SHELLEY LONG
Name: Shelley Lee Long
Born: 23 August 1949 Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States
Shelley Lee Long (born August 23, 1949) is a Golden Globe Award and Emmy Award-winning
American film, stage and television dramatic and comedic actress.
Long was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana to Evandine, a school teacher, and Leland
Long, who worked in the rubber industry before becoming a teacher. She was
active on her high school speech team, and in 1967 she won the National Forensic
League National Championship in Original Oratory. She delivered a speech on the
need for sex education in high school entitled "Sex, Perversion, Weed." After
graduating from South Side High School in Fort Wayne, she studied drama at
Northwestern University, but left before graduating to pursue a career in acting
and modelling.
In 1979, on a blind date, Long met securities broker Bruce Tyson whom she
married in October 1981. This was her second marriage. She gave birth to her
only child, her daughter Juliana on March 27, 1985. In 2004, after 23 years of
marriage, Bruce Tyson filed for divorce.
In Chicago, she joined The Second City comedy troupe and in 1975, she began
writing, producing, and co-hosting the television program Sorting It Out. The
local NBC broadcast went on to win three Emmy Awards for Best Entertainment Show.
Her first notable role came in the 1979 television movie The Cracker Factory, in
which she portrayed a psychiatric inmate opposite Natalie Wood. The following
year she appeared in A Small Circle of Friends with Brad Davis and Karen Allen.
The film about social unrest at Harvard University during the 1960s was a
critical success. In 1981, she played the role of Tala in the Ringo Starr film
Caveman, starring opposite Dennis Quaid.
She was also featured in the Henry Winkler comedy Night Shift, about life
working on the night shift at a city morgue, and starred with Tom Cruise in the
1983 comedy film Losin' It.
Although she had starred in successful feature films, Shelly Long became a
household name and famous as the character Diane Chambers in the long running
and successful television show Cheers. The show was slow to capture an audience
but eventually became one of the most popular shows on television and she became
a most sought after actress. In 1984, Long was nominated for a Best Leading
Actress Golden Globe for her performance in Irreconcilable Differences. She then
appeared in a series of comedies, such as The Money Pit, starring Tom Hanks,
1986, Outrageous Fortune with Bette Midler and Peter Coyote, 1987 and Hello
Again with Corbin Bernsen, 1987.
Amid much public controversy and disappointment, and declared by many a fatal
career move, she left Cheers after Season 5 in 1987. Producers reportedly
offered her $400,000 to stay but Long refused, though they said in later
interviews they had a feeling she was going to leave as rumours were in
circulation. Reports said that Long left because she did not have good relations
with co-stars (who allegedly found her overbearing), and that she wanted to
leave television roles for a film career. Long said in later interviews
her decision to leave was one of the hardest she ever made
and that she loved every minute of working on the show. She also defended the
position she put producers in by saying she had no idea she could sabotage the
show by leaving and that she thought the rest of the cast were capable of going
it alone. In a 2003 interview on The Graham Norton Show, Long said she left for
a variety of reasons, the most important of which was her desire to spend more
time with her newborn daughter. Her first post-Cheers project was Troop Beverly
Hills, where she played a housewife who starts a "Wilderness Girl" troop as a
distraction from her divorce proceedings.
Long took several roles in films, such as, Don't Tell Her It's Me and Frozen
Assets, that turned out to be commercially unsuccessful. In 1993, she returned
to Cheers for its series finale and starred in the short lived sitcom Good
Advice with Treat Williams and Teri Garr, but the show was cancelled after two
seasons. In 1995, she re-appeared as Diane Chambers for an episode of Frasier
Long achieved success as Carol Brady in the hit film The Brady Bunch Movie, a
campy take on the television show The Brady Bunch. In 1996, she reprised her
role in A Very Brady Sequel, which had more modest success.
A series of ventures followed such as the made for TV remake of Freaky Friday,
and the family sitcom Kelly Kelly, which only lasted for a few episodes on The
WB Television Network.
In 2000, Long took a supporting role in the Richard Gere film, Dr. T and the
Women. In 2002 she reprised her role as Carol Brady in The Brady Bunch in the
White House. In 2005 she played Mitzi Robinson in independent film Trust Me. In
the early and mid 2000s, Long guest starred on several sitcoms such as 8 Simple
Rules where she played John Ratzenberger's wife, and Yes, Dear where she and
Alan Thicke portrayed a snobby couple interested in buying the house next door
to Greg and Kim.
Long has had guest starring roles in many television shows. In 1997, she played
the Wicked Witch of the Beanstalk in the Sabrina, the Teenage Witch second
season episode Sabrina and the Beanstalk.
Name: Shelley Lee Long
Born: 23 August 1949 Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States
Shelley Lee Long (born August 23, 1949) is a Golden Globe Award and Emmy Award-winning
American film, stage and television dramatic and comedic actress.
Long was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana to Evandine, a school teacher, and Leland
Long, who worked in the rubber industry before becoming a teacher. She was
active on her high school speech team, and in 1967 she won the National Forensic
League National Championship in Original Oratory. She delivered a speech on the
need for sex education in high school entitled "Sex, Perversion, Weed." After
graduating from South Side High School in Fort Wayne, she studied drama at
Northwestern University, but left before graduating to pursue a career in acting
and modelling.
In 1979, on a blind date, Long met securities broker Bruce Tyson whom she
married in October 1981. This was her second marriage. She gave birth to her
only child, her daughter Juliana on March 27, 1985. In 2004, after 23 years of
marriage, Bruce Tyson filed for divorce.
In Chicago, she joined The Second City comedy troupe and in 1975, she began
writing, producing, and co-hosting the television program Sorting It Out. The
local NBC broadcast went on to win three Emmy Awards for Best Entertainment Show.
Her first notable role came in the 1979 television movie The Cracker Factory, in
which she portrayed a psychiatric inmate opposite Natalie Wood. The following
year she appeared in A Small Circle of Friends with Brad Davis and Karen Allen.
The film about social unrest at Harvard University during the 1960s was a
critical success. In 1981, she played the role of Tala in the Ringo Starr film
Caveman, starring opposite Dennis Quaid.
She was also featured in the Henry Winkler comedy Night Shift, about life
working on the night shift at a city morgue, and starred with Tom Cruise in the
1983 comedy film Losin' It.
Although she had starred in successful feature films, Shelly Long became a
household name and famous as the character Diane Chambers in the long running
and successful television show Cheers. The show was slow to capture an audience
but eventually became one of the most popular shows on television and she became
a most sought after actress. In 1984, Long was nominated for a Best Leading
Actress Golden Globe for her performance in Irreconcilable Differences. She then
appeared in a series of comedies, such as The Money Pit, starring Tom Hanks,
1986, Outrageous Fortune with Bette Midler and Peter Coyote, 1987 and Hello
Again with Corbin Bernsen, 1987.
Amid much public controversy and disappointment, and declared by many a fatal
career move, she left Cheers after Season 5 in 1987. Producers reportedly
offered her $400,000 to stay but Long refused, though they said in later
interviews they had a feeling she was going to leave as rumours were in
circulation. Reports said that Long left because she did not have good relations
with co-stars (who allegedly found her overbearing), and that she wanted to
leave television roles for a film career. Long said in later interviews
her decision to leave was one of the hardest she ever made
and that she loved every minute of working on the show. She also defended the
position she put producers in by saying she had no idea she could sabotage the
show by leaving and that she thought the rest of the cast were capable of going
it alone. In a 2003 interview on The Graham Norton Show, Long said she left for
a variety of reasons, the most important of which was her desire to spend more
time with her newborn daughter. Her first post-Cheers project was Troop Beverly
Hills, where she played a housewife who starts a "Wilderness Girl" troop as a
distraction from her divorce proceedings.
Long took several roles in films, such as, Don't Tell Her It's Me and Frozen
Assets, that turned out to be commercially unsuccessful. In 1993, she returned
to Cheers for its series finale and starred in the short lived sitcom Good
Advice with Treat Williams and Teri Garr, but the show was cancelled after two
seasons. In 1995, she re-appeared as Diane Chambers for an episode of Frasier
Long achieved success as Carol Brady in the hit film The Brady Bunch Movie, a
campy take on the television show The Brady Bunch. In 1996, she reprised her
role in A Very Brady Sequel, which had more modest success.
A series of ventures followed such as the made for TV remake of Freaky Friday,
and the family sitcom Kelly Kelly, which only lasted for a few episodes on The
WB Television Network.
In 2000, Long took a supporting role in the Richard Gere film, Dr. T and the
Women. In 2002 she reprised her role as Carol Brady in The Brady Bunch in the
White House. In 2005 she played Mitzi Robinson in independent film Trust Me. In
the early and mid 2000s, Long guest starred on several sitcoms such as 8 Simple
Rules where she played John Ratzenberger's wife, and Yes, Dear where she and
Alan Thicke portrayed a snobby couple interested in buying the house next door
to Greg and Kim.
Long has had guest starring roles in many television shows. In 1997, she played
the Wicked Witch of the Beanstalk in the Sabrina, the Teenage Witch second
season episode Sabrina and the Beanstalk.