Shelley Long

American actor, comedian, talk show host, and head of her own production company, best known for the TV series "Cheers." She received local Emmy awards for her TV magazine show, two Golden Globes, and an Emmy.

The only child of schoolteacher parents, raised in the Presbyterian Church, Shelley, with her pretty speaking voice and personal dignity, won the National Title in an original oratory contest her senior year in high school. She attended Northwestern University majoring in theater, leaving after two years for a job in modeling and commercials and moving on to industrial and educational films. Beginning in 1973 as writer, associate producer and co-host for the unique Chicago TV talk show "Sorting It Out," her format was copied by several other stations and she won three local Emmy awards between 1974-1976. An audition with the Second City improvisational troupe lured her out of TV and into the theater. After exploring her opportunities in New York and Los Angeles, she realized she needed the Second City experience. Honing her talent for comedy, she became a master of it. In 1978 she went to Hollywood for a TV pilot, signing a five-year contract with ABC. Intimidated by Beverly Hills, she knew it only as a place to shop, and not having money at first, she felt she was still a little girl from Indiana. Part waif, part gamin and part utter sophisticate, she is perky and young looking. Subtlety is her natural mode and competence is something she is proud of. A hard working performer, she is determined to do better every day, as she balances home, family and career in an equal mix, feeling she has it all. A perfectionist, worried and anxious, she brings a tape recorder to interviews so she can analyze her answers afterward. She is adept at giving an interview where she talks but doesn't tell a lot. Nothing is as perfect as she would like it to be even though she leaves very little to chance.