.

She additionally performed Ashley Bennett at the cleaning soap opera The Doctors, for which she earned a Daytime Emmy nomination.

She accrued two Obie awards for her theater paintings in Top Girls and in Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads.

Mahaffey’s versatility saved her repeatedly in call for for visitor roles and she or he accumulated dozens of sequence credit together with Seinfeld, Wings, ER, Glee, Grey’s Anatomy and The Mindy Project. She performed the manipulative Alma Hodge, ex-wife of Kyle MacLachlan’s Orson Hodge, on Desperate Housewives from 2006 to 2007 and recurred as the instructor Victoria MacElroy on Young Sheldon from 2017 to 2020.

Survivors come with her husband and daughter, Alice.

Rob Morrow, Mahaffey’s Northern Exposure co-star, posted on social media that Mahaffey “was a breath of fresh air, joy and laughs” as Eve at the sequence. “We all adored her,” he stated.