Shelley Morrison (born Rachel Mitrani on October 26, 1936 in New York City) is an American actress. Early in her career, she was sometimes also credited as Rachel DomÃnguez.
Morrison has been a theater and television actress since the early 1960s, predominantly as a character actress in ethnic roles. Her most widely recognizable recent role has been as the Salvadoran maid Rosario Inez Consuelo Yolanda 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, and she continued in television guest roles until securing a recurring role in the soap opera General Hospital in 1982. She has also been called a non-hispanic but is actually a Sephardic Jew of Spanish descent.
She has endorsed U.S. Congressman Dennis Kucinich for President in 2008, actively fundraising, contributing to his campaign, and seeking votes for him.
Despite remaining on the periphery of character stardom all these years, New York-born character actress Shelley Morrison has had a long and varied career since the early 60s. She started out on TV in such popular shows as "The Farmer's Daughter" and "Laredo," making a career out of an assortment of ethnic roles. In films she played Indian squaws in Three Guns for Texas (1968) and Mackenna's Gold (1969), as well as minor Hispanic roles in Castle of Evil (1966), Man and Boy (1972) and Troop Beverly Hills (1989). While most people remember her with fondness as the adorably shy but spirited Sister Sixto who had problems mastering English (Shelley did in real life as well, as Spanish is her native language) in the cult Sally Field starrer "The Flying Nun" (1967-1970), today's audiences have been relishing her turnabout performance as the vinegary El Salvadorean housekeeper, Rosario, the only character who doesn't mince words with Megan Mullally's socialite boss in another cult sitcom "Will & Grace" since 1998. Shelley's acting roots are firmly entrenched in the theatre, having performed, produced and directed hosts of plays over the years in Los Angeles, New York and abroad. Dampening the enjoyment of her renewed TV success, however, has been recent battles with cancer which is now in remission.
