Shelley Morrison | |
---|---|
Born |
Rachel Mitrani October 26, 1936 New York City, New York U.S. |
Other names | Rachel Dominguez |
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 1961–present |
Spouse(s) | Walter Dominguez (m. 1973) |
Website | http://shelleymorrison.com/HOME.html |
Shelley Morrison (born Rachel Mitrani; October 26, 1936) is an American actress. Early in her career, she was sometimes credited as Rachel Domínguez. Morrison has been a theater and television actress since the early 1960s, predominantly as a character actress in ethnic roles. Her most recognizable role has been as the maid Rosario Salazar in the NBC comedy television series Will & Grace, which she played from 1999 to 2006. She was a regular performer on the sitcom The Flying Nun playing Sister Sixto, a nun known mostly for mangling the English language; and she continued in television guest roles until securing a recurring role in the soap opera General Hospital in 1982.
Morrison was born in New York City, the only daughter of Sephardic Jewish, specifically Spanish Jewish, parents originally surnamed Mitrani. She was raised in the Bronx, New York, and her first language was Spanish. Her father, Maurice Morris, was a clothing manufacturer. Morrison moved to California with her parents in 1946.
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).
From 1965 to 1967, she appeared four times as an American Indian, Linda Little Trees, in the NBC western television series, Laredo: in the episodes "Yahoo", "Jinx", "No Bugles, One Drum", and "Split the Difference." In 1967 she capitalized on her experiences learning English to play the Puerto Rican nun, Sister Sixto, who had trouble with English in Sally Field's show The Flying Nun. She would keep this role until the show was cancelled in 1970.