This article was originally published on Lizanest.com

Shelley Long kept more hidden behind Diane Chambers’s perfect smile than viewers ever guessed. She wore a protective wig beneath the punishing Cheers lights, finished a season eight months pregnant, and became the center of cast rumors that followed her for decades. Kelsey Grammer believed she wanted him gone, while a frightening hospitalization later brought reporters to her private life. Yet the truth behind her sudden exit remained the question no one could stop asking.

#1: Shelley Long Is Born in Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1949

Shelley Lee Long was born on August 23, 1949, in Fort Wayne, Indiana. She was the only child of Ivadine Williams Long, a schoolteacher, and Leland Long, who initially worked in the rubber industry.

Leland later became a teacher, placing education at the center of the family’s daily life. Growing up without siblings gave Shelley considerable independence, but her parents also expected discipline and achievement. Those expectations soon helped uncover an unusual talent for speaking before an audience.