Marcia Anne Cross (born March 25, 1962) is an American actress, known for her portrayals of
Bree Hodge on the TV show
Desperate Housewives and Dr. Kimberly Shaw on the prime-time soap opera
Melrose Place.
Career
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.
