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Remembering Rosario: A Tribute to Shelley Morrison's Beloved "Will & Grace" Character

Out of Morrison's hundreds of acting credits, no character of hers shines quite as brightly as Rosario Inés Consuelo Yolanda Salazar...McFarland.

It's hard to be a scene-stealer in a cast of scene-stealers, but with a mere glare or withering delivery, Will & Grace star Shelley Morrison often walked away with the props, the lighting, and your wig line.

As Rosario, the sarcastic but begrudgingly affectionate maid to Megan Mullally's Karen Walker, Morrison found her most enduring role after decades as a working actress. Morrison died this weekend at age 83, leaving behind 64 years in acting and literally hundreds of credits to her name.

“Shelley’s greatest pride as an actress was in playing the indomitable Rosario in a comedy series that furthered the cause of social equity and fairness for LGBTQ people,” Morrison's husband, Walter Dominguez, said in a statement. “She also took pride in portraying a strong, loving yet feisty Latina character.”

Morrison had acted in 25 films, 65 plays, and more than 150 television roles, but she had most often been typecast as a maid—about 32 times, all in all. She had grown tired of playing maids and had told her agent she didn't want to do anymore roles as one when the call came in for Will & Grace.

Originally a one-off character, Rosario was only mentioned in passing until being formally introduced in the Season 1 finale, "Object of My Rejection." Rosario is in danger of getting deported, so Karen ropes Jack (Sean Hayes) into marrying her so she can get her green card and stay in the country. Classic sitcom shenanigans.

Although Rosario works for Karen, the power dynamic between the pair suggests otherwise, adding another, more caring and tender dimension to Karen's boozy socialite archetype that had been done before (and for ages, from Vera Charles in Auntie Mame to Nora Charles in The Thin Man).

Rosario proved so popular with fans that Morrison was made a series regular, appearing in 68 out of the original run of 194 episodes. She also made a brief appearance in a campaign video for Hillary Clinton.

Morrison, however, declined to appear in the reboot of the series, citing her retirement from acting. In the sixth episode of Season 9, which premiered in 2017, Rosario dies, and Karen struggles to come to grips with her feelings about the passing of her oldest and dearest friend.

A former school teacher in her native El Salvador (and not Mexico, as Karen often and wrongly suggested), Rosario Salazar was the only person in Karen Walker's life who could keep her in check—proving that behind every bad bitch is a badder bitch.

The two met in 1985 on, where else, the dance floor, as revealed in the Season 3 flashback episode, "Lows in the Mid-Eighties." Karen was heartbroken after turning down three proposals in one night—including one from "six-time Wimbledon singles champion" Martina Navratilova— to be with Stanley Walker, who, she later learned, was already married.

Karen was complaining to her go-to therapist, an uninterested bartender, when out of the smokey darkness, a woman bellowed, "Ooooh, shut your trap, barfly!" It was, of course, Rosario, working as a cigarette girl because that used to be a thing.

Calling Karen "Bozo the Clown," Rosario chastised her for bringing the room down and told the would-be Mrs. Walker that "if it was meant to be, it was meant to be."

This sage advice immediately riled Karen, and they had the first of what would become a signature bit: a heated argument that lasted all of five seconds, before they realized they're perfect for each other.

"I like you," Karen said to Rosario. "Why don't you come work for me?"

With a quick "Okay," Rosario went off with Karen, and they lived happily ever after. Well, as happily as the two of them could be before tearing each other's throats out. But as intense as their arguments were, there was always love behind it.

That's what audiences loved about Rosario—well, that and the Members Only jacket and shades combo.

Icons only.

Rest in peace, Shelley.

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