Valerie Mahaffey
Biography
Valerie Mahaffey (June 16, 1953 – May 30, 2025) was an American actress and producer. She began her career starring in the NBC daytime soap opera The Doctors (1979–81), for which she received a nomination for the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. In 1992, Mahaffey won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her role in the CBS drama series Northern Exposure. She later won fame through her portrayal of extroverted and friendly but ultimately insane women on the television shows Wings, Desperate Housewives, Devious Maids and Big Sky. Mahaffey also appeared in a number of movies, including Senior Trip (1995), Jungle 2 Jungle (1997), Jack and Jill (2011), Sully (2016), and most notably French Exit (2020), for which she received critical acclaim and an Independent Spirit Award nomination. Description above from the Wikipedia article Valerie Mahaffey, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Movie Appearances
National Lampoon's Senior Trip
as Miss Tracy Milford
1995
Witch Hunt
as Trudy
1994
Summer Eleven
2010
A Previous Engagement
as Grace
2009
The 8th Day
as Landon Mooney
2025
Par 6
as Pecan Hegelman
2002
If I Were You
as Lydia
2013
Women of Valor
as Lt. Katherine R. Grace
1986
No Ordinary Baby
as Virginia Hytner
2001
Dinner at Fred's
as Susan
1997
Jack and Jill
as Bitsy Simmons
2011
They
as Chris Samuels
1993
Tell Me My Name
as Alexandra / Sarah
1977
Seabiscuit
as Annie Howard
2003
Sully
as Diane Higgins
2016
No Pay, Nudity
as Lisa Zweibal
2016
Till Death Us Do Part
as Gail Bugliosi
1992
Crazy Eyes
as Zach's Mother
2012
My First Wedding
as Grace
2006
Mr. Bill's Real Life Adventures
as Mrs. Bill
1986
TV Appearances
L.A. Law
as Andrea Rossoff
1986
Cheers
as Valerie Hill
1982
Seinfeld
as Patrice
1989
That's My Bush!
as Janet Rove
2001
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
as Dora Pomerantz
2000
Desperate Housewives
as Alma Hodge
2004
Ally McBeal
as Dr. Sally Muggins
1997
Crumbs
as Carolyn Pierce
2006
Judging Amy
as Ms. Morlock
1999
Tales of the Unexpected
as Jane
1979
Wings
as Sandy Cooper
1990
Without a Trace
as Bonnie Toland
2002