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Shelley Morrison, an actor with a 50-year career who is best known for playing Will & Grace‘s sassy and chronically annoyed maid Rosario, has passed. Morrison died on December 1 at the age of 83.
According to Morrison’s publicist, the actor died from heart failure after a brief illness at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. “Shelley’s greatest pride as an actress was in playing the indomitable Rosario in a comedy series that furthered the cause of social equity and fairness for LGBTQ people,” Morrison’s husband Walter Dominguez said in a statement to the Associated Press. “She also took pride in portraying a strong, loving yet feisty Latina character. She believed that the best way to change hearts and minds was through comedy.”
From 1999 to 2006 Morrison portrayed Rosario, a maid from El Salvator who was the only one who could match Karen’s relentless insults. Altogether Morrison appeared in 68 episodes of Will & Grace. Morrison’s scenes with Megan Mullally, the actor behind Karen, are often regarded as some of the funniest moments of this classic sitcom. In addition to starring in Will & Grace Morrison also appeared in Handy Mandy, My Name is Earl, Shark Tale, and Home Improvement. But Rosario always held a special place in the late actor’s heart.
“Rosario is one of my all-time favorite characters,” the late Morrison said recently according to a statement that was given announcing her death. “She reminds me a lot of my own mother, who loved animals and children, but she would not suffer fools. It is very significant to me that we were able to show an older, Hispanic woman who is bright and smart and can hold her own.”
