<Tr> <Th> Children </Th> <Td> Claire Dunphy (daughter) Mitchell Pritchett (son) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Relatives </Th> <Td> Mr. Pritchett (ex-father - in - law) Mrs. Pritchett (ex-mother - in - law) Donnie Pritchett (ex-brother - in - law) Becky Pritchett (ex-sister - in - law) </Td> </Tr> <P> DeDe Williams (Shelley Long) (formerly Pritchett) is Mitchell and Claire's mother and Jay's ex-wife . It has been implied that she may be mentally ill due to her somewhat manipulative and sometimes aggressive ways . It is implied that she was initially more accepting of Mitchell's sexual orientation than Jay was when he first came out . She often uses her close relationship with Mitchell to get him to do things he does not want to do . Jay wanted to divorce her after a spectacular fight they had while their kids were still in school (he taped over an episode of Dallas to record an NFL game that, ironically, featured the Dallas Cowboys) but was inspired by an animatronic Abraham Lincoln exhibit at Disneyland to stick things out until Claire and Mitchell reached adulthood . She is still bitter over Jay's remarriage to Gloria and even attempted to ruin their wedding, which she convinced Mitchell to talk Jay and Gloria into inviting her to; she got drunk and made rude and inappropriate toasts and eventually had to be dragged out of the reception, in the process ruining the wedding cake . She is very aggressive towards Gloria, often trying to physically attack her . DeDe is also passive aggressive toward Cameron about his weight, and is often critical of Claire, especially her appearance . She also seems to be very good friends with Manny as they write letters to each other talking about their personal issues . DeDe is also a famous author and poet . A running gag throughout the series is that DeDe's arrival is always forewarned by bad omens, (birds crashing into the window or peaceful scenarios spontaneously turning chaotic). </P> <P> Her antagonistic and aggressive relationship to Gloria surprisingly changes in the episode "Arrested ." When DeDe sees that Gloria is pregnant, she finds it so fantastic that her ex-husband is going to be a father again at his age . It also seemed to have fixed her uterus which she claimed was telescopic and they both bonded over Jay - bashing when DeDe tells Gloria that she was always the one having to change diapers, clean spit - up and getting baby equipment . Gloria was sympathetic explaining that it makes sense to why DeDe became so crazy to which DeDe answered "Right?". </P>

Who plays jay's ex wife on modern family