Shelley Lengthy was noticeably absent when a number of of her Cheers costars reunited on the Emmy Awards in 2024.
Lengthy has all the time had a contentious relationship with the NBC sitcom that made her a family identify. Amid rumors of rigidity with costar Ted Danson, Lengthy give up Cheers in 1987, even after profitable an Emmy and two Golden Globes for taking part in Diane Chambers within the NBC sitcom's first 5 seasons.
There have been countless rumors over time about why Lengthy left the present. For his half, Danson admitted on the “Smartless” podcast in 2024 that he and Lengthy genuinely didn't get alongside when cameras weren't rolling.
“My first response to Shelley whereas we have been auditioning was, ‘Oh, no. No. That's a foul, dangerous thought,'” he recalled.
Recalling that his first interactions with Lengthy have been “horrible,” Danson defined: “I don't know, we have been so completely different. Our types, our strategy, our every thing is basically completely different, which is why I feel it labored as a result of it was like this truthful struggle.”
“It was onerous for us generally to be within the room collectively,” he conceded. “However after we began working, it was simply improbable since you'd smack her and she or he'd smack you again tougher. She was simply good.”
Lengthy conceded in a 1995 interview that she was disenchanted that Cheers — and her exit from the present — generally overshadowed different facets of her profession.
Shelly Lengthy, Ted Danson,George Wendt, Rhea Perlman, Nicholas Colasanto, John Ratzenberger in ‘Cheers.' Everett Assortment
“I've by no means regretted the choice [to leave Cheers],” she insisted. “I've been aggravated by the feedback and the fixed questions of, ‘Do you remorse? Do you ever remorse?' … I don't remorse it. I've mentioned it again and again.”
Lengthy defined that her main motive for leaving Cheers on the peak of the present's reputation was that she “sincerely” wished extra time along with her household.
“I'll without end treasure [that time with my family],” she added.
Lengthy was married to Ken Solomon early in her profession, earlier than tying the knot with securities dealer Bruce Tyson in 1981. Tyson and Lengthy share one daughter, Juliana, born in March 1985. (Lengthy and Tyson divorced in 2004.)
Lengthy saved busy after leaving Cheers, showing in a string of profitable motion pictures with The Cash Pit, Troop Beverly Hills and The Brady Bunch Film into the Nineteen Nineties.
She made recurring appearances in Fashionable Household as Ed O'Neill's onscreen ex-wife, DeDe Pritchett. Lengthy appeared in eight Fashionable Household episodes over a nine-year interval. Her character was killed off in a memorable 2018 episode as a technique to show “demise is a big a part of the household expertise,” based on Fashionable Household cocreator Steve Levitan.
“[DeDe was] instantly concerned with three of our characters and she or he touched everyone's life in some fascinating means,” the producer defined on the time. “It appeared like the appropriate character to place everyone by way of one thing. She appeared like the appropriate character as a result of she so instantly impacts so lots of our characters.”
Talking to ABC News in 2017, Lengthy mirrored on getting into a brand new section of her profession after enjoying romantic leads for therefore lengthy.
“There simply aren't a whole lot of roles typically, roles for somebody extra particular to my age,” she famous. “I'm sort of within the center, I don't precisely seem like a grandmother, however I don't seem like a number one girl within the extra conventional sense … There are a whole lot of younger grandmothers on the market.”
Shelley Lengthy in November 2017. David Livingston/Getty Photographs
She saved appearing into the 2020s, although Lengthy finally retreated from public life following the discharge of her 2021 film The Cleaner.
When Emmy producers organized a Cheers solid reunion on the annual gala in September 2024, Lengthy declined to participate with former costars Danson, Kelsey Grammer, Rhea Perlman, John Ratzenberger and George Wendt. Grammar later admitted to The New York Post in January 2024 that he was disenchanted that Lengthy selected to not attend.
“I used to be sorry Shelley didn't make it,” the Frasier actor mentioned. “However the different guys, it was nice to see them.”
Lengthy continues to be occasionally spotted by photographers in Los Angeles, however has chosen to reside a quiet life away from the highlight in recent times.
