Shelley Morrison

Though she enjoyed a long career in character roles on television and in film, actress Shelley Morrison was best known as Rosario, the feisty maid to Megan Mullally's catty Karen, on the original network run of "Will & Grace" (NBC, 1998-2006). Born Rachel Mitrani on October 26, 1936 in the South Bronx neighborhood of New York City, she was the daughter of Sephardic Jewish parents who hailed from Spain, and spoke only Spanish as a child. She later headed to California, where she attended Los Angeles City College; the experience sparked her interest in acting, and Morrison began her career in the city's theater community. To avoid being typecast in ethnic roles, she adopted "Shelley Morrison" - an amalgam of her father Morris's first name and a college nickname - as her stage moniker, and made her screen acting debut in James Michener's series "Adventures in Paradise" (ABC, 1959-1962). She worked steadily in guest roles on television throughout the 1960s and '70s, including a recurring appearance as a Native American on the Western "Laredo" (NBC, 1965-67), and enjoyed a degree of fame as Sister Sixto, a novice nun with a knack for mangling the English language, on "The Flying Nun" (ABC, 1967-1970). Like many actors of Latino heritage, Morrison played her share of domestics and immigrants, though her talent allowed her to play other ethnic roles and characters in films like "Blume in Love" (1973) and on series like "The Rookies" (ABC, 1972-76). And she had actually issued an edict to her representation about forgoing domestic characters in 1999 when a guest appearance on "Will & Grace" came her way, Her role as Salvadoran maid Rosario was initially intended as a single guest role, but her rapport with the cast - and in particular, Megan Mullally as her employer, Karen Walker - led to 68 appearances during the show's network run, as well as two Screen Actors Guild Award nominations and three ALMA nods. When "Will & Grace" ran its course in 2006, Morrison enjoyed a recurring voice-acting role on the Disney Channel animated series "Handy Manny" (2006-2013) and produced a documentary, "Weaving the Past: Journey of Discovery" (2014), which followed her husband, author and filmmaker Walter Dominguez, as he delved into his family's Mexican heritage. After several bouts with cancer, Morrison retired from acting after a voice-acting role in 2012's "Foodfight!" and did not reprise Rosario in the 2017 revival of "Will & Grace." She died from heart failure at the age of 83 at her home in Los Angeles on December 1, 2019.