Emmy-winning actor Valerie Mahaffey has died at age 71. The Young Sheldon and Desperate Housewives star, who had been diagnosed with cancer, died May 30, her husband Joseph Kell confirmed. “I ...

A year later in 1976, Mahaffey took the lead in a made-for-television movie, “Tell Me My Name,” as an adopted woman searching for her birth mother, opposite Barbara Barrie, another UT graduate.

Mahaffey was not a native Austinite — she was born June 16, 1953 in Indonesia — but her father, Lewis Mahaffey, was from the Texas capital. Her mother, Jean Mahaffey, hailed from Canada.

Mahaffey was not a native Austinite — she was born June 16, 1953 in Indonesia — but her father, Lewis Mahaffey, was from the Texas capital. Her mother, Jean Mahaffey, hailed from Canada.

Valerie Mahaffey, an Emmy-winning actress whose screen and stage work ranged from Shakespeare dramas to the hit 1990s TV series “Northern Exposure,” died May 30 in Los Angeles. She was 71.

Valerie Mahaffey seen at the Los Angeles Industry Screening of Warner Bros. Pictures and Village Roadshow Pictures "Sully" at The DGA Theater on Thursday, Sept. 8, 2016, in Los Angeles.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Celebrated actor Valerie Mahaffey, whose stage, film and television work ranged from Shakespeare to the hit 1990s series “Northern Exposu ...

Valerie Mahaffey at the Los Angeles Industry Screening of Warner Bros. Pictures and Village Roadshow Pictures “Sully” at The DGA Theater on Thursday, Sept. 8, 2016, in Los Angeles.

OS ANGELES (AP) — Celebrated actor Valerie Mahaffey, whose stage, film and television work ranged from Shakespeare to the hit 1990s series “Northern Exposure,” died at age 71 after a battle ...

LOS ANGELES — Celebrated actor Valerie Mahaffey, whose stage, film and television work ranged from Shakespeare to the hit 1990s series "Northern Exposure," died at age 71 after a battle with ...