List of Desperate Housewives characters

Following is a comprehensive list of every recurring character in the ABC television series Desperate Housewives. Every relative of the main families who has appeared in at least one episode is also included.

The article covers episodes 1.01 to 4.17.

Susan's family

Susan lives at 4353 Wisteria Lane.

Immediate family

• Susan Delfino (Teri Hatcher)

• Mike Delfino (James Denton)

• Karl Mayer (Richard Burgi)

• Julie Mayer (Andrea Bowen)

• Maynard "MJ" Delfino (Mason Gale Cotton): Susan and Mike's baby. Originally named Conner, they changed his name after Mike's deceased grandfather.

• Marissa Mayer (Sunny Mabrey): Karl's new and young wife and Julie's step-mother. She is a law professor. She was last seen pregnant with Karl's child when he and Marissa took the same Lamaze class as Susan and Mike. It is presumed that she has given birth to an un-named Mayer. It is unknown whether or not she will appear in season 5 as her husband and Julie's father, Karl is scheduled to appear in this season.

Extended family

• Sophie Bremmer (Lesley Ann Warren): Susan’s mother, with a taste for men and a very dramatic emotional life. After having Susan believing that her father had died a war hero, she admitted to her daughter – during her wedding – that he in fact was a married working man, Addison Prudy. Sophie was first seen in the series when she came to stay with Susan after having left her longtime boyfriend Morty, claiming that he was abusing her (she was also abusing him). Susan eventually managed to make the two reconcile as she didn’t want to have her mother living with her. In the episode "Sunday in the Park with George", they got engaged and Morty later became Sophie’s fourth husband in her fifth marriage.

• Morty Flickman (Bob Newhart): Sophie Bremmer’s current husband – formerly known as her long time boyfriend – and Susan’s latest stepfather. He owns an expanding pancake diner. Morty first appears in "Children Will Listen" when Sophie makes Susan help her with the conflict between the two of them. It fails and the two end up fighting with Susan having to break it up. He appears once again in Sunday in the Park with George, where he proposes to Sophie, and two decide to marry shortly after.

• Addison Prudy (Paul Dooley): Susan’s biological father, he works at a feed supply store in town. After years of not knowing his daughter, he finally is approached by Susan, and has a heart attack when she informs him about their relationship. While in the hospital he asks her to leave because he does not want his wife Carol to know since he has cheated on her many times. Later, Carol finds out about them and Addison tells Susan they'll have more time to bond after he’s sorted out his marriage.

• Carol Prudy (Joyce Van Patten): The jealous wife of Addison Prudy. When she came to believe that Susan and Addison had an affair, she found out the truth of Addison and Susan’s relationship.

• Dana Taylor (Cody Kasch) – see Zach Young.

• Deirdre Taylor (deceased) (Jolie Jenkins): Mike Delfino’s deceased ex-fiancé and mother of his son Dana (aka. Zach Young). She gave birth to her son while addicted to drugs, and gave up her son to be raised by Mary Alice and Paul Young (then known as Angela and Todd Forrest). When she years later came to get her son back, she was stabbed to death by Mary Alice, and chopped up and stuffed into a toy chest.

• Noah Taylor (deceased) (Bob Gunton): The father of Deirdre and Kendra Taylor, and the grandfather of Zach. Noah came off as a bitter old man after being nasty to the local kids in front of Mike. He then reappears when Mike visits his mansion and it is revealed that Noah hired Mike to find his daughter Deirdre. Noah had felt that Mike abandoned his daughter by finding a nice wife. However, it is believed that Noah was exaggerating, and that Mike married his first wife after Deirdre had run away from home, and after Mike got out of prison. Noah arranged for Mike to murder Deirdre's killer and decided to put him back on his payroll. Noah had fired him because of his slow pace, which was a major flaw due to Noah's brain tumor. Mike later returned with all of Noah's money. Noah appears later to discuss Martha Huber's murder and how her watch got into Mike's garage. Noah points out that whoever did it was the killer of Deirdre. Noah arranged for Sullivan to give Mike the case file on Deirdre's murder and bribed him to keep quiet to prevent Mike from being imprisoned, where Mike discovered that the Youngs had killed Deirdre. Noah appears for the last time in Sunday in the Park with George, where Noah attempts to break up Susan and Mike forever, by giving Susan false information about Mike's criminal records. Surprisingly enough, Kendra comes to the rescue and sets Susan straight. Noah reappears when he is on his death bed. He died when Zach Young turned off his life support, and Zach inherited his entire estate.

• Kendra Taylor (Heather Stephens): The older sister of Deirdre Taylor, and the oldest daughter of Noah Taylor. Kendra first appeared in the episode "Anything You Can Do", where she came to check up on Mike’s investigation and the progress of his work, making Susan and Edie think she was an ex-girlfriend in the act. Susan expected to come into conflict with Kendra over Mike, but it never happened. Edie would have been rooting for Susan, as she thought it would be easier to steal Mike from her than from the glamorous Kendra. After settling in at Mike’s place, Kendra made it very clear that she cared for Noah’s inheritance money, and only herself when she told Mike to stop looking for her own sister.

• Nick Delfino (Robert Forster): Mike’s father. When they first began dating, Mike told Susan Nick was dead, but he’s really serving life in prison for murdering his boss. Susan is upset because Nick doesn’t seem to feel guilty about killing his boss because she doesn’t want her baby to be a cold-blooded killer.

• Adele Delfino (Celia Weston): Mike’s very Southern mother, who holds onto extremely old-fashioned conservative ideals which Susan loathes and Mike is annoyed by.

• Tim (Chris Carmack): Susan's accountant cousin, who comes to help her with her taxes. Tim knows a little something about Katherine Mayfair's (the two had slept together when he was 16) mystery. He finds interest in the fact that Dylan is about to turn eighteen years old.

Season 1 introduced acquaintances

• Detective Copeland (Conor O'Farrell): The investigator of Mrs. Huber’s murder who strongly believed Mike was the culprit. He questions Susan twice about Mike and she becomes his alibi by saying they slept together the night Mrs. Huber was killed. He mentioned to her that people do stupid things when they're in love and that he'd know because he’s been married four times.

• Detective Sullivan (Nick Chinlund): a corrupt police officer in charge of the Martha Huber murder case and an underling on the Deirdre Taylor murder case. He is actually a puppet and confidante of Noah Taylor. The eyes and ears of the notorious criminal underworld Taylor family inside the Fairview police. He first appears in "Impossible", where Noah pushes him to reveal Mike Delfino’s case file to Susan at her interrogation for the Martha Huber murder. They are successful, she takes the bait, and they break up. This was arranged solely to eliminate a "time distortion" in order to find Deirdre more quickly. He appears once more in episode 19, "Live Alone and Like It". Noah bribes Sullivan to get Deirdre’s case file to Mike and to get Mike off the Martha Huber murder case. The two meet in an underground parking garage where the two exchange the case file. Sullivan has a bitter attitude towards Mike. Sullivan makes a comment about how it is wrong for him to get off with a short prison time for 5 and a half years since he was a “cop-killer”. Mike strikes back attacking him for being hypocritical since Sullivan was participating in it, and getting himself off the Huber murder case. Sullivan repays his backlash with a gun and two fists to the face, giving Mike a black eye. Sullivan makes a comment, "this file was misplaced" understand, if even a whisper of this gets traced back to me, there will be one less cop-killer on the street. Sullivan slams down the case file and walks off. Mike gets it and drives home, seeing Paul Young on a purchase list for the toy chest setting him to his target. In season two, he tries to discover who is Noah's grandson.

Season 2 introduced acquaintances

• Lonny Moon: (Wallace Shawn) Susan's "rock" who was discovered to be embezzling funds from Susan's book publishing sponsors. Lonny was the reason Susan didn't have insurance for her wondering spleen because he had canceled her insurance.

• Dr. Ron McCready (Jay Harrington): A surgeon at Sacred Heart Hospital, Ron has become Susan’s love interest midway through the second season, despite a somewhat clumsy beginning to their relationship. A difference in age between the two has been shown as a possible issue. (In reality, Jay Harrington, the actor portraying the character, is slightly less than seven years younger than Teri Hatcher.) They date anyway. When he begins to perform Susan’s splenectomy, he tells her that he loves her. Susan responds by saying “Aww, that’s so sweet. I love Mike.” At that moment, Nurse Heisel tells him about her marriage with Karl. Susan tells Ron she was probably just hallucinating about a guy that didn’t exist, and that she just married Karl for health insurance. The second part was true. Their relationship goes smoothly until Karl makes a clog and tells Mike to come over, as a plan to break up Susan and Ron. After Ron finds out she was lying, he broke up with her and told Edie about their marriage.

Season 3 introduced acquaintances

• Detective Ridley (Ernie Hudson): The detective who’s investigating the murder of Monique Polier. When Mike’s phone number turns up on Monique’s hand Ridley’s eyes turns to him, and he manages to get a search warrant for his house. However, he doesn’t manage to find anything to build a case on, but later he catches Mike while he’s burying his tool box, and arrests him for Monique’s murder. Susan then temporarily have him suspect Orson, but as Alma Hodge later is found dead with a suicide note, the case is considered solved. Mike and Ridley part ways with a handshake.

Lynette's family

Lynette lives at 4355 Wisteria Lane.

Immediate family

• Lynette Scavo (Felicity Huffman)

• Tom Scavo (Doug Savant)

• Preston & Porter Scavo (Brent and Shane Kinsman (Season 1-4), Charles and Max Carver (season 5-)): Lynette's eldest sons. They are very rebellious, they tend to play rough and fight a lot. They can very often get uncontrollable. The twins often get in a lot of trouble, particularly in season one, when they had a more prominent role in the show's storylines development. Ever since, Preston and Porter have been losing importance to the show, mostly due to their younger brother Parker and older half-sister Kayla, who have become very notable of late. In Season 5, they have continued their mischievous ways but in higher forms such as underage drinking, and joyrides with their family's cars.

• Parker Scavo (Zane Huett (season 1-4), Joshua Moore (Season 5-)): The youngest son of Lynette and Tom. After In season two, Parker gets ready to go to school, but gets upset when he finds out that his mother can't go with him because of her new job and her mean boss. Thanks to his mother's absence, he grows very fond of an imaginary baby-sitter and her umbrella. He also gets chicken pox, along with his brothers, and gets very curious about human sexuality, asking several girls to see their vaginas, including Mrs. McCluskey's. Parker proves to be the most sensitive of Lynette's three young boys as he is very shocked when he finds out that his mother got shot and refuses to let her out of the house. He gets along very well with his new sister, Kayla, and is the most connected to Mrs. McCluskey, especially when she is victim of rumours that she killed her husband, convincing her to tell everybody the truth. In the fourth season of the show, Parker gets buried alive in Mrs McCluskey's house during the tornado and is the second one to be pulled out of it. He then reveals to his mother that Ida Greenberg saved his life.

• Penny Lynne Scavo (Darien Pinkerton; Early uncredited appearances as Penny was made by baby twin actors Dylan and Jordan Cline during season 1, and Darien Pinkerton together with her twin sister Kerstin, during seasons 2 and 3 Kendall Applegate (Season 5-)): Lynette and Tom’s daughter and youngest child. She has her first line in season three episode God, That’s Good. Lynette wanted Penny to be Gabrielle’s flower girl at her wedding, but due to her having “zero charisma,” Gabrielle chose Victor's housekeeper’s daughter who resembled herself. She was the first to emerge from Mrs. McCluskey's wrecked house after the tornado.

Extended family

• Stella Wingfield (Polly Bergen): Lynette's mother. Stella first appeared on the show in the season three finale, after learning that Lynette had Hodgkin's lymphoma. Stella appears at the Scavo's door unannounced, and tells them she would be staying for as long as Lynette would be fighting cancer. After Lynette is cured, she tries to convince her sister Lydia to take her mother with her, and actually tricks her into doing it. So Lucy and Lydia both show up at her house delivering their mother. Parker comes inside the house stating that his grandmother has left. In episode eight, Lynette is looking for Stella, and learns that she had broken into a car and slept in it during one night. She then talks to her former stepfather, Glen. Lynette had always thought that it was her mother's fault that the couple had divorced, but Glen tells her he is gay. After they find Stella in a park, the three have a conversation in Glen's house, and he agrees to let Stella stay with him, as he misses having her around.

• Rodney Scavo (Ryan O'Neal): Tom’s father, married to Tom's mother Allison. Rodney comes for a visit to see the family and Lynette winds up walking in on him with a woman who is not his wife. His visit spurs a frank conversation between the Scavos about commitment and fidelity. Tom confided in him that he has a secret, one that Lynette doesn’t know about, revealing that he may not be the perfect husband – later it turns out to be the fact that during the last months he'd been working with his old girlfriend, Annabel Foster.

• Allison Scavo (unseen character): Tom's mother.

• Nora Huntington (1971 - 2007; deceased) (Kiersten Warren): In the second season, it is revealed that Tom has been spending money on flowers. Later, in episode 2.22, "No One Is Alone", Lynette finds him together with Nora, assuming they're having an affair. Tom tells his wife the truth: he isn't having an affair, but he and Nora had a one night stand on a cruise which resulted in them having a daughter, Kayla. Nora asks for the back child support that Tom has been owing her for all these years. Lynette finally agrees to give her all the money, as long as that keeps her away from their family. But Nora wants the two families together and spends the money on an apartment close to Wisteria Lane. In the third season, she's intent on stealing Tom from Lynette. When Tom wants to open a pizzeria, Lynette doesn't appreciate the idea, but Nora is very supportive behind Lynette's back. One night Nora meets Tom at the restaurant and they have dinner together, and after they've drunk a bottle of wine they kiss, but Tom swears to her that he doesn't want anything more and reassures her that he loves his wife. Nora is very upset at this, and leaves. Tom and Lynette had had a fight before this event, and when he comes back home, they get back together on good terms. But, when her husband explains to her what happened, Lynette breaks into Nora's house and threatens her that if she ever comes near Tom again, she will hurt her. Due to this, Nora decides to leave to Mexico with her daughter, to work as a stripper in a danceclub. However, Lynette tries to sue for custody of Kayla, and then goes to the Field's Supermarket to shop for hamburgers for lunch, and Nora, recognizing Lynette's car in the store's parking lot, enters to confront her about the custody case. Meanwhile, Carolyn Bigsby, a neighbor, creates a hostage situation because her husband Harvey cheated on her, that results in Nora's death.

• Lydia and Lucy (Sarah Paulson and Carrie Preston, respectively): Lynette’s younger sisters. In the episode "You Can't Judge a Book By Its Cover", as Lynette tries to get her mother to leave the house, she tries to get her sisters to take her in. They categorically refuse her request, eventually telling Lynette that they do not care about their mother because of her alcoholism and the abuse they endured during their childhood. The sisters both claim that Stella was ruining their lives while living with them. Lynette, stunned that her sisters have no feelings for their mother at all, asks them to leave.

• Glen Wingfield (Richard Chamberlain): Lynette's former stepfather, who is gay. Lynette always liked Glen, and she blamed her mother for their divorce, but she recently found out that they parted ways because of Glen's sexual orientation. Glen helps her find her mother when her mother leaves the Scavo house. Stella and Glen are currently living together.

Season 1 introduced acquaintances

• Jordana Geist (Stacey Travis): Lynette’s friend who has kids with ADD. She is able to work her incredibly busy life by taking her children's ADD medication. She tells Lynette her little secret and Lynette starts doing the same thing. When Lynette runs out of pills, she asks Jordana for more, but Jordana says no because her sister is coming to visit and she needs all the energy she can get. Lynette gets mad and storms away. In season three, she is seen gossiping and participating in Traver McLain’s birthday party.

• Dan Peterson (Edward Edwards): The boss of Tom’s old firm. He doesn’t give Tom a promotion because Lynette begs him not to since Tom would be away too much and her family would be hurt. During Tom’s final confrontation with him, Tom is openly rude to him and tells him he makes crappy decisions on a daily basis. Tom quits after that.

• Janie Peterson (Elizabeth Storm): Dan Peterson's wife. Lynette persuades her to get her husband to drop Tom's promotion, because she doesn't want her husband to go on even more business trips than before.

• Claire (Marla Sokoloff): a nanny who is hired by Lynette to help her take care of her kids. One night, however, she sees a baby-puke stain on the robe she is wearing, so she takes it off and throws it into the wash with the rest of the clothes, thus leaving herself completely naked. Unfortunately, Tom comes down and catches her as she’s trying to get back to her room and talks to her embarrassingly, then goes back up and takes out his arousal of her on Lynette by making love to her. Unfortunately, Claire tells Lynette about it, and Lynette later makes Tom admit he has the hots for her. Eventually, Claire is let go when it is apparent that her appearance continues to be a distraction.

• Annabel Foster (Melinda McGraw): Tom Scavo’s ex-girlfriend. Lynette is extremely jealous of her and has been doing anything she can to break her up from Tom. She gets the promotion of vice president which Tom was eyeing. No relation with Melanie Foster as far as we know, except that they both lived in Chicago.

Season 2 introduced acquaintances

• Ed Ferrara (Currie Graham): The "big boss" of "Parcher & Murphy". He first appeared in the season two premiere when he hired Lynette because he liked her. He fires the majority people at the company on "That’s Good, That’s Bad" due to a sexual harassment lawsuit against them. He hires Tom on "There’s Something About a War". In the following episode, "Silly People", he and Tom place bets that Tom could do certain tricks, one of them being eating a donut out of the toilet. Tom became known as "Toilet Boy". Lynette tries to stop all of these games, so Ed tells her if she could eat a package of raw meat, they'll stop. Lynette succeeds and Ed and Tom have had a business-like relationship since. But after having marital problems with his wife Fran, he asks Lynette to send instant messages to her to help him with his sex life. When Fran figures out it wasn’t Ed, she tells him to fire the person who wrote the IMs or she'll leave him. He tells her it was Tom, and fires Tom instead. In season three, Ed threatens to fire Lynette after she fakes being ill to help Tom with his pizza business at a fair.

• Nina Fletcher (Joely Fisher): Lynette’s boss at the "Parcher & Murphy" ad agency. Nina makes it clear to Lynette on her interview that she despises mothers who put their children above everything else. When Lynette brings Penny to work after Tom has a back problem, Lynette hides the baby with the receptionist. However, this does not go as planned. Lynette then brings baby Penny in and multitasks by changing a diaper and delivering a business plan at the same time. Nina’s boss is very impressed and welcomes her aboard. Nina is less welcoming and wants Lynette to be dedicated to her work and not her children. One night, Nina is caught in an affair with Stu (see below) by Lynette, who offers to keep silent about it if Nina would be a little nicer on the job. Unfortunately, Nina fires Stu, and Lynette talks to him and ends up uttering something about a lawsuit. Next time she walks in, the place is in chaos, as it is found out Stu threatened a lawsuit against the firm and they paid him off to settle, forcing people to lose their jobs, including Nina. Nina then explains to Lynette that being nice was one of many luxuries she gave up to keep the firm afloat, and told her that if she thought she wasn’t seeing her kids enough before, then she'll see them even less now.

• Stu (Charlie Babcock): A former receptionist at "Parcher & Murphy", who had an affair with Nina Fletcher. After Lynette found out about it, Nina fired him. Lynette then told Stu that he could go to Ed to get his job back, because Ed wouldn't want him to sue the whole company. Stu does just that. "Parcher & Murphy" is sued, and Ed fires a lot of employees, including Nina, and promotes Lynette to her position, making her his second-in-command. Before that, Lynette had asked Stu to play the role of a child kidnapper in order to teach her kids a lesson.

• Jerry (Mitch Silpa): An employee at "Parcher & Murphy". He and Ed Ferrara come to pick up Lynette to her first day coming back to work after she got shot.

Season 3 introduced acquaintances

• Rick Coletti (Jason Gedrick): Lynette hires Rick at Scavo Pizzeria. He used to be a chef at his former job, which was working at a four-star restaurant. To deal with the stress of the job, he took cocaine, but kicked the habit. Because of his former cocaine addiction, Tom doesn't approve with Lynette decision to hire him. As Lynette's marriage starts to shake, she and Rick get closer. After Lynette getting stuck with him in a freezer as a result of the pizzeria being robbed, the two cuddle close together and "sleep" together (not making love). Tom confronts Rick after seeing a surveillance tape, in which Lynette and Rick were having dinner together before the pizzeria was robbed. Tom makes a speech about how although his marriage to Lynette is shaky, it is rock solid and Rick would never break it up. Tom asks Rick to quit, and he says he won't leave unless Lynette fires him personally, because "she doesn't want him gone". Rick and Lynette are alone in the restaurant and Rick talks about his lunch with Tom (when the confrontation took place). He said he had feelings for her. He told her it was obvious she has feelings for him. This enrages Lynette and she fires him, pretending it didn't effect her. After finding out Tom was returning to work, Lynette sobs in her bathroom, distraught over the loss of Rick. He returns in Season 4, informing Lynette and Tom that he is opening a restaurant around the corner from Scavo's. It is shown that Rick still has feelings for Lynette. The restaurant steals customers from the Pizzeria until it burns down. Lynette believes Tom jealously set the fire until Porter and Preston reveal that they set it due to a fear of Rick separating their parents.

Bree's family

Bree lives at 4354 Wisteria Lane.

Immediate family

• Bree Hodge (Marcia Cross)

• Orson Hodge (Kyle MacLachlan)

• Rex Van de Kamp (deceased) (Steven Culp)

• Andrew Van de Kamp (Shawn Pyfrom)

• Danielle Katz (Joy Lauren)

• Benjamin Katz: Danielle’s biological child, that Bree faked a pregnancy to make seem like it was hers and adopted immediately after birth to save her daughter (and herself, to some degree) from scandal. Benjamin was born onscreen during a Halloween-themed episode which aired November 4, 2007.

Extended family

• Gloria Hodge (paralyzed) (Dixie Carter): Orson's scheming mother. It is heavily implied she helped Alma trick him into marriage. She comes back into his life when Bree discovers she is not as senile as he claimed. She then tries to break them up by revealing her son's affair, only to get kicked out of the house. She then brings Alma back and helps orchestrate Alma's rape of Orson in order to have a grandchild. She later tries to kill Bree twice but to no avail, eventually being paralyzed by a stroke. Her brain works perfectly, but she cannot move, which Orson feels is suitable punishment. After informing his mother of her condition, he turns her head towards the door and cheerfully leaves, assuring her that she will never see him again,

• Alma Hodge (1963 - 2007; deceased) (Valerie Mahaffey): Orson's ex-wife. Initially, it was believed that Alma was murdered by Orson, but it is later revealed that Alma disappeared, and later reappeared, in order to get revenge on Orson, who never returned her love. She dies after she tried to escape from her attic through the ceiling when she was locked in there by Gloria.

• Phyllis Van De Kamp (Shirley Knight): Rex's mother. She battles with Bree after Rex's death, especially after she finds out Bree is seeing George. She returns for Bree's fake baby shower and finds out the truth about it. She tries to get back at Bree by having Danielle and her baby come with her but Bree convinces Danielle she is too old just in time.

• Henry Mason (Ronny Cox): Bree’s father, who is a prosecutor, says the simplest explanation is always the best one. He and his second wife, Eleanor, come for a visit in the second season.

• Mrs. Mason (deceased; unseen character): Bree's mother who died when a car ran over her. Bree cleaned her own mother's blood from the street on which she died.

• Eleanor Mason (Carol Burnett): Bree’s stepmother who is a very uptight and proper lady for whom appearances mean everything. A lot of what Bree says comes from this woman. She and her husband, Henry, come for a visit in the second season to mediate between Andrew and Bree. She can be rather critical of Bree, making a comment about her peanut butter cookies. Bree responds by saying "those were kick-ass peanut butter cookies".

• Edwin Hodge (deceased) (Carl Mueller): Orson’s father. Just like his wife Gloria, Edwin was a deeply religious man. However, after it came to light that he'd had an affair with another woman, he became depressed and turned to alcohol. One night Orson found him dead in the bathtub with his wrists cut. Everyone thought of it as suicide, and Orson was eventually forced to be put into a mental institution to get rid of his feelings of guilt. Years later, as Orson catches his mother attempting to kill Bree, he comes to understand that it was Gloria who had killed his father as well.

• Aunt Fern (Fiona Hale): Bree's Aunt, who was always kind to Bree, and of whom Bree is very fond of. She was always there for Bree after her mother died. She currently lives in Philadelphia.

Season 1 introduced acquaintances

• Dr. Albert Goldfine (Sam Lloyd): Dr. Albert Goldfine is supposedly known as the "number one" marriage counselor in Fairview. He first appears in the second episode, "Ah, But Underneath", when Rex and Bree have their first appointment with him. Throughout the whole time, Bree talks "small talk" with Dr. Goldfine and focuses on his jacket the entire time due to her obsessive-compulsive ways. She then returns later, fixes his jacket, and actually goes through with a private session. Goldfine, slightly seduced by her domestic ways, asks Rex the following session, "Regardless of her flaws, have you ever stopped and said thank you for all she does for you around the house?" Dr. Goldfine appears again in the next episode, "Pretty Little Picture", where Bree sees a session recording tape labeled with Mary Alice’s name. Bree steals it and puts it in her purse, and later shares it with the other housewives. Dr. Goldfine makes an appearance in the fourteenth episode, "Love is in the Air", where he encourages Bree to finally ask Rex about his true sexual feelings on domination. He returned in season two to give Bree advice in the aftermath of Rex’s death and also to give her advice on George Williams. However, George found out about that the Doctor had been giving Bree advice to take their relationship slowly and promptly stalked him on his exercise path. George then beat up Dr. Goldfine and threw him over a bridge; it was found out later that he had survived. Dr. Goldfine mentioned to Bree that his attacker had a blue bike - Bree had just seen George with a blue bike earlier that day. This prompts Bree to connect everything together, and she discovers the depths of George’s mad obsession.

• Maisy Gibbons (Sharon Lawrence): A married mother, and respectable member of the Fairview society. Maisy first appears in Lynette’s storyline, as the head of Barcliff Academy’s acting activities. The two squares off immediately, arguing over political correctness of the play. After an intense power struggle, Lynette finally is able to tell Maisy off, gaining the respect of the mom-clique and becoming one of the head members. Later on it is revealed that Maisy is the neighborhood prostitute of Fairview. Among her customers is Rex Van De Kamp, whom she helps out with his need of sexual domination. During a sexual act, Rex suffers from a heart attack, and is taken to the hospital by Maisy, resulting in Bree’s finding out of their affair. Soon thereafter Maisy is arrested for solicitation, and as her book of customers turns public, so does her relationship with Rex, resulting in the Van De Kamp family temporarily being alienated from the Fairview society.

• Justin (Ryan Carnes) Andrew's first (and only so far) longstanding boyfriend. He was John Rowland's roommate as his parents had kicked him out when he came out and tried to get Gabrielle to date him when he questioned his sexuality. He did not seem to be entirely in agreement with Andrew's hostile intent toward his mother, and at times Bree seemed to be more comfortable around him than Andrew. He has not made an appearance since the end of Season 2, when Bree left Andrew by the roadside.

• George Williams (1965 - 2005) (Deceased)(Roger Bart): A pharmacist who started a relationship with Bree after she found out that her husband Rex had an extramarital affair with the neighborhood prostitute, Maisy Gibbons. Things are going extremely well until Bree shoots off his toe (by accident) with a gun that was given to her as a gift by George. He returned after a short absence and started to lust after Bree. After Rex's death, George attempted to move in on Bree and have sex with her, but it was revealed that she still felt a great deal of subconscious guilt and attachment to Rex. Bree was eventually getting stalked by George who tried to get her back by singing to her in front of her house during a dinner party. Bree took out a shotgun and blew out his speaker as a result. George then found out he is being closed in on by the police who had begun searching his house after Bree told the cops her suspicions about George's involvement in Dr. Goldfine's attack. George retreated to a hotel room and overdosed on sleeping pills.

• Tish Atherton (Jill Brennan): Tish Atherton is member of the Fairview Country Club. She likes to gossip, especially about Maisy Gibbons, she likes dinner parties at Bree Van De Kamp’s house and she enjoys dropping her child off at playdates, while she is at the salon. She was recently mentioned in conversation. She was also a close friend of Carolyn Bigsby.

• Dr. Lee Craig (Terry Bozeman): Dr. Craig was a friend of Rex's, as well as his doctor. He informed Rex that Bree was probably the one to poison him. He was the one who informed Bree of Rex’s death. He informed Detective Barton of the likely chance that Bree murdered Rex. He appeared in season three as Mike’s doctor. He told Susan that Mike will probably not wake up from his coma. He is proved wrong when Mike does wake up. He tells Edie that he has lost his memory of the past two years. He is the nephew of Ida Greenberg.

• Reverend Sikes (Dakin Matthews): Reverend at the local Presbyterian church. He first appeared in the episode "Live Alone and Like It", when he met with Andrew about his sexual orientation. Andrew tells him he plans on getting revenge by "rocking" Bree’s world (which Sikes cannot warn Bree about due to the rules of confession). Sikes presided over Rex’s funeral and was the celebrant at Bree and Orson’s marriage.

Season 2 introduced acquaintances

• Detective Barton (Kurt Fuller): A detective who accused Bree of murdering Rex on You Could Drive a Person Crazy. He continues suspecting her on "You'll Never Get Away from Me". He even digs up Rex’s body. He found her innocent on "They Asked Me Why I Believe In You". On "That's Good, That's Bad", he discovers that George is the culprit. On "Coming Home", he informs Bree that his men found George dead in his hotel room. Bree pretends to be surprised. His most recent appearance is "We're Gonna Be All Right" when he arrests Bree for driving under the influence of alcohol. He feels bad about this later, so he makes it up to Bree by giving her information on Curtis Monroe, the dead guy they found in front of the Applewhites' house. He also flirts with her on that same episode.

• Samuel "Sam" Bormanis (Bruce Jarchow): Andrew’s lawyer whom he gets to emancipate him. Bree is polite and civil with him, as always, despite his role as Andrew’s lawyer. Noting her consummate civility, he tells Andrew that presentation is paramount in open court, and that if Bree knows anything it is presentation. He advises Andrew that if he really wants to be free of his mother, his best chance is to convince her that she is better off without him. This leads Andrew to tell Bree that he will accuse her of sexual molestation if he doesn’t get his way.

• Peter McMillian (Lee Tergesen): Bree’s AA supervisor who has a romantic relationship with her. He also suffers from sexual addiction. Andrew found this out and used this knowledge to his advantage when he seduced Peter into sleeping with him to get back at Bree.

Season 3 introduced acquaintances

• Carolyn Bigsby (deceased) (Laurie Metcalf): The former neighbor of Orson and Alma, who, after Alma’s disappearance became positive that Orson had killed his wife. As Bree and Orson announce their wedding, Carolyn, ineffectively, warns Bree about marrying him. Even after their marriage she wouldn’t leave them alone, and eventually Bree tells Carolyn about her husband Harvey’s affair with Monique Polier. This information causes Carolyn to snap, and she goes to Harvey’s store to kill him with a handgun. The situation quickly gets out of hand, and Carolyn soon has several hostages whom she threatens to kill if Harvey doesn’t surrender. Among the hostages are Lynette and Nora, and as Carolyn hears Lynette accusing Nora of trying to seduce her husband, she points the gun on Nora and shoots her dead. When a shocked Lynette starts screaming at Carolyn, she tries to kill her as well, shooting her in the arm. In the following chaos Carolyn loses her gun and is shot by another hostage, Maya.

• Monique Polier (1968 - 2006; deceased) (Kathleen York): A flight attendant who had affairs with both Harvey Bigsby and Orson Hodge while they were married to Carolyn Bigsby and Alma Hodge respectively. Upon finding out her son was cheating on Alma with Monique, Gloria Hodge went to Monique's house and murdered her by hitting her on the head with Mike Delfino's wrench. Mike had at the time been fixing Monique's sink and stepped out to get an extra part. Gloria convinced Orson that she had killed Monique in self defense and upon Mike's return, Orson paid him and ushered him out of the house quickly so that he and Gloria could bury Monique. Memory loss and the presence of Mike's number written on Monique's hand implicated Mike in Monique's death. Bree Hodge finds Monique's teeth under Alma's floorboards as Gloria had removed them so that police couldn't identify Monique's body.

• Robert Falati (Anthony Azizi): Danielle’s married 35 year old history teacher, with whom she has an affair. He leaves her after Bree pays him a little visit, persuading him (while blackmailing him) to leave her daughter.

• Harvey Bigsby (Brian Kerwin): Carolyn’s husband and a friend of Orson’s, who makes Carolyn apologize to Bree about telling Bree that Orson had killed Alma. Harvey confides in Orson that he had an affair with Monique Polier, and is later questioned by police. Orson shares this information with Bree, who maliciously tells Carolyn. Carolyn then tracks Harvey down to the supermarket where he works as a manager with a gun. While holding customers hostage, Carolyn drinks wine and eats cookies, telling her hostages that Harvey didn't want to have children with her and encouraged her to go on a diet while also lamenting other problems in their marriage.

Season 5 introduced acquaintances

• Leo Katz (Andrew Leeds): son-in-law of Hodge's, brother-in-law of Andrew, and Danielle's husband in 2013. Stepfather of Benjamin Hodge.

Gabrielle's family

Gabrielle lives at 4349 Wisteria Lane.

Immediate family

• Gabrielle Solis (Eva Longoria Parker)

• Carlos Solis (Ricardo Antonio Chavira)

• Celia Solis (Daniella Baltodano) - Gabrielle's younger daughter.

• Juanita Solis (Kaili Say (Free), Madison Delagarza (Season 5-)) - Gabrielle's older daughter. She is most likely named after Carlos' late mother. Juanita has a serious weight problem.

Extended family

• Jonathan "John" Rowland (Jesse Metcalfe)

• Victor Lang (deceased) (John Slattery): Victor, who is running for mayor of Fairview, tells his chauffeur to intentionally rear-end Gabrielle's car so he can meet her. He tells Gabrielle he wants to make it up to her by taking her to dinner, and she accepts. After dinner, she tells him that they will never see each other again, to which Victor responds that he one day will marry her. Gabrielle and Victor eventually marry, but Victor later finds that, thanks to some compromising photos delivered to him by Edie Britt, Carlos and Gabrielle are cheating on him. In "Something's Coming", during a tornado, Carlos finds Victor Lang in his house. Carlos tells Victor that he and Gabrielle never meant to hurt him, and Victor answers by shooting at him. Carlos escapes and Victor tracks him down. Carlos and Victor fight it out. During the fight, the tornado sends objects hurling about. Carlos knocks Victor out and escapes to a nearest house. But just as Victor is about to kill Carlos with a leadpipe, a flying fencepost impales Victor in the chest, killing him instantly.

• Lucia Marquez (Maria Conchita Alonso): Gabrielle’s mother. She offered to be their surrogate mother when Gabrielle realizes she can’t get pregnant due to injuries sustained from the fall down the stairs. The plan did not hatch however when Carlos came to know her accusatory character. Like Susan’s mother, she has been married at least four times.

• Juanita "Mama" Solis (1935 - 2005; deceased) (Lupe Ontiveros): The deceased nosy mother of Carlos, who was convinced that Gabrielle was cheating on him with another man, she had obtained photographic evidence of the affair moments before being accidentally run over by Andrew Van De Kamp. She remained in a coma for five months before awakening, only to fall to her death down a flight of stairs at the hospital. Before dying Juanita told a nurse of Gabrielle’s infidelity; however, the nurse couldn’t hear her because she was wearing headphones and listening to loud music.

• Milton Lang (Mike Farrell): Victor’s father who had big expectations in his son’s political career until Victor was killed trying to kill Carlos Solis. If Gabrielle Solis hadn't left Victor's funeral, Milton would've told all those people that Gabrielle was nothing more than a cheating, lying witch.

• Alejandro (unseen character): Gabrielle's former stepfather, who molested her continually when she was fifteen, causing her to eventually run away from home. Gabrielle's mother blames her daughter for Alejandro leaving, believing Gabrielle to have seduced him into falling in love with her.

Season 1 introduced acquaintances

• Yao Lin (Lucille Soong): Gabrielle and Carlos' Chinese housekeeper, who was constantly on Gabrielle’s case due to having to keep lying to Carlos from revealing her affair and not doing a very good job when it came to housekeeping. She was eventually fired in Love is in the Air when Gabrielle came to the final straw with Yao Lin and admitted that they were having financial problems. After this, Yao Lin runs into Gabrielle when she is working at the cosmetic counter and demands a makeover, the perfect humiliation.

• Ashley Bukowski (Emily Christine): A 9-year-old homeschooled girl who catches Gabrielle and John kissing. She instinctively knows how to blackmail, as she is able to get Gabrielle to buy her expensive gifts. Her first demand is for Gabrielle to buy her a new bike and then teach her how to ride it properly. She lives with her mother Sheila Bukowski.

• John Lithgow (John Haymes Newton): Jonathan Lithgow was the gay cable guy of the Solis family. He was mistaken by Carlos to have an affair with Gaby, and due to this he was heavy beaten by him – he later turned up as a witness when Carlos was prosecuted for gay bashing.

• Father Crowley (Jeff Doucette): Priest at the local Catholic church. Gabrielle is openly rude to him. He first appeared on Guilty when he prayed for Juanita, who was in a coma at the time. John told him about the affair, so Gabrielle wanted to straighten things out with him. Crowley tells her that if she doesn’t repent, she will go to Hell. Gabrielle responds by saying, "Aren’t you just a ball of fun?" His next appearance was in "There Won’t Be Trumpets" when he was at Juanita’s funeral. He looked back when Carlos & Gabrielle were fighting. Gabrielle says to him, "Eyes front, Padre!" He appeared on "Fear No More" when Gabrielle confessed her pregnancy and her unawareness of who the father is. He tells her to be thankful since children are a blessing. Gabrielle scoffs and walks away. He appeared on "There’s Something About a War" when Gabrielle asked him to transfer Sister Mary. His most recent appearance was in "Silly People", when he informs Gabrielle that Xiao-Mei will be staying with them briefly.

• Helen Rowland (Kathryn Harrold): The mother of John Rowland. Helen first appears in episode 9 when she finds out that a woman of Wisteria Lane is having an affair with her son, John. She suspects it is Susan after seeing them together, and slaps her and rips her dress up at Gabrielle’s fashion show. Susan knows Gabrielle is the true person who slept with John which ruptures their friendship throughout the episode. Gabrielle eventually confesses to Helen, shortly afterwards the police show up, but they came for Carlos, not Gabrielle. Susan holds Gabrielle in her arms, consoling her as Gabrielle wept over what she has lost. Helen appears again, this time together with her husband Bob, to make Gabrielle send John to college and stop his gardening business. Gabrielle tries to stop him but John only proposes to her with his grandmother’s engagement ring. Gabrielle refuses and convinces John to not be with her. John rebels anyway and keeps going at his gardening business. When Gabrielle fails to help, Helen still threatens to reveal her secret. Helen gets her revenge on the Solis' because she works at the adoption agency where Carlos and Gabrielle try to adopt a baby, but are unsuccessful.

• Mr. Steinberg (Mark L. Taylor): One of the top persons of Sacred Heart Hospital. He offered $1,600,000 to Gaby in order for the Solis not to press any charges towards the hospital concerning their neglections in the death of Juanita. Gaby accepted, but didn’t tell Carlos. Carlos, however, did find out, as Mr. Steinberg later showed up at the Solis house.

Season 2 introduced acquaintances

• David Bradley (Adrian Pasdar): The sleazy Solis family lawyer who tries to convince Gabrielle that her marriage is a complete disaster and that she should divorce her husband. He is a known womanizer. He was shot at by a crazy client.

• Vern (Alec Mapa): Gabrielle’s gay best friend and personal shopper. She begins coaching girls for the Snowflake Pageant at the salon which Vern owns. Vern has yet to be seen in a relationship with anybody in the series.

• Sister Mary Bernard (Melinda Page Hamilton): The blonde Catholic nun who helped getting Carlos released from prison without doing full time. She and Gabrielle instantly clashed, because not only is Mary pretty, she also blames Carlos' problems on Gabrielle’s excessive materialism. As the Sister grew up on the South Side of Chicago, she came to be a tough rival for Gabrielle, regarding Carlos' affection. The Sister and Carlos later became involved with the church’s relief effort to Botswana. Initially, the church did not have enough money to afford to send the Sister, but as it changed the Sister went there in charge of the operation. Upon her return from from Africa, Gabrielle further maneuvered to distance the Sister from Carlos, resulting in a reassignment to a parish in Fairbanks, Alaska.

• Xiao-Mei (Gwendoline Yeo): Xiao-Mei is an illegal immigrant from China, sold by her uncle to Maxine Bennett (an acquaintance of Bree's) as a domestic servant. After being liberated by the authorities, she is brought to the Solis home by Father Crowley. After Lily is taken away from the Solises, they begin to explore the idea of surrogacy. This coincides with Xiao-Mei's need to avoid deportation, which the ICE and INS have been threatening Xiao-Mei with since her liberation from Maxine Bennett's house. Believing she has found a way to have her cake and eat it too, Gabrielle convinces Carlos that Xiao-Mei's surrogacy would solve both problems. However, Xiao-Mei does not understand the process which Gabrielle and Carlos are proposing. Catching Carlos in the master bath before the appointment at the fertility clinic, Xiao-Mei slips off her robe to reveal that she is wearing nothing, and then scoots into bed as Carlos turns to stare at her and gives the classic 'be gentle' line. Carlos, dumbfounded, is then jolted from his stunned stupor by Gabrielle, who is not happy that Xiao-Mei has misunderstood and less happy that Carlos did not instantly correct her misconception. Gabby got more than she bargained for as she was forced to watch over Xiao-Mei as her pregnancy grew difficult, causing some tension between the two to the point she even ran away once. Her water broke at Bree's wedding and she gave birth to a black baby boy as the Solis's embryo had been accidentally switched.

• Eugene Beale (John Kapelos): Shady owner of an adoption agency – the only one who was willing to try to find a children for Gaby and Carlos; but only after they offered a huge sum of money. After for a long time having trouble to find someone who was good enough for Gaby he finally introduced her and Carlos to Libby Collins.

• Libby Collins (Nichole Hiltz): A pole-dancer in a strip club who offers to give her baby to Carlos & Gabrielle, but changed her mind when she found out they were Mexican. However, she changed her mind yet again after they bribe her with gifts (in reality she didn’t care that they were Mexican but had pretended to in order to receive a bribe). In the end, she changed her mind once again and took the baby back.

• Frank Helm (Eddie McClintock): Libby’s boyfriend. He now raises Lily with Libby, although Lily’s biological father is Frank’s brother Dale.

• Baby Lily (Faith and Hope Dever, uncredited): The baby Gabrielle and Carlos adopted for a short while in season two, from stripper Libby. The baby was taken away when her birth parents changed their mind about the adoption. This left Gabrielle heartbroken.

Season 4 introduced acquaintances

• Ellie Leonard (deceased) (Justine Bateman): Becomes Carlos and Gabrielle's tenant late in Season 4. Carlos and Gabby need to bring in a little more money so they decide to rent out one of their extra rooms. It is revealed that Ellie is a drug dealer which shocks Gabrielle as she likes Ellie very much. After discovering this, Carlos and Gabby go to the police. Gabby initially has second thoughts as she considers Ellie a friend, but the police say they would get Carlos off his probation if Carlos and Gabrielle helped them organize a sting against Ellie and her supplier. The Solises agree and the cops bug their house. However, on the day the sting is supposed to go down, Ellie tells Gabrielle about how horrible her life has been and how she considers Gabrielle and Carlos family. After this, Gabrielle, who can see out the window, sees the cops getting ready to arrest Ellie's supplier, who's on their front porch. As the police arrest Ellie's supplier, Gabrielle pulls Ellie close to her and tells her to go out the back door and run. Ellie does so. She later calls Gabby and asks her for a teddy bear her dad gave her, which has a large sum of money inside. Gabby discovers the cash and decides she and Carlos could use it more. And we see the old Gabrielle come out. Ellie later returns to the Solis household for her money and gets in a scuffle with Gabrielle. She runs again, this time to the Mayfair house where Wayne is holding Katherine at gun point. Wayne then hides the gun behind a pillow and shoots Ellie in the chest, killing her.

Edie's family

Edie lives at 4362 Wisteria Lane.

Immediate family

• Edie Britt (Nicollette Sheridan)

• Charles McLain (Greg Evigan): Edie’s first husband (out of two), and Travers' dad. He’s a doctor, who’s been working with Médecins Sans Frontières. He and Edie got divorced when Travers was two years old, and the parents decided to let Travers grow up with his dad, giving Charles full custody.

• Travers McLain (Jake Cherry) Edie's son, who comes to her two weeks a year as she feels she is not good at being a mother. He loves her and helps her seduce Carlos. Realizing Carlos would leave her if she let her son go, Edie tries to manipulate him into wanting shared custody but Carlos makes her see her mistakes as Travers would have to travel back and forth during his entire childhood. Later when Edie leaves Wisteria Lane for good, she tells Travers she would have to spend Mother's Day with him. In fact, she would have to spend a lot more time with him from now on.

• Mr. Roswell (unseen character): Edie's second husband; divorced.

• Dave Williams (Neal McDonough): Edie's current husband

Extended family

• Ilene Britt (deceased) (K Callan): Edie’s dead mother. She appears in one of Edie’s dreams in the season three finale, blaming her for tricking Carlos into a relationship, warning her that she will die alone, just like she had done.

• Austin McCann (Josh Henderson): A troubled 17-year-old kid who is having problems with his mother's new boyfriend. When Edie, Austin's aunt, catches him trying to break into her house, she lets him stay with her for some time instead of going to Mexico like he was planning to, since he fought his mother's boyfriend but she chose her boyfriend instead of Austin. He is instantly attracted to Julie Mayer, and while she is also attracted to him, she doesn't immediately let him know. They spend sometime playing cat and mouse but begin a relationship after both being held hostage by Carolyn Bigsby. In episode 3.12, "Not While I'm Around", Edie and Susan catch Austin and Danielle Van de Kamp having sex. Later on he discovers that he got Danielle pregnant just when he had managed to mend his relationship with Julie. Orson tells Austin he would need to leave town.

Season 2 introduced acquaintances

• Oliver Weston (John Mariano): Described as "the most successful private investigator in Fairview" by Mary Alice, Oliver Weston is hired by Edie to find out who Karl Mayer had left her for. When it turns out to be Susan, Susan tries to bribe him not to tell Edie, but Weston doesn’t accept it, so Mike pays him $15,000 to not tell Edie, Weston then accepts the money.

Season 4 introduced acquaintances

• Al Kaminsky (deceased) (James Luca McBride): A public accountant who is hired by Carlos to “handle” Edie, as she tries to blackmail him into marriage. He transfers the money and mistakenly gives the papers to Edie during the tornado, leading them to be blown away when she fights over them with Gaby. He dies during the tornado when his car runs into a power line and his car bursts into flames.

Mary Alice's family

Mary Alice lived at 4352 Wisteria Lane.

Immediate family

• Mary Alice Young (deceased) (Brenda Strong)

• Paul Young (Mark Moses)

• Zach Young (Cody Kasch)

Season 1 introduced acquaintances

• Jerry Shaw (Richard Roundtree): A private investigator and hitman of Fairview. Mr. Shaw first appears in "Who's That Woman?" where Paul hires him to find out who sent Mary Alice the blackmail note. He appears again in the episode "Anything You Can Do" after Paul finds out that Edie used the same type of stationery that the blackmail note was written on. Jerry Shaw tracks down Edie at the same Saddle Ranch Bar Deirdre was last seen before she proceeded to the Young residence only to find a watery grave. Edie traveled there with Susan who both teamed up to spy on Kendra and Mike. He confronts Edie, masquerading as a partner in real estate and makes a smooth deal with her. In the next episode, "Guilty", Mr. Shaw confronts Edie at an abandoned site in the middle of a rural highway. He finds out that the paper came from Martha Huber just before he was about to shoot her. Shaw then proceeds to tell Paul that Mrs. Huber was the writer of the note. Paul decides to take it upon himself to kill Mary Alice’s blackmailer. Jerry Shaw disappears until the twentieth episode, when Susan hires Mr. Shaw himself, of all PIs, to investigate the Young Family after Zach set fire to her kitchen. His last appearance being in the episode "Sunday in the Park with George", where he delivers falsified information regarding the Young Family. Susan finally asks him to run a complete background check on Mike Delfino. Susan finds out that Mike had killed a cop, and sees Noah and Kendra in a photo, recognizing Kendra instantly setting her straight to getting back with Mike.

Betty's family

Betty lived at 4351 Wisteria Lane.

Immediate family

• Betty Applewhite (Alfre Woodard)

• Matthew Applewhite (deceased) (Mehcad Brooks): Betty's son. Matthew and Betty locked Caleb in the basement as punishment for Melanie's death, but Betty did not know that Matthew was the real killer. Matthew starts dating Danielle Van de Kamp, and her mother, Bree, is not happy with this. Matthew and Danielle create a plan to get Caleb out of the way. Matthew tells Caleb that Danielle likes him and she wants to kiss him. Caleb goes to the Van De Kamp house and into Danielle's room but Danielle freaks and screams for Bree. Bree enters with her gun and frightens Caleb away. After this Betty decides to kill Caleb peacefully with some pills disguised in ice cream but Caleb tells Betty that Matthew said he should go to Danielle's room. She does not kill Caleb and instead locks Matthew in the basement. Danielle finds Matthew and when Betty brings Matthew some food Danielle attacks her and Matthew and Danielle run away. Betty learns that Matthew killed Melanie and tells Bree. Bree rushes home to find Danielle and Matthew there with money they stole from Bree's safe and she won't let Matthew and Danielle out of the house. Matthew brings out a gun and tells Bree to move or he'll shoot her and she challenges him to in order to prove to her watching daughter that Matthew is a murderer. However before he can pull the trigger, Matthew is shot in the heart by a police sniper and dies instantly. Caleb and Betty leave Wisteria Lane after Matthew's death.

• Caleb Applewhite (Page Kennedy and NaShawn Kearse): Betty's son and Matthew's brother.

Season 2 introduced acquaintances

• Curtis "Curt" Monroe (deceased) (Michael Ironside): A private detective from Chicago who lost his license a couple of years ago. He was hired by someone in the Foster family (of which deceased teenager Melanie Foster was a member; Caleb is the only one who really knows what happened to her) to look for Caleb, since he is suspected of being Melanie’s murderer. After finding Caleb, Monroe accidentally shot himself while in the Applewhite basement. Betty and Matthew hid the body in Monroe’s own car, intending to dump the car far away from Wisteria Lane; however, they are unable to drive the car because Betty accidentally shut the keys in the trunk with the body. His body was discovered when Susan crashed into his car.

• Melanie Foster (deceased) (Joy Bisco)

Katherine's family

Katherine lives at 4356 Wisteria Lane.

Immediate family

• Katherine Mayfair (Dana Delany)

• Adam Mayfair (Nathan Fillion)

• Dylan Mayfair (Lyndsy Fonseca): Katherine's daughter, adopted from an orphanage in Romania after the tragic death of the real Dylan, the daughter of Katherine and her first husband Wayne Davis, and passed off as the real Dylan when Katherine returned to Wisteria Lane, though this Dylan has no memory of "her" past life.

• Dylan Davis (deceased): daughter of Katherine and her ex-husband Wayne Davis, who Katherine buried before leaving town, fearing Wayne would use Dylan's death against her if he found out. She was best friends with Julie. Dylan Davis was buried in the woods, after being killed by the shelf that crushed her to death.

• Bradley: "Dylan" Mayfair's fiance in the end of the episode Free (4x17).

• Lillian Simms (deceased) (Ellen Geer): Katherine’s aunt – the elderly woman who owned the house on 4356 Wisteria Lane. After getting too ill to live there on her own she moved to a nursing home, but kept leasing the house in order to pay for her living arrangements. For the first three seasons of the show, Mike rented the house. When Mike moved out, Mrs. Simms was convinced by Edie not to let Carlos rent her house. When Katherine moved in in the season four premiere, Katherine claimed that she is back on Wisteria Lane in order to care for her aunt. In the episode "If There's Anything I Can't Stand", Lillian Simms comes to live in her home again to be cared for in her last days alive. Lillian arrived on a Saturday and the day she arrived she told Katherine that she had been feeling guilty and thought that Katherine and she should tell Dylan about what had happened twelve years earlier. Days later Lillian pretended to take a sleeping pill before Katherine left and then when she had thought that Katherine was gone she used the bell she was given to call Dylan to her room. When Dylan came into her room she tried to tell Dylan what happened and why Dylan did not remember living on Wisteria Lane twelve years ago. But Katherine arrived and sent Dylan away and then took the bell with her. Later that evening while Dylan was practicing her cello, Lillian wrote a note, folded it and died while dropping the note on the floor. Lillian was taken away in an ambulance and her note went unnoticed as Katherine closed her aunt’s door.

• Mr. Simms: Katherine's cousin and Dylan's first cousin, once-removed. Lillian's son.

Extended family

• Wayne Davis (deceased) (Gary Cole): Katherine's first husband and Dylan's father; who abused her. They are divorced. Katherine killed him, in self defense, after he kidnapped her and Bree, in the season finale, after realizing Dylan wasn't his daughter.

• Sylvia Greene (deceased) Sylvia was a woman from Adam's past who shows up and Adam angrily tells her she already ruined his life once. It's later revealed that she was Adam's mistress in Chicago, and she was threatening Adam because he ended the affair, which led to an accusation of sexual assault. In the tornado episode, Bree invites her to her house, which results in Sylvia locking herself in the room Bree, Orson, Benjamin, Adam, and Katherine were supposed to take shelter. They find a closet to stay in. During the tornado strong streak, she comes out of the room and begs Adam to come with her and love her. When Adam does nothing, she threatens to tell exactly what happened in Chicago. Just as she is about to blurt it out, she opens the front door and is swept up by the tornado, killing her instantly. She is found dead by Kayla Scavo, and is identified by Adam and Katherine Mayfair.

Karen's Family

Karen McCluskey lives at 4358 Wisteria Lane.

Immediate family

• Karen McCluskey (Kathryn Joosten)

• Gilbert McCluskey (deceased) (John Harnagel, uncredited): Karen’s dead husband, whose corpse she kept in her freezer.

• Little Boy McCluskey (deceased) Karen's son, who died at the age of twelve from an illness.

The other neighbors of Wisteria Lane

• Felicia Tilman (Harriet Sansom Harris): Martha Huber's sister. She always hated Martha, but regardless she wanted revenge on her sister's murderer. She came to Fairview to find out what happened to her sister, and ends up exposing Zach Young to the truth about himself that Paul has kept hidden from him. She had been entrusted with Zach's care after she blackmailed Paul Young into giving him up. She was then attacked with a hockey stick by Zach and pushed down the stairs; as a result she injured her neck. After briefly returning to Utah to seek medical treatment for her injuries, Felicia returns to Wisteria Lane. She later went on to ruin Edie Britt's engagement party by announcing rather matter-of-factly to everyone that Paul Young had murdered her sister. She tried to irritate Paul three times: by spreading shortening on his front step, replacing the lighter fluid for his grill with gasoline, and ordering a fumigation for his house while he and Zach were still at home. Finally, Felicia arranged an elaborate frame job that got Paul arrested on suspicion of her own murder. Felicia, alive and well, has disappeared to an isolated cabin in parts unknown, checking in under her dead sister's name.

• Martha Huber (deceased) (Christine Estabrook) (1962 - 2004): Martha Huber first appeared in Desperate Housewives' pilot episode as the snoopy neighbor who first discovered Mary Alice Young's suicide. Martha discovered the body after hearing a loud sound which she investigated, pretending to return Mary Alice's blender. When Edie's house burns down, Martha discovers a measuring cup that doesn't belong to Edie in the ruins. When she snoops through Susan's groceries and discovers a new measuring cup, she jumps to the conclusion that Susan burned Edie's house down in order to kill Edie-- her romantic competitor for Mike's affections. Martha, who was undergoing financial difficulties because of her husband's death and her mother's hospitalization, consequently blackmails Susan. Martha pressures Susan to stop dating Mike Delfino, pay for her groceries, and buy her a new water heater. Susan and her daughter Julie break into Martha's home, steal the measuring cup and destroy it. On a visit to her sister Felicia's home, Martha discovers that "Mary Alice's" name is Angela Forrest, and that she stole a baby in Utah and moved to Wisteria Lane to escape her past. Martha Huber decides to solve her financial difficulties by blackmailing Mary Alice sending her a letter. After Mary Alice receives the letter, she commits suicide. The housewives of Wisteria Lane find the note in Mary Alice's clothing and give it to Paul Young. He hires a private eye/hitman to discover who sent the note and to kill him or her. Paul discovers that Edie has the same stationery, and a misunderstanding ensues until it becomes clear that Edie stole the stationery from Martha. Paul confronts Martha at her home, and Martha explains that she was desperate for money and that Mary Alice killed herself because of what she "did to that poor baby." The "poor baby" is her 16-year-old son Zach, whose true identity is Dana Taylor. In a rage, Paul hits Martha in the head with the blender she borrowed from Mary Alice. Martha falls and Paul Young strangles her to death.

• Ida Greenberg (deceased) (Pat Crawford Brown): Ida Greenberg first appeared in the episode, "Come In, Stranger", as a neighbor at the watch-meeting complaining that somebody was watching her whenever she took a shower. In season two, we discover that Ida has a drinking problem. But that ends because, when she asks for God to end her alcoholism, her bottle is shot due to an event taking place at Mike's house, and she quits. In the same episode, it is also revealed that Ida attends a Methodist church. When Mike awakes from his coma, Ida's nephew, Dr. Lee Craig, tells her about this, and she starts spreading the news around Wisteria Lane. Also, when she planned to go on a trip somewhere, in episode 3.06, Susan steals her cab. In season four, Ida has gotten back to drinking. When a neighborhood meeting is done for elections of the street president, Ida objects against the gay neighbors, not because of their fountain, but because they're gay. During the tornado warning, she hides in Mrs. McCluskey's basement with the Scavos, and the house is destroyed due to the tornado. It is soon confirmed she has passed away, sacrificing herself to save Lynette's children and husband. It is also revealed that she was a very good baseball player and even played professionally during World War II. Her ashes are scattered by Lynette and Mrs. McCluskey at a baseball field where she had her glory days.

• Lee McDermott (Kevin Rahm): Lee is Bob's husband. The couple lives at 4351 Wisteria Lane and are the next door neighbors of Susan and Mike Delfino. Lee dislikes Susan after her repeated attempts to get him to like her all backfired. Bob and Lee have a civil ceremony at the end of the fourth season. Lee typically assumes the passive role in the couple.

• Bob Hunter (Tuc Watkins): Bob is Lee’s husband. A few days after the couple moved in Susan tried to get the couple to like her and in one of her attempts she unintentionally ruins his $2000 Dolce & Gabbana suit when Lee and his dog Raphael jumped on him after exiting the Delfino garage with yellow paint on his paws. Bob and Lee have a civil ceremony at the end of the fourth season. Bob assumes the dominant role in the couple.

• Alberta Frome (Betty Murphy): Alberta Frome lives on Wisteria Lane. It hasn’t been determined on which address. Mrs. Frome is a single woman. It is unknown whether she has been divorced or widowed. Alberta owns a cat, Mr. Whiskers who always needs to be watched when she goes out of town. Therefore she must rely on her neighbor friends to take responsibility. When Susan watches Mr. Whiskers, Alberta’s house is broken into by Mike however the cat was unharmed. Like Ida Greenberg, Alberta continues to be a recurring character who is mostly seen during neighborhood gatherings and when one of the housewives needs something or vice versa.

• Edwin Mullins (Cheyenne Wilbur): Mr. Mullins and his wife lived at 4351 Wisteria Lane. Mr Mullins was a taxidermist, and kept a lot of stuffed animals in his home, as revealed by Susan, who also states that he often invites people in, and then introduces them to all his “pets”. They also had a problem with teenagers spreading toilet paper across their yard, and kept a spare key to Mrs. McCluskey’s house. They also trusted Bree by giving her a key to their home. They left Wisteria Lane because of all the action happening there: murder, suicide, blackmail, violence, and arson. It was never determined where they went. Mr. Mullins' brother was Susan’s divorce attorney.

• Arthur "Art" Shephard (Matt Roth): Art and his ill sister Rebecca lived at 4352 Wisteria Lane. He moved to Wisteria Lane in season three, and was introduced in the episode "Bang", where he saves Lynette from being killed by Carolyn Bigsby during the supermarket hostage situation. By doing so he became a hero of Parker's. However, while bringing over a cake to Art, Lynette found his basement full of toys, and filled from floor to ceiling with polaroids of half-naked boys. Convinced that Art's a pedophile, she asked Karen McCluskey of advice and soon there were massive demonstrations outside the Shephard’s house. After Rebecca died, Lynette came to rethink what she had seen, and begged for Art’s forgiveness. He responded by saying that he had to hide his pedophilia from his sister, but now he was free of those restrictions. He then ominously stated that he’s going to be moving to a new neighborhood.

• Rebecca Shephard (deceased) (Jennifer Dundas): Art's ill sister who lived with him. She was in a wheel chair, and was taken care of by Art. When the accusations towards Art grew stronger, Rebecca came to her brother's defense, claiming that his love for boys was completely pure, only being that of a swimming coach’s pride of his students. As the protests didn’t stop Rebecca died of cardiac arrest.