Shelley Long
Shelley Long
Shelley Lee Longis an American actress. She is best known for her role as Diane Chambers on the sitcom Cheers, for which she received five Emmy nominations, winning in 1983 for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. She won two Golden Globe Awards for the role. Long reprised her role as Diane Chambers in four episodes of the spinoff Frasier, for which she received an additional guest star Emmy nomination. From 2009 to 2012, she had a recurring role...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionTV Actress
Date of Birth23 August 1949
CityFort Wayne, IN
CountryUnited States of America
I can't say I based [Carla] on anybody I knew. She was so foulmouthed and mean, just said what was on her mind. So I guess Carla is somebody I always wished I could be at the right moment, the one who always has the perfect comeback.
I like men to be men and I like them to care about me and to take care of me. I'm willing to let them do that.
I really felt sometimes like I was physically pulling the plot, and it was heavy. I'm sure it didn't look great that I was going into my dressing room at lunch.
I'm not as klutzy as I used to be... I've had visual therapy and all kinds of things to help, but I still wrap my purse around chair legs when I stand up to leave. I do ridiculous things on camera because I do them in my life all the time.
I've helped people get rid of headaches by placing my hand on their forehead, and backaches by placing my hand on their back. It's a powerful example of love that really works.
I'm a real 'go, go' person... I'd make myself crazy by pushing too hard. It's important to pull pack the reins a little bit and get in touch with what's inside.
I was not looking for a sitcom, because the philosophy at that point was that you had to make a choice: Were you going to do movies or TV? You couldn't cross over.
I'm not perfect, but I'd like to be perfect. I'm working on it.
Did you know that, if you visualise, you can actually hug on the phone?
I think, head up and shoulders back. Not only does it make you look taller and thinner but it gives you confidence and boosts your self-esteem.
I'd spent ten years in London, writing and performing my own comedy shows. They gave me the Cheers [scenes], and I thought it was the springboard for chatting about the show, because in England, that's what you do. So I walk in, and I'm looking around, and Jimmy Burrows said, "What are you looking at? You're not here to have a conversation; you're here to audition."
I dont believe in predestination, even though I was raised a Presbyterian.
If brains were money, you'd need to take out a loan to buy a cup of coffee.
People had been so attached to the Diane [Cheers] character that audiences and producers found it difficult to think of me in any other terms. It took some time before people would consider me for other parts.