Actress Valerie Mahaffey, known for her roles in Desperate Housewives and Young Sheldon, has died aged 71 after a battle with cancer.
The actress – who played Alma Hodge, the ex-wife of Orson Hodge in the former and teacher Victoria MacElroy in the latter – was also recognised for her role as Eve in the 1990s comedy Northern Exposure, which won her the Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.
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Her debut in The Doctors in 1980 also saw her nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress, and more recently she was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for her 2020 film French Exit.
Her death was confirmed by her husband, actor Joseph Kell, who shared that she passed yesterday on Friday May 30 (May 31 in Australia) in Los Angeles.
“I have lost the love of my life, and America has lost one of its most endearing actresses. She will be missed,” he said, as per Variety.
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Their daughter Alice also posted a tribute to her mother on Instagram, sharing a photo of themselves looking lovingly at each other.
”don’t really have the words to say right now. cancer sucks. i’ll look for you in all the fun moments of life. i know that’s where you’ll be💕” she shared in the caption.
“i know we’ll see each other again someday. i love you infinity much,” she said before editing the caption to add “thank you everyone for your kind words ❤️”
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Mahaffey was born in Indonesia, and grew up across Indonesia, Nigeria, and the United Kingdom before finally settling in Austin, Texas where she finished high school and university.
She made her debut with the Broadway play Rex and continued her career on the stage amid her screen career, collecting two Obie awards for Top Girls and Talking Heads. She also starred alongside Morgan Freeman in Othello and Tom Hulce in Romeo and Juliet.
Mahaffey was known for being a versatile actress, appearing in a variety of works over her five-decade-long career, including Seinfeld, Quantum Leap, Ally McBeal, Judging Amy, The West Wing, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Frasier, Wings, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Private Practice, Boston Legal, Without a Trace, Raising Hope, Glee, and more recently Dead to Me.
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She was directed by Clint Eastwood in Sully, starring alongside Tom Hanks, and in her film French Exit she starred opposite Michelle Pfeiffer.
Pfeiffer posted a tribute to her late co-star on social media, sharing, “RIP Valerie. One of our brightest stars was stolen from us yesterday. Such a remarkable talent and human. You will be missed.”
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