Valerie Mahaffey

Valerie Mahaffey
Mahaffey in 2012
Born(1953-06-16)June 16, 1953
Sumatra, Indonesia
DiedMay 30, 2025(2025-05-30) (aged 71)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of Texas at Austin (BFA)
OccupationActress
Years active1976–2025
SpouseJoseph Kell
Children1

Valerie Mahaffey (June 16, 1953 – May 30, 2025) was an American actress. She began her career starring in the NBC daytime soap opera The Doctors (1979–81), for which in 1980 she was nominated 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 appeared in television shows such as Wings, Desperate Housewives, Devious Maids, Young Sheldon, and Dead to Me. Mahaffey also appeared in a number of movies, including Senior Trip (1995), Jungle 2 Jungle (1997), Jack and Jill (2011), Sully (2016). For her role in French Exit (2020) she received critical acclaim and an Independent Spirit Award nomination.