In March 2006, she alleged that she wassexually abused from the age of five by Richard Hayes Stone, an uncle by marriage who was later divorced by Hatcher's aunt. She said her parents were unaware of the abuse.[4] In 2002, she assistedSanta Clara County prosecutors with their indictment of Stone for a more recent sexual offense that led his female victim to commit suicide at 14.[1][4] Stone pleaded guilty to four counts of child sexual abuse and was sentenced to 14 years in prison.[5] Hatcher said she told the prosecutors about her own abuse because she was haunted by thoughts of the 14-year-old girl who shot herself, and feared Stone might escape conviction. Stone died ofcolon cancer on August 19, 2008, after serving six years of his sentence.[6]
Hatcher studied acting at theAmerican Conservatory Theater.[7] One of her early jobs (in 1984) was as anNFL cheerleader with theSan Francisco 49ers.[1][2] From September 1985 to May 1986, she joined the cast of the TV seriesThe Love Boat as Amy, one of the Mermaid showgirls. It mainly involved dancing and singing as part of the Mermaids show routine, but she had short comedic lines in some episodes, and in one episode was part of one of three storylines opposite a male guest star.[citation needed] From 1986 to 1989, she appeared in six episodes of the TV seriesMacGyver as talkative but naive Penny Parker oppositeRichard Dean Anderson's eponymous hero.[7]
In 1987, she played the sensible, intelligent 18-year-old daughter ofPatty Duke's lead character in the short-livedFox comedyKaren's Song, and had a guest-star role in an episode ofNight Court. In 1988, she made a short guest appearance in theStar Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Outrageous Okona" as Lt. Robinson. In 1989, she guest-starred in an episode ofQuantum Leap, "Star Crossed," as the main character's mathematician/scientist future wife; and guest-starred as a nude beauty pageant winner in an episode ofL.A. Law. That year she also made her motion picture debut with a minor role as a young opportunistic actress inThe Big Picture, starringKevin Bacon. She then playedSylvester Stallone's younger sister, a dancer, in the big-budget police action-comedyTango and Cash, also starringKurt Russell; it was a critical and box office disappointment.
After a short guest appearance in an episode ofMurphy Brown in 1990, Hatcher's next TV series role, in 1991, was in theNorman Lear creationSunday Dinner, a comedy. She co-starred as 30-year-old lawyer in a mostly physical relationship with a widowed businessman twice her age, played byRobert Loggia. The series had a brief run on CBS that summer but was not renewed. She also acted in the television crime movieDead in the Water (1991) in which she playsBryan Brown's lawyer's young, attractive temptress secretary, and in the low-budget erotic thrillerThe Cool Surface (not released until 1994), wherein she plays a young actress who has an ill-fated romance with an enigmatic, unsettled screenwriter. In late 1991 Hatcher was featured asMichael Bolton's love interest in the music video for Bolton's hit song "Missing You Now". In 1992, Hatcher tried out for the role of Jamie Buchman onMad About You and made it to the final two choices, but lost the part toHelen Hunt.[8]
Hatcher made a much-discussed guest appearance on a1993 episode ofSeinfeld, in which her character, Sidra, breaks up withJerry because she believes Jerry sent his friendElaine into a sauna to find out if Sidra's breasts are natural or enhanced by surgery. The episode concludes with Sidra saying to Jerry, "By the way, they're real, and they're spectacular" as she leaves his apartment. Hatcher returned to play Sidra in brief scenes in two subsequent episodes: "The Pilot", the fourth season finale, and "The Finale (Part 2)", the series finale.[citation needed]
Hatcher landed a starring role in theABC television seriesLois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman as theDaily Planet reporterLois Lane (oppositeDean Cain asSuperman/Clark Kent) from 1993 to 1997.[1] At the height of the show's popularity in 1995, a picture of Hatcher wearing nothing but Superman's iconic red cape[9][better source needed] was reportedly the most downloaded image on theInternet for several months. "It's a great shot," she said. "Not so much because it's me. It's just cool looking."[10] Hatcher also co-wrote an episode for season three called "It's A Small World After All" about a former classmate who shrinks and kidnaps her classmate's spouses and traps them in a dollhouse.
Hatcher hostedNBC'sSaturday Night Live in 1996. Hatcher won the role ofParis Carver (beatingMonica Bellucci) in the 1997James Bond filmTomorrow Never Dies. Hatcher was three months pregnant at the filming's start. A publicist said the pregnancy did not affect the production schedule.[11] She was voted theworld's sexiest woman by readers of popular men's magazineFHM in spring 1997 after having been number four in 1996 and was number 15 in 1998; she also made the list's top 100 in 1999 and 2000.[12] Celebrity Sleuth ranked her as its Sexiest Woman for 1997, the only year it ranked her in its Top 25 list.[13] The Australian version ofFHM began a 100 Sexiest Women list in 1998 and Hatcher placed 25th on the list, but she did not make the next list published in 2000.[14]
Hatcher also appeared in films such asSpy Kids (2001), and played a villain in two crime dramas, the ensemble2 Days in the Valley (1996), a moderate box office success, andHeaven's Prisoners (1996), co-starringAlec Baldwin, which failed at the box office.
Hatcher again made FHM'sworld's sexiest woman list in 2005 and 2006, placing at 63 and 81 those years, respectively.[12] The US version of FHM ranked her in its US's 100 Sexiest Woman list five times between its inaugural edition in 2000 and 2007, with peaks of number 7 in 2005 and number 10 in 2006.[14] and she was on the cover of the magazine's February 2005 edition.[citation needed] Hatcher also re-entered the FHM Australia's Top 100 Sexiest Women list in 2005 and 2006 ranking 19 and 50 those years. She made similar lists in the German and Portuguese versions of FHM those years. Maxim Magazine placed her in its Top 100 listing of Sexiest Women of 2006 (a listing they began in 1999) at number 73.[16]
As of April 2006, Hatcher was one of the highest paid television actresses in the United States, reportedly being paid $285,000 per episode ofDesperate Housewives. That year she was one of the three nominees for Favorite Television Performer for the People's Choice Awards and was again nominated for a Golden Globe as Lead Actress in a television comedy program. In May 2006, she released her first book,Burnt Toast: And Other Philosophies of Life.[1]Hatcher performedThe Beatles song "Good Night" on the 2006 charity albumUnexpected Dreams – Songs From the Stars.On April 9, 2008, Hatcher appeared onIdol Gives Back, singingCarrie Underwood's "Before He Cheats". She voiced the Other Mother, a mysterious, button-eyed figure, as well as Coraline's mother Mel Jones, who constantly shows Coraline "tough love," both in the 2009 filmCoraline, which received critical acclaim.[citation needed]
In 2010, Hatcher made a return to the Superman franchise, with a special guest role in the final season ofSmallville as Ella Lane, the mother ofErica Durance'sLois Lane.[17][18] The episode continued a tradition of former Lois Lane actresses portraying the character's mother many years later.Noel Neill appeared as Lois' mother in the 1978 filmSuperman: The Movie, andPhyllis Coates made a similar appearance onLois & Clark.[19]
A report in November 2010 suggested that Hatcher, along with co-starFelicity Huffman, would be quittingDesperate Housewives, butABC denied the claim.[20] Hatcher later addressed the rumors of her departure fromDesperate Housewives, saying that "[t]here are not enough adjectives to describe how stupid, off base, and ridiculously untrue this is".[21] However, after the show concluded in 2012, media sources revealed an apparent rift with her co-stars. It has been widely speculated that the cast did not get along well with Hatcher.[22][23][24]Eva Longoria,Felicity Huffman,Marcia Cross, andVanessa Williams gave thank-you gifts to the crew from the show which included a message with their names inscribed at the end, and Hatcher's name was distinctly absent.[24]TV Guide source, William Keck, revealed that "something went down" between Hatcher and the cast that caused a rift, and also observed how Hatcher would physically distance herself from the others during breaks in filming.[24] On her end, Hatcher said to TV Guide that "I will never disclose the true and complicated journey of us all, but I wish everyone on the show well."[22]
In 2011,Men's Health magazine named Hatcher #38 on their "Hottest Women of All Time" list.[25]
Hatcher voiced Dottie in the filmsPlanes (2013) andPlanes: Fire & Rescue (2014). In 2016, Hatcher had a recurring role as Charlotte, a successful single mother who becomes Oscar's (Matthew Perry) love interest in the second season of the comedy seriesThe Odd Couple. In 2017, Hatcher appeared as Queen Rhea ofDaxam in a recurring role onThe CW seriesSupergirl.
In 2018, Hatcher debuted aYouTube channel called Hatching Change. After 132 segments, it ceased updating in 2022.[26] Hatcher, an enthusiastic baker who took cooking lessons, won theFood Network celebrity episode ofChopped.[27] She also won the "Stand Up to Cancer" episode ofThe Great British Bake Off episode in 2018. Teri Hatcher narrated the "Hidden Worlds: The Films of LAIKA" exhibit at theMuseum of Pop Culture inSeattle.
In 2024, Hatcher portrayed Ruth Finley in theLifetime filmThe Killer Inside: The Ruth Finley Story.[28]
Hatcher, with daughter Emerson, at theWorld of Color premiere (2010)
Hatcher married Marcus Leithold, ofButler, Pennsylvania, on June 4, 1988; they divorced the following year.[7] On May 27, 1994, she married actorJon Tenney; they had a daughter, Emerson, born in 1997. They divorced in March 2003.[7]
In 2007, Hatcher began writing a column forGlamour magazine.[29]
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