Valerie Mahaffey, the Emmy Award-winning actress recognized for her performances in Northern Exposure and Big Sky, has passed away. She was seventy-one years old.
Mahaffey’s spouse, Joseph Kell, said that she passed away on Friday, May 30, subsequent to a cancer diagnosis.
I have lost the love of my life, and America has lost one of its most beloved actresses. Kell said, “She will be missed.”
Jillian Roscoe, Mahaffey’s publicist, also verified the news of her death to PEOPLE.
Mahaffey excelled in several prominent acting parts over her career, including in productions such as Northern Exposure (1991–1994), Desperate Housewives (2006–2012), Young Sheldon (2017–2020), and Dead to Me (2019–2022). She has featured in the films French Exit (2020) with Michelle Pfeiffer, Sully (2016) opposite Tom Hanks, Seabiscuit (2003), and Jungle 2 Jungle (1997).
Mahaffey was born in Indonesia to a Canadian mother and a Texan father, and he was nurtured there until the age of 11. Subsequently, she relocated to Nigeria and England before ultimately settling with her family in Austin, Texas, where she completed high school and enrolled at the University of Texas, according to Variety and THR.
Mahaffey had her breakthrough as an actor by performing on Broadway in New York City during the late 1970s. She appeared on Broadway six times in the productions Dracula and Play Memory, directed by Harold Prince, according to THR.
During her Broadway engagement, Mahaffey also featured in the NBC serial opera The Doctors, portraying the Daytime Emmy-nominated character Ashley Bennett from 1979 to 1980, according to Variety. The late actress subsequently received an Outstanding Supporting Actress Emmy in 1992 for her portrayal of the hypochondriac Eve on CBS’s Northern Exposure. She appeared in five episodes over three seasons in the early 1990s, according to THR.
Mahaffey’s last performances were in the Apple TV+ series Echo 3 in 2022 and the film The 8th Day, which is set to be released in March 2025, according per IMDB.
The actress is survived by her husband, Kell, and their daughter, Alice Richards.
Mahaffey’s reps did not promptly reply to PEOPLE’s inquiry for comment on May 31.
