Valerie Mahaffey

Actress

June 16, 1953 (71 years)

† May 30, 2025

Sumatra, Indonesia

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 a…

Filmography

8.0

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Brooke Thornburg

In the criminal justice system, sexually-based offenses are considered especially heinous. In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit. These are their stories.

8.2

Grey's Anatomy

Donna Kaufman

Follows the personal and professional lives of a group of doctors at Seattle's Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital.

7.6

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

Dora Pomerantz

A Las Vegas team of forensic investigators are trained to solve criminal cases by scouring the crime scene, collecting irrefutable evidence and finding the missing pieces that solve the mystery.

7.9

Desperate Housewives

Alma Hodge

Looking down on her friends and family isn't a way of life for Mary Alice Young... it's a way of death. One day, in her perfect house, in the loveliest of suburbs, Mary Alice ended it all. Now she's taking us into the lives of her family, friends and neighbors, commenting from her elevated P.O.V.

8.3

Seinfeld

Patrice

A stand-up comedian and his three offbeat friends weather the pitfalls and payoffs of life in New York City in the '90s. It's a show about nothing.

8.0

Young Sheldon

Victoria MacElroy

The early life of child genius Sheldon Cooper, later seen in The Big Bang Theory.

7.8

ER

Joi Abbott

ER explores the inner workings of an urban teaching hospital and the critical issues faced by the dedicated physicians and staff of its overburdened emergency room.

7.7

Frasier

Peggy

After many years spent at the “Cheers” bar, Frasier moves back home to Seattle to work as a radio psychiatrist after his policeman father gets shot in the hip on duty.

7.2

Without a Trace

Bonnie Toland

The series follows the ventures of a Missing Persons Unit of the FBI in New York City.

8.3

The West Wing

Tawny Cryer

The West Wing provides a glimpse into presidential politics in the nation's capital as it tells the stories of the members of a fictional presidential administration. These interesting characters have humor and dedication that touches the heart while the politics that they discuss touch on everyday life.

6.8

Glee

Rose Pillsbury

In this musical comedy, optimistic high school teacher Will Schuester tries to refuel his own passion while reinventing the high school's glee club and challenging a group of outcasts to realize their star potential as they strive to outshine their singing competition while navigating the cruel halls of McKinley High.

7.6

Cheers

Valerie Hill

The story about a blue-collar Boston bar run by former sports star Sam Malone and the quirky and wonderful people who worked and drank there.

6.9

Wings

Sandy Cooper

Brothers Brian and Joe Hackett attempt to run an airline on the New England island of Nantucket while surrounded by their various wacky friends and employees.

7.5

Private Practice

Marilyn Sullivan

Having left behind Seattle Grace Hospital, renowned surgeon Addison Forbes Montgomery moves to Los Angeles for sunnier weather and happier possibilities. She reunites with her friends from medical school, joining them at their chic, co-op, Oceanside Wellness Center in Santa Monica.

8.0

Quantum Leap

Mary Greely

Theorizing that one could time travel within his own lifetime, Dr. Sam Beckett stepped into the Quantum Leap accelerator and vanished... He woke to find himself trapped in the past, facing mirror images that were not his own and driven by an unknown force to change history for the better. His only guide on this journey is Al, an observer from his own time, who appears in the form of a hologram that only Sam can see and hear. And so Dr. Beckett finds himself leaping from life to life, striving to put right what once went wrong and hoping each time that his next leap will be the leap home.

7.9

Boston Legal

Mary Winston

Alan Shore and Denny Crane lead a brigade of high-priced civil litigators in an upscale Boston law firm in a series focusing on the professional and personal lives of brilliant but often emotionally challenged attorneys. A spin-off of long-running series The Practice.

6.6

Caroline in the City

Alicia Crawford-Lane

Caroline Duffy is a successful cartoonist in Manhattan whose eclectic friends are sometimes the subjects of her comic strip.

7.1

Hannah Montana

Ms. Jameson

At home and school, she's Miley Stewart, a typical teenager, but when the lights go down and the curtain goes up, she emerges as the glamorous and talented Hannah Montana. Having the "Best of Both Worlds" is a complicated proposition, and keeping her identity under wraps leads Miley and her friends into some hilarious capers as she tries to balance her normal life with her rock star persona.

7.5

Judging Amy

Ms. Morlock

Judging Amy is an American television drama that was telecast from September 19, 1999, through May 3, 2005, on CBS-TV. This TV series starred Amy Brenneman and Tyne Daly. Its main character is a judge who serves in a family court, and in addition to the family-related cases that she adjudicates, many episodes of the show focus on her own experiences as a divorced mother, and on the experiences of her mother, a social worker who works in the field of child welfare. This series was based on the life experiences of Brenneman's mother.

6.8

Tales of the Unexpected

Jane

A British television anthology of stories, often with sinister and wryly comedic undertones, and a twist at the end. With early episodes written and presented by Roald Dahl, the series featured a plethora of big name guest stars.