Fans baffled as 90s TV star from hit shows Cheers and Friends looks barely recognizable in LA

Fans were left doing a double take this week after one of the most prolific actresses of the 80s and 90s appeared looking barely recognizable in Los Angeles.

The 66-year-old star, still stunning decades after her time on the 1988 sitcom Duets, stepped out in a casual ensemble while running errands, including a stop at the grocery store.

She wore a brown jacket with matching trousers and a tan scarf, a far cry from the glamorous wardrobe she sported alongside Kirstie Alley and John Larroquette in the 1990s comedy Madhouse.

It was also a major departure from one of her most famous roles – Joanna, Rachel Green’s (Jennifer Aniston) demanding boss at Bloomingdale’s, who briefly dated Chandler Bing (Matthew Perry) before being famously killed by a cab in Friends Season 4.

The versatile star also showed off her cover-girl looks in shows including Cheers, Grey’s Anatomy, Malcolm in the Middle and the CBS sitcom Mom, as well as guest appearances on Family Ties, ER and Desperate Housewives. 

But despite the casual look, her identity has left fans guessing – can you name the iconic actress?

If you said Alison La Placa, you’re right. 

LaPlaca grew up in the Chicago suburb of Lincolnshire in what she calls a ‘typical, upper-middle-class suburban household,’ far removed from the chaos of her TV worlds, per her 1994 New York Times interview. 

She was trained in musical theatre but focused exclusively on television after moving to Los Angeles in 1983, racking up guest spots, commercials, and made-for-TV movies.

Her first weekly series role came in Duet from 1987 to 1989, where she played Linda Phillips, a sharp-tongued yuppie wife and mother – a role that showcased her knack for arch, witty characterizations.

In 1994, she was cast as Tom Arnold’s wife on his CBS sitcom Tom, a pairing she described as ‘classic Abbott and Costello,’ combining her wry sophistication with his broad bumbling.

Despite critics questioning the odd match, LaPlaca praised Arnold and his wife Roseanne as ‘very warm and very available…eccentric, bigger than life — but very kind and generous’ in the article.

At the time, she credited television for keeping her craft alive, saying, ‘Sitcom is musical theatre without the music…my mission has been to make a worthwhile contribution to sitcom and legitimize it a little.’

LaPlaca’s rise from suburban Chicago to Hollywood screens was steady and deliberate. 

She moved to Los Angeles in the early 80s and quickly found work in television, including the made-for-TV movie Listen to Your Heart (1983) and a role in the short-lived sitcom Suzanne Pleshette Is Maggie Briggs (1984). 

She even had a small part in the comedy hit Fletch (1985), giving her a taste of the big-screen spotlight.. 

LaPlaca’s theater training helped, but she found her true home on television, guest-starring on Family Ties, ER, Cheers, and later Desperate Housewives, proving she could seamlessly move between comedy and drama.

Throughout the 90s, LaPlaca became a familiar face in households across America.

She appeared on animated favorites like Batman: The Animated Series and Johnny Bravo, and landed recurring roles on shows including Malcolm in the Middle and Boston Legal.

Off-screen, she has enjoyed a long and steady marriage to actor-director Philip Charles MacKenzie, whom she met on set. 

The couple keeps a low-key home life in Los Angeles, raising their two cats and staying far removed from Hollywood drama.