After graduating from the classical-acting program at Juilliard, this vampy redhead alternated between stage and small-screen parts before hitting it big as a psychotic doctor on the campy '90s prime-time soap
Melrose Place. During her tenure, her longtime companion actor Richard Jordan died, but Cross never let her personal pain affect her work. After leaving the series in 1997, the brainy actress slowed down her career pace in order to earn a master's in psychology. In the early '00s, she made a triumphant return to series television, first as a sane doctor on
Everwood, then as a perfectionist homemaker on
Desperate Housewives, a role that earned Cross her first Emmy nomination, in 2005, and three successive Golden Globe nods.
Marcia Cross Fast Facts:
- Became interested in acting when she performed in her first school play, a sixth-grade production titled The Witch of Blackbird Pond.
- Guest-starred as Rebecca Howe's sexy sister Susan in an episode of Cheers.
- Supports several charitable causes, including the Revlon Run/Walk, which raises money for breast-cancer research.
- Announced she was pregnant with twins in September 2006 and was put on bed rest in January 2007.
- Marcia Cross Relationships:
- Richard Jordan - Ex-significant Other
- Eden - Daughter
- Ellen Cross - Sister
- Janet Cross - Mother
- Mark Cross - Father
- Savannah - Daughter
- Susan Cross - Sister
- Tom Mahoney - Husband
- Marcia Cross Awards:
- 2005 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy - Nominee
- 2006 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy - Nominee
- 2007 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy - Nominee
- 2005 Emmy: Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series - Nominee
- College:
- Juilliard School, New York, NY; Antioch University, Los Angeles, CA (master's degree in Psychology)
