Marcia Anne Cross (born March 25, 1962) is an Emmy- and Golden Globe-nominated American actress. She is perhaps best known for her role as Dr. Kimberly Shaw on the hit soap opera Melrose Place, and in recent years has come to be known for her lead role as Bree Van De Kamp Hodge on the hit TV show Desperate Housewives.

Biography

Career

Cross started her television career in the 1980s TV hit The Edge of Night, in 1984. She graduated from the Juilliard School in New York, and earned master's degree in psychology at LA's Antioch University. Prior to her role on Desperate Housewives, Cross starred as Dr. Linda Abbott on WB's critically-acclaimed series, Everwood. She is also well known for her portrayal of the mentally unbalanced Dr. Kimberly Shaw on Melrose Place, whom she played from 1992 to 1997. Kimberly was, and remains, a firm fan favorite - providing many of the show's most memorable moments, in her plans to kill many of the characters on the show. One Melrose website's poll on most popular characters on the show listed Cross's Kimberly Shaw as THE fan favorite but the series' producers were curiously slow in promoting Cross to full-fledged cast member status in the opening credits, an honor she did not receive until her fourth season in the role despite having had as much screen time as any series regular. However, the rumor is that Cross herself hesitated to join the cast as she did not want to be tied down to a long term contract.