Valerie Mahaffey Dies: ‘The Doctors’ & ‘Northern Exposure’ Star Was 71

Valerie Mahaffey, who won an Emmy for her work on Northern Exposure and later acted on Young Sheldon, has died. She was 71 years old.

Mahaffey died in Los Angeles on Friday, May 30, after a cancer battle, her publicist told The Hollywood Reporter.

She leaves behind a decades-long screen career that also includes roles as Kyle MacLachlan’s onscreen ex-wife on Desperate Housewives and Christina Applegate’s onscreen mother-in-law in Dead to Me.