Shelley Lee Long (born August 23, 1949 in Fort Wayne, Indiana) is an American actress. After graduating from South Side High School in Fort Wayne, she studied drama at Northwestern University, but left before graduating to pursue a career in acting and modeling. In Chicago she joined The Second City comedy troupe. Then, in 1975, she began writing, producing, and co-hosting the popular television program Sorting It Out. The local NBC broadcast went on to win three Emmy Awards for Best Entertainment Show. Her first notable role came in 1980 with A Small Circle of Friends, opposite Brad Davis and Karen Allen. The film about social unrest at Harvard University during the 1960s was a critical success, though it remained relatively obscure. In 1981, she played the eye candy in the prehistoric Ringo Starr vehicle Caveman, opposite Dennis Quaid. She was also featured in the Henry Winkler comedy Night Shift about life working the night shift at a city morgue and she starred with Tom Cruise in the 1983 comedy film Losin' It. |
