Profile of Shelley Morrison on Famous Like Me

Shelley Morrison (born October 26, 1936 in New York City) is an American actress.

Born Rachel Mitriani and sometimes credited early in her career as Rachel Dominguez, Morrison has been a stage and television actress since the early 1960s. She was a regular performer on the sitcom The Flying Nun playing "Sister Sixto", and she continued in television guest roles until securing a recurring role in the soap opera General Hospital in 1982.

Although she has played a variety of stereotypical Hispanic roles going all the way back to her days as “Sister Sixto” on The Flying Nun, “Juanita” on Sisters, and continuing on to her role as Salvadoran maid “Rosario Ynez Consuela Yolanda Salazar” on Will & Grace, Shelley Morrison was actually raised in the Bronx, New York, the only daughter of Sephardic Jewish parents. Her father, Maurice Morris, was a clothing manufacturer who died when she was only 10, and shortly before his death he had relocated the family to Los Angeles. Morrison went on to study acting at Los Angeles City College and landed early film roles in Divorce American Style and How to Save a Marriage (And Ruin Your Life). A bout with breast cancer in 1988 forced her to undergoing a lumpectomy, and when the cancer recurred in 1998 she underwent a full mastectomy. She also has battled lung cancer and underwent surgery which removed the upper third of her right lung. She currently lives with her husband, Walter Dominguez, in a three-story apartment in Los Angeles; the same apartment in which her father had settled the family into five decades earlier.

Her most widely recognisable recent role has been as the Salvadoran maid Rosario Salazar in the NBC comedy television series Will & Grace. The role was originally created for a brief one episode appearance, but was so popular with viewers, that the character became a regular. In addition to sparring with her employer Karen Walker, played by Megan Mullally, the Rosario storyline has also allowed her to marry Jack McFarland, played by Sean Hayes in a marriage of convenience designed to prevent her impending deportation.

In approximately 25 film appearances and 35 television appearances, Morrison has portrayed a maid or housekeeper on 32 separate occasions (including in Columbo and the film Troop Beverly Hills.) Morrison had just recently informed her agent not to offer her any more "maid parts" when the call for Will & Grace came in.

Morrison has revealed that she was diagnosed with cancer in recent years, but that she is now in remission.

Morrison was charged with shoplifting from a California department store in 2003, but the charges have since been dropped.

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