Shelley Long

Acting

Shelley Long

Born 1949-08-23 · Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA

Shelley Long (born August 23, 1949) is an American retired actress, singer, and comedian. For her role as Diane Chambers on the hit sitcom Cheers, she received five Emmy nominations, winning in 1983 for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. She also won two Golden Globe Awards for the role. She reprised her role as Diane Chambers in three episodes of the spin-off Frasier, for which she received an additional guest star Emmy nomination. She has starred in several films including Night Shift (1982), Irreconcilable Differences (1984), The Money Pit (1986), Outrageous Fortune (1987), Hello Again (1987), Troop Beverly Hills (1989), The Brady Bunch Movie (1995), A Very Brady Sequel (1996), and Dr. T & the Women (2000). While working on Cheers, she continued to appear in motion pictures. In 1984, she was nominated for a Best Leading Actress Golden Globe for her performance in Irreconcilable Differences. She also starred in the comedies The Money Pit and Outrageous Fortune. She was offered lead roles in Working Girl, Jumpin' Jack Flash, and My Stepmother Is an Alien but did not accept them. She was also offered the role of Mary, the mother in Steven Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, but turned it down because she had already signed on to appear in Night Shift. She left the series Cheers in 1987, but returned for the 200th Anniversary Special in 1990. She then returned as Diane in the last season (1992-1993), for which she picked up another Emmy nomination. She later reprise her role as Diane in several episodes of the Kelsey Grammer spinoff series Frasier, for which she was nominated for another Emmy Award. She appeared as Carol Brady in the 1995 hit film The Brady Bunch Movie which is a campy take of the popular television show. In 1996, she reprised the role in A Very Brady Sequel which had modest success, and again in the 2002 television film sequel—The Brady Bunch in the White House. She had a recurring role on the popular ABC sitcom Modern Family as DeDe Pritchett, the ex-wife of Jay Pritchett.

Acting credits

The Money Pit poster
6.5

After being evicted from their Manhattan apartment, a couple buy what looks like the home of their dreams—only to find themselves saddled with a bank-account-draining nightmare. Struggling to keep their relationship together as their rambling mansion falls to pieces around them, the two watch in hilarious horror as everything—including the kitchen sink—disappears into the Money Pit.

The Money Pit

1986

Caveman poster
6.7

Disgraced and cast out of his tribe for lusting after Lana, the mate of the tribe's head muscle man, Atouk stumbles along gathering other misfits and learning a bit about the world outside of his cave. Eventually he and friends Lar and Tala learn the secrets of fire, cooked meat, and how to defend themselves from the brutal, yet very stupid dinosaurs.

Caveman

1981

Outrageous Fortune poster
6.0

Refined actress Lauren Ames finally has a chance to study with the great theatre professor Stanislav Korzenowski. Sandy Brozinsky, a brash, loud actress, decides through happenstance to also study with Korzenowski. The two women end up dating the same man (who turns out to be a double agent) and follow him across the country to force him to choose between them.

Outrageous Fortune

1987

The Brady Bunch Movie poster
6.1

The original '70s TV family is now placed in the 1990s, where they're even more square and out of place than ever.

The Brady Bunch Movie

1995

Night Shift poster
6.1

A nebbish of a morgue attendant gets shunted back to the night shift where he is shackled with an obnoxious neophyte partner who dreams of the "one great idea" for success. His life takes a bizarre turn when a prostitute neighbor complains about the loss of her pimp. His partner, upon hearing the situation, suggests that they fill that opening themselves using the morgue at night.

Night Shift

1982

Losin' It poster
4.9

In 1965, four Los Angeles school friends -- Woody, Dave, Spider and Wendell -- go on a series of misadventures when they head to Tijuana, Mexico, for a night of cruisin', causing trouble, and to lose their virginity.

Losin' It

1983

Troop Beverly Hills poster
5.7

A Beverly Hills housewife in the middle of a divorce tries to find focus in her life by taking over her daughter's Wilderness Girls troop.

Troop Beverly Hills

1989

Hello Again poster
5.7

A suburban housewife chokes to death and is brought back to life by a spell cast by her wacky sister.

Hello Again

1987

Dr. T & the Women poster
4.9

A successful Texas gynecologist finds himself amid a bevy of women and their problems – his wife’s breakdown, his daughter's fake marriage, his other daughter’s conspiracy theories, and his secretary’s crush. Craving time for himself, he finds solace in a kind outsider.

Dr. T & the Women

2000

No artwork available
6.0

A tribute to Lucille ball, with an humanitarian award for her quest to end juvenile diabetes.

All Star Party for Lucille Ball

1984

Holiday Engagement poster
5.9

Thirty-something Hillary Burns has spent her life trying to get the approval of her parents, in the shadow of her more successfully-attached siblings. So when Hillary's fiance, workaholic lawyer Jason King, dumps her because she isn't willing to relocate for his potential promotion, she panics because she had been promising to bring him home to meet her expectant family, whom she does not want to let down! As a last-minute idea, her best friend Sophie convinces her to actually hire someone to "play the role" of Jason for her return home on Thanksgiving.. leading to an interesting combination of sparks & revelations for all involved.

Holiday Engagement

2011

A Very Brady Sequel poster
5.8

A man claiming to be Carol Brady's long-lost first husband, Roy Martin, shows up at the suburban Brady residence one evening. An impostor, the man is actually determined to steal the Bradys' familiar horse statue, a $20-million ancient Asian artifact.

A Very Brady Sequel

1996

Christmas in the Heartland poster
6.1

Kara and Jessie are two teenage girls from very different worlds, but with a little Christmas magic, they find they have much more in common than they ever imagined.

Christmas in the Heartland

2017

Must See TV: An All Star Tribute to James Burrows poster
4.0

The stars of America's greatest comedies - like Cheers, Friends, Taxi and The Big Bang Theory - get together for one night only to honor Director James Burrows. Watch Must See TV: An All-Star Tribute to James Burrows.

Must See TV: An All Star Tribute to James Burrows

2016

NBC 75th Anniversary Special poster
6.0

A celebration of NBC's 75 year history, featuring clips of special moments.

NBC 75th Anniversary Special

2002

Best Man Down poster
6.6

A newlywed couple cancels their honeymoon and returns to the snowy Midwest to make the funeral arrangements for their best man, who died unexpectedly after their ceremony.

Best Man Down

2012

Frozen Assets poster
3.6

Zach Shepard is excited to find he's been hired as president of a bank. When he finally arrives in Hobart, Ore., he discovers to his dismay that the bank is actually a sperm bank. There he meets the cold Dr. Grace Murdoch, the scientist in charge, whose disregard for him seems to mask romantic intentions. Meanwhile, in order to save the business, the sperm bank holds a fundraiser to find the man with the highest sperm count.

Frozen Assets

1992

Irreconcilable Differences poster
5.6

Alternating between the past and the present, a precocious little girl sues her selfish, career-driven parents for emancipation, surprising them both.

Irreconcilable Differences

1984

A Small Circle of Friends poster
6.7

In the late 1960s, three Harvard students Jessica, Leo and Nick grow close as they undergo personal changes, but their friendship is jeopardized by romantic feelings both men develop for Jessica.

A Small Circle of Friends

1980

The Cracker Factory poster
9.3

Drama depicting the problems of a suburban housewife suffering from fits of depression and alcoholism, and her stay in a psychiatric center after a feeble suicide attempt.

The Cracker Factory

1979

Fatal Memories poster
5.9

Fact based story about a woman who after 20 years starts having memories of her own molestation by her father and the murder of one of her childhood playmates by him.

Fatal Memories

1992

The Cleaner poster
5.8

When middle-aged house cleaner Buck Enderly takes on an eccentric new client, he gets roped into locating her estranged son. Buck tracks down the disturbed young man but in another twist of fate becomes an accomplice to a violent crime.

The Cleaner

2021

The Brady Bunch in the White House poster
4.2

Mike Brady becomes the President of the United States and names Carol as his V.P..

The Brady Bunch in the White House

2002

The Santa Trap poster
6.0

It's Christmas Eve and Judy Emerson is told there's no such thing as Santa. Determined to prove her family wrong, she sets an elaborate trap and successfully captures Santa Claus himself. But her parents think the jolly old elf is a burglar and have Santa arrested.

The Santa Trap

2002

Behind the camera