Shelley Long, born on August 23, 1949, in Fort Wayne, Indiana, is an American actress, singer, and comedian. She is best known for her role as Diane Chambers on the sitcom "Cheers," for which she received five Emmy nominations and won the award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 1983.

Shelley also won two Golden Globe Awards for her performance on "Cheers".

Her early life was marked by her active participation in high school speech competitions, where she won the National Forensic League's National Championship in Original Oratory in 1967.

She studied drama at Northwestern University but left before graduating to pursue a career in acting and modeling. Her first job was as a meal plan checker at the university.

Her career took off when she joined The Second City comedy troupe in Chicago and began performing in local commercials. She also wrote, produced, and co-hosted the television program "Sorting It Out," which won three Regional Emmys.

She made her feature film debut in "A Small Circle of Friends" in 1980 and went on to star in several films, including "Night Shift," "Irreconcilable Differences," "The Money Pit," "Outrageous Fortune," and "The Brady Bunch Movie."

Shelley Long was married to Bruce Tyson, a securities broker, from 1981 until their divorce in 2004. They have a daughter, Juliana Tyson, born in 1985. After her divorce, she decided to focus on her daughter and took a step back from her acting career. She made a brief return to television with a recurring role on "Modern Family" from 2009 to 2012.

Shelley Long prefers a low-profile lifestyle and is rarely seen in public. She has traded the glamorous Hollywood lifestyle for a more ordinary life, often dressing casually and spending time with her daughter.