Valerie Mahaffey dies aged 71
Valerie Mahaffey, who played high school teacher Ms. MacElroy on Young Sheldon, has died at the age of 71. She passed away in Los Angeles on Friday, publicist Jillian Roscoe announced.
Born in Indonesia in 1953 to a Canadian mother and an American father working in the oil and gas industry, Mahaffey spent her early years living in Indonesia, Nigeria and the United Kingdom. When she was sixteen, her family relocated to Austin, Texas, where she graduated high school and later earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 1975.
Mahaffey began her television career in 1979 with a role on the NBC daytime soap opera The Doctors, appearing in more than 100 episodes over two years. Her work on the show earned her a Daytime Emmy Award nomination.
In the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, Mahaffey made guest appearances on shows including Newhart, Cheers and Seinfeld. In 1991, she landed a recurring role on the CBS drama Northern Exposure, winning a Primetime Emmy Award in 1992 for her performance as the wife of Adam Arkin's character.
That same year, Mahaffey starred in the short-lived but star-studded sitcom The Powers That Be, from future Friends creators David Crane and Marta Kauffman. The ensemble cast included Hollywood legend John Forsythe, future Two and a Half Men star Holland Taylor, Peter MacNicol - later of Ally McBeal, a pre-Frasier David Hyde Pierce, and a very young Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Mahaffey went on to have recurring roles on Wings and E.R. and made guest appearances on shows including Ally McBeal, Judging Amy, The West Wing and Frasier.
In 2006, Mahaffey had a recurring role in the third season of Desperate Housewives, playing Alma Hodge, the first wife of Orson Hodge (Kyle MacLachlan) and the former daughter-in-law of Gloria Hodge (Dixie Carter). Later, Mahaffey had recurring roles on United States of Tara, Glee, Devious Maids, and guest spots on shows including Boston Legal, Hannah Montana and Raising Hope.
Mahaffey appeared in fourteen episodes of Young Sheldon, starting with the Pilot episode, as Victoria MacElroy, an English teacher who taught Sheldon and Georgie. Her final appearance came in the Season 3 finale, “A Secret Letter and a Lowly Disc of Processed Meat”, as Sheldon prepared to leave Medford High School for college.
Her film credits include the 1997 Tim Allen comedy Jungle 2 Jungle and the 2011 Adam Sandler movie Jack and Jill. She also appeared in Clint Eastwood’s Sully (2016), starring Tom Hanks, and received recognition for her role in the 2020 dark comedy French Exit, alongside Michelle Pfeiffer and Lucas Hedges, earning a nomination for an Independent Spirit Award.
Most recently, Mahaffey appeared in recurring roles on the ABC crime thriller Big Sky and Netflix's Dead to Me, where she portrayed the mother-in-law of Christina Applegate’s character.
Mahaffey is survived by her husband, actor Joseph Kell, and their daughter, Alice Richards. Kell said in a statement, “I have lost the love of my life, and America has lost one of its most endearing actresses."
