Background
Shelley was born in London, England, the daughter of Deborah (née Bloomstein), a singer, and Curtis Shelley, a composer. Her father was a German Jew and her mother was of Russian Jewish descent.
Shelley was born in London, England, the daughter of Deborah (née Bloomstein), a singer, and Curtis Shelley, a composer. Her father was a German Jew and her mother was of Russian Jewish descent.
Student, Arts Educational School, 1956. Student, Prepatory Academy Royal Academy Dramatic Art, 1957. Studies with Iris Warren and Eileen Thorndike.
Among her many stage roles are the character of Madame Morrible in the original Broadway cast of the musical Wicked. On stage, Shelley made her Broadway debut as Gwendolyn Pigeon in the original 1965 production of The Odd Couple (starring Art Carney and Walter Matthau). She reprised the role for the 1968 film version (starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau), and for (the first part of) the first season of the subsequent television series (starring Tony Randall and Jack Klugman).
During the 1970s and 1980s she appeared in several plays, including as Rosalind in As You Like lieutenant at the 1972 Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Ontario.
Shelley also began appearing in musicals in the late 1990s, with the revivals of Show Boat as Parthy and Cabaret as Fraulein Schneider in 1999. In 2003, Shelley created the role of Madame Morrible in the original Broadway cast of the musical Wicked, a role which she later reprised in the show"s national touring company in 2005 and in 2006 in the Chicago production.
Shelley played the role of Grandma in the Broadway production of Billy Elliot at the Imperial Theatre, beginning performances in October 2008. In 2014 Shelley replaced Jane Carr as Mission Shingle in A Gentleman"s Guide to Love and Murder.
Married Albert G. Woods, July 26, 1967 (deceased).