Marcia Cross, full name Marcia Anne Cross, is a famed American actress. Aged 59 years old, she has a thorough and extensive career which started from daytime soap opera to primetime television. 

Her roles in her dramas have earned her recognition and praise from critics and audiences, alike.

Her notable roles in soap operas include The Edge of Night, One Life to Live, and Another World. She then went on to star in Melrose Place and then found praise by playing Bree Van de Kamp, a housewife on the ABC television 2004-12 series Desperate Housewives. 

Life Before Her Career

Born on March 25, 1962, Marcia Cross was raised in Marlborough, Massachusetts. She is of Irish and English descent and was raised as Catholic. 

She received her graduation from Marlborough High School in 1980 which gave her a half-scholarship opportunity to go to Juilliard. 

Going further, she graduated and completed her studies in college in the year 1984 by undergoing B. F. A. in Acting. 

In the year 1997, thirteen years after her last education, she returned to the realm of education to complete her master’s in psychology. She pursued this in the year 2003 from Antioch University, Los Angeles. 

She has two siblings. Her mother, Janet, was a teacher, and her father, Mark Cross, was a personnel manager.

Marcia Anne Cross’ Career

In the year 1984, Marcia Anne initiated her career when she appeared on The Edge of Night. 

She played a role (recurring) of the character Liz Correll. After appearing in other movies with notable names such as Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson, she joined One Life to Live, the ABC daytime opera, until the year 1987. 

In this tenure, she had appeared in The Last Days of Frank and Jesse James, Quantum Leap, Knots Landing, Who’s the Boss, and Cheers. 

She then appeared for around 5 seasons in Melrose Place, a soap opera in Fox primetime. Some commercial and mainstream names in which she has acted are Seinfeld, Boy Meets World, CSI and etc.

Perhaps her most globally recognized role was of Bree Van de Kamp in the breakout hit television series Desperate Housewives. 

Just after its first season, the Desperate Housewives show received six of its seven Emmy nominations.

The show premiered in the year 2004, and Marcia Cross went on to be nominated for several awards for her role. Her nominations include an Emmy, three Golden Globe, and five Screen Actors Guild Awards. 

She went on to grab two Screen Actors with cast and a Satellite Award. The series concluded in the year 2014, after eight seasons. 

Now all of her fans have been sent into a tailspin by a trailer for a Desperate Housewives revival, which comes 10 years after the iconic show’s end.

Marcia Cross’ Personal Life

As is evident by her education and life, Marcia Cross had an early interest in the field of acting and performing. 

She underwent piano teachings and dance lessons while also being her high school’s mascot at school games. She went to Ceil Sharon School of Dance for her learnings.

Her first ever step into the drama world was when she appeared in the school play The Witch of Blackbird Pond.

On her relationship side, Marcia was a companion of a 25-year-old senior from her, Richard Jordan. After Jordan’s death in 1993 as a result of a brain tumor, she married Tom Mahoney, a stockbroker, in the year 2006. 

Soon after the wedding, Marcia Cross underwent Vitro Fertilization and gave birth to fraternal twin daughters. 

Her daughters are named Eden and Savannah and were born in February 2007, when Marcia Cross had just turned 45. 

Current Activities – Wheel of Fortune Appearance with Pat Sajak

On Celebrity Wheel of Fortune, the night turned out to be interesting when Marcia Cross appeared in the show alongside Karl-Anthony Towns (Minnesota Timberwolves player) and Anthony Anderson (Black-ish star). 

Each of the celebrities competed against each other to raise funds for their individual charities. 

In the “Before and After” puzzle segment of the show, Karl Towns accidentally solved the puzzle but it wasn’t his turn. 

After adjudication of the producer, who was called upon by the host Pat Sajak, the decision turned in favor of the guest Anthony Anderson. He correctly answered the puzzle and won the round.

Pat Sajak, the host, humorously explained the verdict that they had to go by the rules of the show. And he referenced that with NBA, where the referee’s seldom, if not never, miss a call. This amusing exchange had audiences and fans cracked up. 

Marcia Cross also raised a substantial amount of money for her charity of choice, Stand Up to Cancer. The amount she raised was $62,150. 

Marcia Cross’ Battle with Cancer

Marcia Cross has proven time and again that she is an actor who is recognized and who has influenced many others. 

Her shows Melrose Place and Desperate Housewives are still remembered and talked about to this day. But unfortunately for her, she has suffered from cancer.

Marcia Cross was suffering from anal cancer and her husband on top of her also suffered from throat cancer. Her cancer was also linked to HPV. 

According to sources, Marcia Cross’ cancer has been in remission since the year 2018. Her previous stint in chemotherapy was in the year, 2017.

Mouth sores and stomach problems, cancer proved very troublesome for the famed star. But she has remained positive and tries to be aware of people whenever she gets the chance. 

“For whatever reason, I don’t have any shame.” She found out about her cancer during her routine exam by her gynecologist. 

“I wanted to move on with my career and my life,” Cross said later. Although she has been seen handling the spokesperson role regarding cancer with grace and completion, since 2018, Cross has been in remission.