Teri Hatcher as Susan Mayer

Teri Hatcher was born on December 8, 1964 in Sunnyvale, California. She pursued her education at Manho Junior High (now kwown as Sunnyvale Middle School), Fremont High School and De Anza College. She began studying ballet at the San Juan Girls' Ballet Studio when she was a young girl, but eventually moved on to train in acting at the American Conservatory Theater. In 1984, she became a cheerleader for the San Francisco 49ers, and soon landed a small role as one of the mermaids on the series The Love Boat.

Hatcher's popularity grew when she was cast as Lois Lane in the television adaptation of the Superman franchise, Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. She acted opposite Dean Cain for four seasons, and in 1997, she appeared as Paris Carver on the 18th James Bond film, Tomorrow Never Dies.

When Lois and Clark was cancelled in 1997, Hatcher expressed great disappointment and found it difficult to find leading roles in more notable productions. Her next big break came several years later, when she was cast in the popular television series, Desperate Housewives, created by Marc Cherry. Hatcher was given the role of Susan Mayer, and in 2005, the role earned her a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy and a Screen Actors Guild Award in the same category. Since the first season of the show began airing, Hatcher has also done other noteworthy projects, which include the release of her first book, Burnt Toast: And Other Philosophies of Life and the revelation of her own clothing and product line.

Hatcher's additional acting credits include Seinfeld, MacGyver, Spy Kids, Dead in the Water, 2 Days in the Valley, Star Trek: The Next Generation, LA Law, Quantum Leap, Tango & Cash, Murphy Brown, Tales from the Crypt, Saturday Night Live, The Brotherhood, The Exile, Frasier, Fever and Two and a Half Men. She also did several Radio Shack commercials, which gave her the opportunity to work with NFL Hall of Famer Howie Long.

Hatcher has been married (and divorced) twice, with her first marriage to Marcus Leithold ending in 1989 and her second marriage to Jon Tenney ending in 2003. She and Tenney have one daughter, Emerson Rose. In 2006, Hatcher told Vanity Fair magazine that she was sexually abused by her uncle (by marriage), Richard Hayes Stone. The abuse began when she was only five years old, and in 2002, Hatcher helped indict Stone for the molestation of a young girl who ended up taking her own life at the tender age of 14.