Desperate Housewives and Young Sheldon star dies aged 71
Valerie's husband, Joseph Kell, expressed his heartbreak, saying: "I have lost the love of my life, and America has lost one of its most endearing actresses. She will be missed."
Throughout her illustrious career, Valerie charmed audiences with her quirky characters in notable shows such as Northern Exposure, Desperate Housewives, and Young Sheldon, alongside A-list stars like Michelle Pfeiffer and Tom Hanks.
The Emmy-winning actress had continued to impress with recent roles in the 2022 Apple TV+ series Echo 3 and this year's film The 8th Day. Her outstanding performance as Eve in Northern Exposure earned her a supporting comedy actress Emmy in 1992.
As news of her passing spread, fans and fellow actors took to social media to pay tribute to Valerie's remarkable talent and legacy. One fan remembered her incredible range, saying: "She was in EVERYTHING! And no one did soft spoken, passive aggressive viciousness better! So Sad to hear she's passed and only 71. RIP," reports the Mirror.
Another fan echoed the sentiment on X: "Oh man, Valerie Mahaffey was always one of the most underrated and fantastic character actresses around."
Born in Indonesia in 1953, Valerie spent her early years there before moving to the United States.
She graduated from Austin High School and later, in 1975, from the University of Texas.
Her acting career took off in New York, where she graced the Broadway stage six times between 1976 and 1984 in productions such as Dracula and Play Memory, under the direction of Harold Prince. Concurrently, she began her television career with a role in the NBC soap opera The Doctors, earning her a Daytime Emmy nomination.
Valerie shared the stage with other A-list actors, including playing Desdemona in Othello alongside Morgan Freeman and Juliet in Romeo and Juliet with Tom Hulce.
The coronavirus pandemic led Valerie to focus on becoming a more "authentic person". In a chat with Film Speak, she revealed: "It's time to divest of some things, to understand what's been terrible about yourself (which is really sad! ), but also to be kind to yourself... there used to be a bit of an act - I didn't want to offend people... but now my only job is to be authentic as a person, it kind of translates into your art and that has become pretty important to me."
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Meanwhile, at the Red Cross Hospital in Hiroshima, worn out and wearing glasses taken from a wounded nurse after his specs were lost in the explosion, Dr Sasaki wanders the corridors, binding up the worst wounds. WHEN the Americans do not hear any sign of surrender from Japan, they decide a second, bigger, atomic bomb is needed. This explosive, 'Fat Man', is 40 per cent more powerful than Little Boy. With no electricity, he works by the light of fires still burning outside and candles held by the ten remaining nurses. Patients are dying in their hundreds. The stench of death is overwhelming. Advertisement 11.55am Eastern War Time: President Truman is on USS Augusta, heading home from the Potsdam Conference in Germany where, with British PM Winston Churchill and Japan of the consequences of failure to surrender. He is handed an urgent War Department message: 'Hiroshima was bombed at 7.15pm Washington time August 5 . . . results clear cut, successful in all respects.' 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SUNDAY, SEPT 2 9.04am (Japan time): World War Two formally ends when Japanese officials sign the surrender treaty aboard USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. Additional reporting: Eleanor Sprawson 9 US President Harry Truman approved the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 Credit: Getty Advertisement 9 Six days later on August 15 Japan's Emperor Hirohito announced his country's unconditional surrender Credit: PA:Press Association
