# Shelley Morrison
**Shelley Morrison** was the stage name of Rachel Mitrani (born October 26, 1936, the Bronx, New York; died December 1, 2019, Los Angeles), an American character actress whose fifty-year career on stage, film, and television culminated in the role of the sharp-tongued Salvadoran maid Rosario Salazar on the NBC comedy *Will & Grace* from 1999 to 2006[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0607314/bio) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/shelly_morrison). A part written for a single episode grew into 68 appearances because of her comic chemistry with [Megan Mullally](https://www.edgepedia.org/megan-mullally), who played her employer, [Karen Walker](https://www.edgepedia.org/karen-walker-will-and-grace)[3](https://www.latimes.com/obituaries/story/2019-12-01/veteran-will-and-grace-actress-shelley-morrison-dies-at-83).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Birth name and dates | Rachel Mitrani, born October 26, 1936, in the Bronx, New York; died 2019, in Los Angeles of heart failure at age 83[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0607314/bio) • [3](https://www.latimes.com/obituaries/story/2019-12-01/veteran-will-and-grace-actress-shelley-morrison-dies-at-83) |
| Signature role | Rosario Salazar on *Will & Grace*, NBC, 1999–2006; originally a one-episode part, expanded to 68 episodes[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/shelly_morrison) • [3](https://www.latimes.com/obituaries/story/2019-12-01/veteran-will-and-grace-actress-shelley-morrison-dies-at-83) |
| Early fame | Sister Sixto, an English-mangling novice nun, on *The Flying Nun* (ABC, 1967–1970), opposite Sally Field[4](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/shelley-morrison) |
| Stage name | "Shelley Morrison," adopted in the late 1950s to avoid ethnic typecasting, from her father Morris's first name and a college nickname[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/shelly_morrison) |
| Recognition | Two Screen Actors Guild ensemble nominations (2002, 2004) and three ALMA Award nominations for *Will & Grace*[5](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/morrison-shelley-1936) |
| Final work | Voice of Mrs. Portillo on Disney's *Handy Manny* (2006–2013); last on-screen role in *Foodfight!* (2012); producer of the documentary *Weaving the Past: Journey of Discovery* (2014)[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/shelly_morrison) |
| Family | Married writer and filmmaker Walter Dominguez from 1973 until her death; they adopted six children[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0607314/bio) |
## Origins and training
Morrison was born Rachel Mitrani in the Bronx to Sephardic Jewish parents who had come from Spain; her father, Maurice Mitrani, ran a clothing manufacturing business, and the family spoke Spanish at home[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/shelly_morrison) • [5](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/morrison-shelley-1936). When she was 10 years old the family moved to [Southern California](https://www.edgepedia.org/southern-california), and she spent the rest of her life in Los Angeles, eventually living in the same apartment building her parents had owned when she was a child[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0607314/bio).
After high school she studied acting at Los Angeles City College, whose program she credited with starting her career; her classmates there included [James Coburn](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-coburn) and [Robert Vaughn](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-vaughn)[4](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/shelley-morrison). She began working in the city's theater community, appearing in a national road production of [Tennessee Williams](https://www.edgepedia.org/tennessee-williams)'s *Orpheus Descending* and, as one of Los Angeles' pioneering female stage producers, mounting the West Coast premiere of *Sweet Bird of Youth*[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0607314/bio). She remained active in theater as a performer, producer, and director throughout her screen career, and the Twelfth Annual Los Angeles Women's Theatre Festival gave her its "Eternity Award" for lifetime achievement[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0607314/bio).
## Early screen career
To avoid being typecast in ethnic roles, she adopted the stage name Shelley Morrison in the late 1950s and made her screen debut on James Michener's series *Adventures in Paradise* (ABC, 1959–1962)[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/shelly_morrison). Through the 1960s she appeared in guest parts on prime-time shows including *The Outer Limits*, *Dr. Kildare*, *The Fugitive*, *Gunsmoke*, *My Favorite Martian*, and the Western *Laredo*, where her recurring role as Linda Little Trees, a gang leader she described as "wily and brilliant," was a personal favorite[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0607314/bio) • [6](https://lahistoryarchive.socalstudio.org/posts/view/2382/interviews).
Her most visible early character was Sister Sixto on *The Flying Nun* (1967–1970), a shy but spirited Puerto Rican-born novice whose trouble with English supplied much of the comedy; she played the part alongside [Sally Field](https://www.edgepedia.org/sally-field) and Madeleine Sherwood[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0607314/bio). Under a [Columbia Pictures](https://www.edgepedia.org/columbia-pictures) contract she took small film parts in *The Greatest Story Ever Told* (1965), *Divorce American Style* (1967), *Funny Girl* (1968), *Mackenna's Gold* (1969, opposite [Gregory Peck](https://www.edgepedia.org/gregory-peck)), *Blume in Love* (1973), and the Clint Eastwood-directed drama *Breezy* (1973), among others[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0607314/bio) • [3](https://www.latimes.com/obituaries/story/2019-12-01/veteran-will-and-grace-actress-shelley-morrison-dies-at-83). Guest work through the 1970s and 1980s included *The Partridge Family*, *Marcus Welby, M.D.*, *Soap*, *Murder, She Wrote*, and *L.A. Law*, and she played Rosa the maid in *Troop Beverly Hills* (1989)[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0607314/bio).
Like many actors of Latino heritage, she was repeatedly cast as domestic workers and immigrants, though she also played a range of other ethnicities across theater, television, and film[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/shelly_morrison). By her own account she had told her representatives in 1999 to stop offering her domestic characters, just before the *Will & Grace* invitation arrived[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/shelly_morrison).
## Rosario on Will & Grace
Morrison's first appearance as Rosario came in the season one finale of *Will & Grace*, playing the maid to Karen Walker, the wealthy socialite played by Megan Mullally[7](https://www.kcur.org/2019-12-03/shelley-morrison-rosario-on-will-grace-dies-at-83). The character's contentious but affectionate exchanges with Karen proved so popular that what was planned as one episode became a recurring role across all eight seasons of the original run, totaling 68 episodes[3](https://www.latimes.com/obituaries/story/2019-12-01/veteran-will-and-grace-actress-shelley-morrison-dies-at-83). She said in a 2013 *Entertainment Tonight* interview that she had been close to retiring from acting before she received that first script[7](https://www.kcur.org/2019-12-03/shelley-morrison-rosario-on-will-grace-dies-at-83).
The part brought her two Screen Actors Guild Award nominations with the ensemble (2002 and 2004) and three ALMA Award nominations[5](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/morrison-shelley-1936). She valued the role both as a portrayal of an older Hispanic woman who was bright and could hold her own, and for the show's prominent depiction of gay characters; her husband said her greatest pride as an actress was playing Rosario on a series that "furthered the cause of social equity and fairness for LGBTQ people"[7](https://www.kcur.org/2019-12-03/shelley-morrison-rosario-on-will-grace-dies-at-83) • [3](https://www.latimes.com/obituaries/story/2019-12-01/veteran-will-and-grace-actress-shelley-morrison-dies-at-83).
## Later work and retirement
After *Will & Grace* ended in 2006, Morrison voiced Mrs. Portillo on the [Disney Channel](https://www.edgepedia.org/disney-channel) animated series *Handy Manny* from 2006 to 2013, and she produced the 2014 documentary *Weaving the Past: Journey of Discovery*, which followed her husband, writer and filmmaker Walter Dominguez, as he investigated his family's Mexican heritage[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/shelly_morrison). Her final acting credit was a voice role in the animated film *Foodfight!* (2012)[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/shelly_morrison).
A survivor of breast and lung cancer, she retired from acting and declined an invitation to reprise Rosario when *Will & Grace* was revived in 2017; the revival instead wrote the character's death into an episode[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0607314/bio) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/shelly_morrison). Morrison died of heart failure at [Cedars-Sinai Medical Center](https://www.edgepedia.org/cedars-sinai-medical-center) in Los Angeles on December 1, 2019, after a brief illness, at age 83[3](https://www.latimes.com/obituaries/story/2019-12-01/veteran-will-and-grace-actress-shelley-morrison-dies-at-83). She and Dominguez, married since 1973, had adopted three sons and three daughters through a traditional Native American ceremony, and the couple had long followed the spiritual traditions of the Lakota Sioux[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0607314/bio).
## References
1. [Shelley Morrison – Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0607314/bio)
2. [Shelley Morrison, Rotten Tomatoes celebrity profile](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/shelly_morrison)
3. [Veteran 'Will & Grace' actress Shelley Morrison dies at 83, Los Angeles Times / Associated Press (December 1, 2019)](https://www.latimes.com/obituaries/story/2019-12-01/veteran-will-and-grace-actress-shelley-morrison-dies-at-83)
4. [Shelley Morrison, Television Academy bios](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/shelley-morrison)
5. [Morrison, Shelley 1936–, Encyclopedia.com (Contemporary Theatre, Film and Television)](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/morrison-shelley-1936)
6. [Special Moments with "Will & Grace's" Shelley Morrison, LA History Archive interview](https://lahistoryarchive.socalstudio.org/posts/view/2382/interviews)
7. [Shelley Morrison, Rosario On 'Will & Grace,' Dies At 83, NPR (December 3, 2019)](https://www.kcur.org/2019-12-03/shelley-morrison-rosario-on-will-grace-dies-at-83)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 1970s to 1990s › Surnames Mo to N*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license