Valerie Mahaffey

Born: 1953-06-16, Sumatra, Indonesia

Died: 2025-05-30

Biography

Valerie Mahaffey (June 16, 1953 – May 30, 2025) was an American actress and producer. She began her career starring in the NBC daytime soap opera The Doctors (1979–81), for which she received a nomination for the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. In 1992, Mahaffey won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her role in the CBS drama series Northern Exposure. She later won fame through her portrayal of extroverted and friendly but ultimately insane women on the television shows Wings, Desperate Housewives, Devious Maids and Big Sky. Mahaffey also appeared in a number of movies, including Senior Trip (1995), Jungle 2 Jungle (1997), Jack and Jill (2011), Sully (2016), and most notably French Exit (2020), for which she received critical acclaim and an Independent Spirit Award nomination.

Filmography

• Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999)
• Grey's Anatomy (2005)
• CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000)
• Frasier (1993)
• Young Sheldon (2017)
• Seinfeld (1989)
• Without a Trace (2002)
• Quantum Leap (1989)
• Boston Legal (2004)
• Wings (1990)
• Glee (2009)
• Newhart (1982)
• Cheers (1982)
• L.A. Law (1986)
• Northern Exposure (1990)
• Raising Hope (2010)
• The Mindy Project (2012)
• The Man in the High Castle (2015)
• Franklin & Bash (2011)
• Hart of Dixie (2011)
• Workaholics (2011)
• Devious Maids (2013)
• Tales of the Unexpected (1979)
• Dream On (1990)
• Dead to Me (2019)
• The Exes (2011)
• Sully (2016)
• United States of Tara (2009)
• Good Morning, Miami (2002)
• Monday Mornings (2013)