The show was slow to capture an audience but eventually became one of the most popular on the air.
They married in 1981 and had a daughter, Juliana.
Long plays a workaholic who finds out that her best friend has cancer and only six months to live, then stays with her in her last months.
I didn't want it to become old and stale.
She was active on her high school speech team, competing in the Indiana High School Forensic Association.
She is the daughter of Ivadine, a school teacher, and Leland Long, who worked in the rubber industry before becoming a teacher.