Marcia Cross | |
|---|---|
 Cross in 2014 | |
| Born | (1962-03-25)March 25, 1962 (age 63) |
| Education | |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1984–present |
| Spouse | |
| Partner | Richard Jordan (1985–1993) |
| Children | 2 |
Marcia Cross (born March 25, 1962) is an American actress. She acted in daytime soap operas such asThe Edge of Night,Another World, andOne Life to Live before moving to primetime television with a recurring role onKnots Landing. From 1992 to 1997, she starred asKimberly Shaw onMelrose Place. Cross played the role of the housewifeBree Van de Kamp on theABC television seriesDesperate Housewives (2004–2012), for which she was nominated for threeGolden Globe Awards forBest Actress in a Musical or Comedy, and aPrimetime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. She had a recurring role as President Claire Haas on the ABC seriesQuantico.[1]
Marcia Cross was born on March 25, 1962.[2] She grew up inMarlborough, Massachusetts.[3] She is of English and Irish descent as the youngest of three daughters of Janet (née Slamin),[4] a teacher, and Mark J. Cross, a personnel manager.[5] Cross was raised Catholic.[6] She graduated from Marlborough High School in 1980 and received a half-scholarship toJuilliard.[7] She completed college in 1984 earning aB.F.A. in Acting.[8] Cross returned to school in 1997 receiving a master's degree in psychology fromAntioch University Los Angeles in 2003.[5]
Cross began her acting career in 1984 on the soap operaThe Edge of Night, playing the recurring role of Liz Correll. Afterwards, she relocated from New York to Los Angeles, and soon landed roles in television movies such asThe Last Days of Frank and Jesse James, co-starring withJohnny Cash andKris Kristofferson.[9] In 1986, she joined the cast of the daytime soap operaOne Life to Live, where she played the role ofKate Sanders, until 1987. She followed this with guest roles on primetime shows such asWho's the Boss?,Quantum Leap,Knots Landing andCheers.[10]
In 1992, Cross was cast as Dr. Kimberly Shaw in the primetime soap operaMelrose Place. She left in the fifth season. She also appeared in sitcoms such asSeinfeld,Boy Meets World,Ally McBeal,Spin City andThe King of Queens. Her dramatic roles include appearances onCSI,Strong Medicine,Profiler andTouched by an Angel.[11] Her film credits includeBad Influence (1990),Always Say Goodbye (1996),Just Peck (2009) andBringing Up Bobby (2011). In 2003, Cross spent a season co-starring as Linda Abbott on the TV seriesEverwood.[11]
In 2004, Cross starred in the role ofBree Van de Kamp inDesperate Housewives. The show was one of the breakout hits of the 2004–2005 television season, and Cross was nominated for several awards for her role, including anEmmy Award, threeGolden Globe Awards, and fiveScreen Actors Guild Awards (winning two with cast). She also received aSatellite Award for her performance in the show's second season. The series ran for eight seasons until 2012. In 2014, after two years on hiatus, Cross co-starred as the lead character's mother in the unsuccessful comedy pilotFatrick.[12]
In 2015, Cross guest-starred with Robert Vaughn in an episode ofLaw & Order: Special Victims Unit, and later she joined the cast of the thriller seriesQuantico, playing the recurring role of President Claire Haas, a former Democratic vice presidential nominee.[1]
As a child, Cross showed an early interest in performing. She took piano and dance lessons at the Ceil Sharon School of Dance, and was her high school's mascot at school games.[3] Her first acting role was in grade school, in a dramatic adaptation ofThe Witch of Blackbird Pond.[3]
Cross was the long-time companion of actorRichard Jordan, who was 25 years her senior; Jordan died from a brain tumor in 1993. In 2006, she married stockbrokerTom Mahoney.[13] Cross underwent in vitro fertilization soon after their wedding,[14] and gave birth to fraternal twin daughters in February 2007, shortly before her 45th birthday.[15][16]
In September 2018, Cross revealed she had been in remission for eight months after receiving treatment foranal cancer.[17] She explained months later that she had decided to "put a dent in the stigma"[18] because she had discovered through online research that anal cancer patients were embarrassed about their diagnosis.[19] "I found myself in a position where nobody wants this job. Nobody wants to come forward. And I knew that people were suffering and people were ashamed," she said at the 2019 The Atlantic's People v. Cancer event.[20] She advocates for open discussions and further public information about theHPV infection,[19] which can cause cancers of the anus, cervix, penis, and throat:[21] "In spite of the optics, I care deeply about saving lives. To that end, the important thing to do is educate the public about HPV."[22]
Crossexpressed support for a ceasefire in theGaza war, citing theIsraeli bombing of the Gaza Strip, includingon healthcare facilities.[23] In an Instagram post, she stated: "I'm struggling to comprehend how to live among people with eyes that don't water, hearts that don't flinch, and voices that remain silent. There are no words for the horror that has and is being unleashed. And the silence has me believing I am deaf."[24] In September 2025, she signed an open pledge with Film Workers for Palestine pledging not to work with Israeli film institutions "that are implicated ingenocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people."[25]
Cross, who was raised Catholic...
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