Marcia Cross biography

Synopsis

Marcia Cross was born on March 25, 1962, in Marlborough, Massachusetts, started acting at a young age and studied at the Juilliard School in New York City. After many roles on various television shows, she landed on the hit television series Melrose Place as Dr. Kimberly Shaw. In 2004, she began the hit show Desperate Housewives as Bree Van De Kamp, the perfectionist homemaker.

Early Life

Actress Marcia Cross was born on March 25, 1962, in Marlborough, Massachusetts. Best known for her role on the hit series Desperate Housewives, Marcia Cross played the uptight, perfectionist homemaker Bree Van De Kamp. Her love of acting developed after she appeared in her first school play. Cross went on to study at the prestigious Juilliard School in New York City.

Early Career

At the start of her professional career, Marcia Cross appeared in stage productions and on several soap operas in the mid-1980s, including The Edge of Night, Another World and One Life to Live. She later moved to Los Angeles and found work on primetime television and in film. Cross made guest appearances on Cheers, Who's the Boss and Quantum Leap. She also joined the cast of Knots Landing for the 1991-92 season as Victoria Broyard.

But it was her portrayal of Dr. Kimberly Shaw on the hit evening soap Melrose Place that catapulted Marcia Cross into the public consciousness. During the course of the series, her over-the-top character went through all sorts of drama including an adulterous relationship with fellow married doctor Michael Mancini (who she later tried to kill), kidnapping a baby and even attempting to blow up the apartment complex mentioned in the series' title. Audiences loved the character so much so that she was even brought back from the dead.

'Desperate Housewives'

Marcia Cross went on to play a much more realistic doctor on the family drama Everwood in 2003. The following year, she took a lead role in the hit comedy series Desperate Housewives with Teri Hatcher, Felicity Huffman and Eva Longoria. Time and again on the show, Cross fascinated and amused audiences as Bree Van De Kamp. Bree's quest for domestic perfection didn't quite come to fruition during the series, as her marriage to doctor husband Rex fell apart and he was poisoned by a pharmacist in love with her. Cross received an Emmy Award nomination for her work on the series in 2005 along with her castmates Hatcher and Huffman.

Personal Life

Married since June 2006, Marcia Cross and stockbroker husband Tom Mahoney welcomed twin daughters, Eden and Savannah, in February 2007.