While her role on the ABC hit drama “Desperate Housewives” (2004 - ) means Brenda Strong is heard more than seen as narrator Mary Alice Young, television viewers have unwittingly seen a lot of her since 1985. She made a string of appearances on some of the most popular network TV shows for nearly twenty years before her breakout role on “Housewives.”
Strong grew up in Portland, Ore. and graduated from Arizona State University with a bachelor’s in musical theater. She was Miss Arizona in 1980 and competed in the Miss America competition. Her first break after college was a spot in Billy Crystal’s 1984 music video “You Look Marvelous.” The former beauty queen’s first television appearances began in 1985 with guest stints on such staples as “St. Elsewhere,” “MacGyver,” and “Cheers.” She also made appearances on “Matlock,” “Murphy Brown,” “Herman’s Head” and “Blossom,” as well as a recurring role on the cult favorite “Twin Peaks.” By the mid-90s, she was a regular guest player on dozens of series, with prominent recurring roles on “3rd Rock From the Sun”, “Party of Five,” and most notably as Elaine’s rival Sue-Ellen Mishkie, the “braless heiress,” on “Seinfeld.” Strong also appeared on “ER”, “Picket Fences” and “Silk Stalkings.”
Strong was a regular guest on ABC’s critically acclaimed “Sports Night” between 1998 and 2000, playing TV exec Sally Sasser, who disrupted the romance between Peter Krause and her future “Housewives’ co-star Felicity Huffman. Her next regular spots were on The WB staples “Seventh Heaven” and “Everwood” between 2000 and 2004. During that time, Strong also squeezed in appearances on “Ally McBeal”, “CSI”, “Dawson’s Creek”, “Malcolm in the Middle,” “The Lyon’s Den,” “Nip/Tuck”, and “Gilmore Girls.” Her profile rose dramatically from just being a recognizable TV face to a name actress when she was cast as the late Mary Alice in Mark Cherry’s runaway hit soap opera “Desperate Housewives,” whose secrets fuel many of the series’ plotlines.
The actress also has an enviable list of film credits, including “Spaceballs” (1987), “Malice” (1999), “The Deep End of the Ocean” (1999), “Red Dragon” (2002), “The Work and the Glory” (2004) and both “Starship Troopers” movies (1997 and 2004), although she played different characters. She then had a supporting role in “The Kid & I” (2005), starring Tom Arnold as a down-and-out actor mysteriously hired to write a sequel to the action movie that made him famous more than a decade ago.
A certified yoga instructor and fertility expert, Strong has taught at UCLA's Mind/Body Institute, and is working on her first book about Yoga and the woman's journey.