Actress Valerie Mahaffey dies at 71

Emmy-winning actress Valerie Mahaffey has died at 71 following a brief battle with cancer. Mahaffey recently appeared in Apple TV+ series Echo 3 and in the 2020 film French Exit, with Michelle Pfeiffer and Lucas Hedges, earning an Independent Spirit Award nomination for her performance.

Mahaffey was born in Indonesia and lived there until she was 11, and then her family moved to Nigeria, Texas and England. She began acting in New York City, and appeared in six Broadway shows including Dracula, with Raul Julia in the late 1970s, and 1984's Play Memory, directed by Harold Prince. She also appeared Off-Broadway and in regional productions, including Top Girls and Talking Heads, winning Obie Awards for both. She also appeared in Othello with Morgan Freeman, and Romeo and Juliet with Tom Hulce.

Mahaffey made her film debut in 1995's National Lampoon's Senior Trip, and had roles in Jungle 2 Jungle, Dinner at Fred's, Seabiscuit, My First Wedding, A Previous Engagement, Jack and Jill, If I Were You, Crazy Eyes, Sully, No Pay, Nudity, The Witch Files and The 8th Day. She had completed work on the film GRQ the Movie in the role of Aunt Emily, opposite Mena Suvari and Greg Germann.

Mahaffey's biggest impact was on television. After making her debut in the 1977 TV movie Tell Me My Name, she landed the role of Ashley Bennett on daytime soap The Doctors in 1979, appearing in 104 episodes and earning a Daytime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. She appeared in the TV miniseries Fresno with Carol Burnett, and was a regular on the 1992-1993 sitcom The Powers That Be with John Forsythe, Holland Taylor, David Hyde Pierce and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. She won an Emmy for her guest role on Northern Exposure, had a recurring role on Season 3 of Desperate Housewives and guested on seven episodes of Devious Maids, fourteen episodes of Young Sheldon, and nine episodes each of Big Sky and Dead to Me.

Other notable TV guest star credits include Tales of the Unexpected, Newhart, Murphy's Law, Father Dowling Mysteries, Quantum Leap, Cheers, The Young Riders, Seinfeld, Dream On, L.A. Law, Women of the House, Wings, The Client, Caroline in the City, ER, Ally McBeal, Love & Money, That's My Bush!, Night Visions, Judging Amy, The West Wing, Law & Order: SVU, Frasier, Good Morning, Miami, Without a Trace, Crumbs, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Raines, Private Practice, Boston Legal, United States of Tara, Hannah Montana, Raising Hope, The Exes, Glee, Grey's Anatomy, Kirstie, Franklin & Bash, Hart of Dixie, Workaholics, Impastor, The Mindy Project, and The Man in the High Castle.

TV movie credits include Women of Valor, Code Name: Dancer, Perry Mason: The Case of the Musical Murder, Perry Mason: The Case of the All-Star Assassin, An Enemy of the People, Till Death Do Us Part, Children of the Mist, Witch Hunt, and After Amy.

Mahaffey was married to actor Joseph Kell, and they have one daughter.