Biography

Marcia Anne Cross (born March 25, 1962) is an American actress. She is known for her television roles as Bree Van de Kamp on the ABC comedy-drama series Desperate Housewives, and as Dr. Kimberly Shaw on the Fox soap opera Melrose Place.

Cross is of English descent and was born in Marlborough, Massachusetts, the daughter of Janet, a teacher, and Mark Cross, a personnel manager. Her sister is singer/songwriter, Ellen Cross. Her parents raised her in the Roman Catholic religion. She grew up with two sisters, Susan and Ellen.

Cross graduated from the Juilliard School in New York, and earned a master’s degree in psychology at Antioch University Los Angeles. She began her television career in 1984 on the soap opera The Edge of Night. She then moved from New York to Los Angeles, and soon landed roles in television movies such as The Last Days of Frank and Jessie James, co-starring with Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson. In 1986 she joined the cast of the ABC daytime drama One Life to Live, where she played Kate Sanders, until 1987.

In 1991, Cross guest-starred on the 13th season of Knots Landing as the wife of Pierce Lawton (Bruce Greenwood). She spent a lot of her screen-time on the show confronting Paige Matheson, played by her future Desperate Housewives co-star Nicollette Sheridan.

In 1992, Cross gained widespread recognition, cast as Dr. Kimberly Shaw on the FOX drama series Melrose Place. Initially cast for one episode, she so impressed the producers that they kept bringing her back. By the second season, her character was emerging as the mentally unbalanced antagonist of the show and provided some of the most memorable moments including stealing her neighbor’s baby, detonating a series of bombs in the titular apartment complex, battling with split personalities and finally dying from a ruptured aneurysm towards the end of the fifth season.

Cross guest-starred on series such as Seinfeld, where she played Jerry’s dermatologist girlfriend Dr. Sitarides (whom he mocked as “Pimple Popper M.D.”), and Cheers, where she portrayed Susan Howe, the younger sister to Kirstie Alley’s character, Rebecca Howe. She also appeared on the comedies Boy Meets World, Ally McBeal, Spin City, It’s Garry Shandling’s Show and King of Queens. Her dramatic roles include appearances on CSI, Profiler, Everwood and Touched by an Angel.

In 2003, prior to her role on Desperate Housewives, Cross spent a season starring as Linda Abbott on WB’s critically acclaimed series, Everwood.

In 2004, Cross landed the role of Bree Van de Kamp on the ABC dramedy series Desperate Housewives.

On stage, Cross has performed in La Ronde at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, in Twelfth Night, or What You Will at the Hartford Stage Company, and in The Two Gentlemen of Verona at the Old Globe in San Diego. Her film credits include Living in Fear, Always Say Good-bye, Dancing in September, Bad Influence, and Female Perversions.

In November 2005, Cross appeared on the cover of the newly launched Psychologies magazine in the United Kingdom where she discussed her passion for psychology and therapy.

From late 2009 onwards, Cross fronted various television advertising campaigns in the United Kingdom for the country’s Albert Barlett Rooster Potatoes company. Cross appear in the indie film Bringing Up Bobby in 2011.

Cross was the long-time companion of actor Richard Jordan, who was 25 years older than her. Jordan died from a brain tumor in 1993.

Cross and Tom Mahoney (b. 1958), a stock broker whom she had been dating for six months, were married on June 24, 2006, in front of 200 guests at the Church of Our Savior Episcopal Parish in San Gabriel, California. Cross underwent in vitro fertilization soon after her wedding. On January 11, 2007, she was placed on precautionary bedrest, requiring her to suspend her Desperate Housewives acting duties. Cross did not want to give up working, even bringing the entire cast and crew to her home to shoot some scenes in her bedroom, which was painted to look like Bree’s. On February 20, 2007, Cross gave birth to fraternal twin daughters, Eden and Savannah, at a Los Angeles hospital, shortly before Cross’s 45th birthday. Both children were baptized at Trinity Episcopal Church.

In September 2008, Cross stated in an interview that she was “in heaven right now” looking after her newborn twins, but also stated that she has a desire to adopt a child in the near future.

In December 2008, Cross became the face of Mott’s apple sauce; commercials began airing in March 2009.

On January 20, 2009, it was announced that Cross’s husband had been diagnosed with cancer.