Valerie Mahaffey, Emmy-winning actor, dead at 71
Valerie Mahaffey, Emmy Award-winning star, has passed away at the age of 71, her family have announced.
Mahaffey was best known for her role in the CBS comedy Northern Exposure, which ran from 1990 to 1995. She won an Emmy Award for her work on the show as Eve, a hypochondriac living in a fictional Alaskan town.
Mahaffey gained many fans after playing Alma Hodge in season three of the ABC comedy series Desperate Housewives from 2006 to 2007. She was diagnosed with cancer and passed away in Los Angeles on Friday.
Her husband, Joseph Kell, said in a statement, “I have lost the love of my life, and America has lost one of its most endearing actresses. She will be missed.“
Her daughter Alice added, “I 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.”
Mahaffey, who grew up in many different countries, including the UK and Nigeria, first began her acting career in New York. She appeared on Broadway six times from 1976 to 84 in Dracula and Play Memory, directed by Harold Prince. Her other theatre credits included roles as Desdemona in Othello opposite Morgan Freeman and Juliet in Romeo and Juliet with Tom Hulce.
She made her first breakthrough TV role on Doctors. She more recently appeared in ABC show Big Sky, as well as CBS’ Young Sheldon and notably Netflix’s Dead to Me. Mahaffey received a Spirit Award nomination for her turn as widowed American expat Madame Reynard in 2020’s French Exit.
Mahaffey’s career spanned over five decades, as she appeared in countless shows and became a recognisable face. She acted in the NBC series The Powers That Be and played the mother of Jayma Mays’ Emma Pillsbury on Fox’s Glee from 2011 to 2013.
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