Bubbly blond “Cheers” star Shelley Long – depressed over the bust-up of her marriage – was rushed to the hospital after taking an overdose of painkillers in an apparent suicide bid.
The 55-year-old actress, who played ditzy waitress Diane Chambers on the classic TV sitcom, was taken to UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles after the heartbreaking incident.
Long had been extremely depressed in recent months, was barely eating and often spent long periods of time in bed, said friends, speculating that that she tried to kill herself. “It is very sad to see this woman, who is only 55, looking like she’s turning 90,” one pal told The Sun newspaper of London.
Another friend said, “For 18 months she’s been getting more and more depressed. It’s like seeing someone falling off a cliff.
“She told some of her good friends she felt she had nothing to live for.”
The incident took place on Nov. 16, and hospital records show she was discharged on Tuesday. Long’s mom, in a brief phone interview, confirmed to The Post last night that her daughter is no longer in the hospital.
The actress’ securities-broker husband, Bruce Tyson, walked out last year after 22 years of marriage. They are now divorcing, and Long had to leave their Hollywood mansion when it was sold. She now lives alone.
Long met Tyson on a blind date in 1979. They were wed two years later – it was her second marriage – and the couple have one daughter, Juliana, 19.
The actress starred in several films since leaving “Cheers” in 1987, six years before it ended in 1993.
Among the flicks were 1995’s “The Brady Bunch Movie,” in which she played Carol Brady, and 2000’s “Dr. T and the Women,” her most recent big-screen appearance. In that movie, she co-starred with Richard Gere and Farrah Fawcett.
Many see her career as a classic example of what happens to some TV stars who give up popular roles in hope of even greater fame on the silver screen.
Long’s appearances in such movies as 1987’s “Hello Again” and 1989’s “Troop Beverly Hills” weren’t enough to sustain her fame.
Long never regained the popularity she enjoyed as the overeducated “Cheers” barmaid, who was a foil to – and was foiled by – bar owner Sam Malone, played by Ted Danson.
She’s slated to make a rare TV guest appearance tonight in a Thanksgiving edition of the ABC series “Complete Savages.”
She began as a model and then joined Chicago’s famed Second City comedy troupe before hitting it big on TV.
She played on “Cheers” for five years, winning an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 1983 and winning Golden Globe Awards for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 1983 and for Best Actress in a Comedy Series in 1985. Additional reporting by David K. Li and Bill Sanderson