Kathryn Joosten
Kathryn Joosten, who plays Wisteria Lane's cranky snoop Karen McCluskey on Desperate Housewives, is battling a recurrence of lung cancer.
See photos of Joosten on Desperate Housewives
Doctors found a spot on the 69-year-old Joosten's left lung during a recent physical. She was previously diagnosed with the disease in 2001, but went into remission after surgery, without having to have chemotherapy or radiation treatments. Joosten, who is also known...
read more
Cynthia Nixon by Jim Spellman/WireImage.com and Kathryn Joosten by Mathew Imaging/WireImage.com
Fresh off their Emmy wins at the Creative Arts ceremony, Kathryn Joosten, Cynthia Nixon and Glynn Turman will make the trek to the big show to present at the Primetime Emmy Awards.Joosten won her second guest actress Emmy for Desperate Housewives, while Nixon was honored for her multiple personality turn on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Turman won for his stint on In Treatment.Other stars set to present are nominees Alec Baldwin, Glenn Close, Sally Field, Sandra Oh and Ricky Gervais. Funnyman Craig Ferguson, former TV President Martin Sheen and Lipstick Jungle-r Brooke Shields are also confirmed to present.Pairings are also coming together: TV icons Mary Tyler Moore and Betty White will present together, as will Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart. Here's hoping if they do comedy actor again, the winner will actually be Steve Carell.The 60th Primetime Emmy Awards airs 8pm/ET Sunday on ABC. — Joyce EngRelated• Griffin and Silverman are Effin' Emmy Winners• Opra...
read more
Kathryn Joosten by Ron Tom/ABC
A missing persons case is going to vex Wisteria Lane — except it involves not so much a human, but a pet.Kathryn Joosten, aka Desperate Housewives' Karen McCluskey, tells TVGuide.com that Toby (the late Ida's cat) mysteriously goes missing this season. Have Andrew's sociopath tendencies returned? Did Orson mow down the tabby with his car? Or is one of Season 5's new characters — Gale Harold's Jackson or Neal McDonough's Dave — responsible for the cat-astrophe? "This season's going to have a lot of mysteries and subplots," says Joosten, noting that Mrs. McCluskey has a knack for sniffing out the rat among the new arrivals. "Karen is the only one who can see [the real him]," says the Emmy winner and 2008 nominee.We spoke to Joosten at the opening of Petco Place, a Hollywood shelter that gives homeless individuals a spot to house furry friends. "If I were on the street and was told, ‘You can come to the shelter, but you can't bring Elliot [Joosten's 18-year-old cat]...
read more
Question: I was excited to see Kathryn Joosten make the unofficial Top 10 for the Emmys' best guest actress category. I think she was brilliant on Desperate Housewives this season, especially in the last pre-strike episode. Her delivery of Ida's eulogy was pitch-perfect, sweet without being overly sentimental, and the way she ran from the cops in the baseball field was priceless. I guess I don't really have a question here; just wanted to say I'm rooting for her.
Answer: Me too. I've adored this actress since she made her mark as the president's invaluable secretary on The West Wing (still haven't got over her death), and she brightens every show wise enough to bring her on board. They tend to use her very well on Desperate Housewives, and I'm glad the Academy has taken notice again (having awarded her a guest Emmy in 2005). Sometimes they actually get one right ...
read more
Thursday on The View, Whoopi Goldberg will get assistance in her mission to give up cigarettes in the form of Mrs. McCluskey, aka Desperate Housewives' Kathryn Joosten. "I'm a lung-cancer survivor — six years cancer-free! — so I'm going to talk to her about quitting smoking," Joosten tells us of her visit, which coincides with the Great American Smokeout and National Cancer Month. "Whoopi's got a target date, and we've got tips on how to make it easier to quit."Joosten's busy week continues Friday when she reports to NBC's Las Vegas to play "a bingo-obsessed old lady," as she puts it. "What's not to love?" she says of the guest gig. "B-9! G-44!" — With reporting by Michael Maloney
read more
I just knew that Victor Lang (John Slattery) was going to turn out to be a bad guy. He seemed too perfect. But didn't you think his mean streak came out of nowhere? He acted as though Gabrielle had never done a stupid thing before with the way he yelled at her. Yes, Gaby jumped in his arms like a child when it looked as though he was going to win the mayoral race. Yes, Gaby can be a "high maintenance nightmare," as brilliantly described by Vern (Alec Mapa). And yes, Gaby got arrested for her shenanigans with the cop (Brendan Patrick Connor), ripping up the parking tickets since she thought it was acceptable behavior for the new "First Lady of Fairview." But did Victor have to yell at her like an abusive father to a daughter? You knew as soon as he saw the bruise on her wrist caused by the cop that Victor was going to have something done to the guy. Enter the two thugs, beating up the cop. But Gaby's going ahead with the wedding. Let's see if she indeed says "I do" in two weeks.Kudos...
read more
Seems as though just about all of the housewives were having feelings for two men tonight. Susan had to choose between Ian and Mike; Gabrielle was dealing with her jealous feelings about Carlos while celebrating her engagement to Victor; and Lynette was further flirting innocently with Rick, much to the suspicions of Tom. For the first time ever, Edie was the only housewife devoting her attention to just one man. Nice change of pace for an episode that focused on the subject of gossip.First off, can we all agree that we're happy our dear Mrs. McCluskey was released from jail and finally told everyone what she secretly revealed to just Parker last week? I don't think any of us wanted her to be a murderer. Mrs. McC's explanation that she came home and found her husband dead on the couch with the remote still in his hand made perfect sense when she added that she discovered his pension plan had not been changed to make her the beneficiary (silly Gilbert forgot to switch it from his fir...
read more
I love it when the DH writers give us those moments that involve a murder or a mystery and only one character is told the story behind the murder or the solution to the mystery, but we as viewers don't hear it and are left wondering. In this case, little Parker Scavo was told by Mrs. McCluskey exactly why her dead husband is inside her freezer, but he was sworn to secrecy. I assumed Ida Greenberg would be the one to first discover the secret (after seeing last week's coming attractions), but I didn't expect one of the Scavo boys to be the very first discoverer. Parker's look of utter shock was perfect (kudos to Zane Huett for being a super little actor). One of the funniest parts was at the hospital when Parker first told Mrs. McCluskey about his encounter while they were alone. Mrs. M: "Don't tell your brothers — you were always my favorite." Parker: "I saw the man in your freezer." Mrs. M (shouting): "Lynette! Can you go get me some green jello?" So when Ida was the second pe...
read more
Last week, I complained about ABC revealing too much during their promos and coming attractions. This week, I must do the opposite. Thank you, ABC, for not revealing too much about the plot of this episode in last week's previews. We were simply teased without seeing any key plot developments. For all we knew, Edie and Carlos were going to have amazing sex together because of those Postman Always Rings Twice-like scenes they showed, not the "amazingly bad" sex they had their first two attempts. I loved Edie bitching at Carlos about referring to her as being "bad in bed." Edie: "I've had more thrills leaning up against the dryer." I was pleased to see the two of them finally have success at the very end. I kind of wish they played Nicollette Sheridan's other half's song "Time, Love and Tenderness" when they showed them lying in bed together after the good sex. Sometimes that's all it takes — time, love and tenderness — rather than, "Wham bam, thank you, ma'am."I found it qu...
read more
After last week's laugh-filled hour, tonight was a bit of a letdown as far as the humor level goes. This doesn't mean I didn't like this episode — I just enjoyed it less, and I am in agreement with those of you who are starting to get a bit tired of the Alma story line. When, oh, when will we get to see Monique in flashbacks again? At least we know that those teeth are actually Monique's, as expected, and we found out what Alma was injecting herself with — hormones, so she'd get pregnant more easily. Speaking of which, how about Alma giving Orson both sleeping pills and Viagra so that she could rape him while he was passed out? I do give the writers (Valerie Ahern and Christian McLaughlin) credit for making references to Viagra without actually mentioning it, like Alma saying she gave Orson something "to keep the part of you I need nice and perky." That was pretty creepy when Gloria mentioned how much she wanted a grandchild while Alma got ready for her night with Orson by...
read more
