Marc Cherry Biography

Marc Cherry (born March 23, 1962) is an American television writer and producer. He is best known for creating the ABC dramedy series Desperate Housewives and the Lifetime dramedy series Devious Maids.

Early life and career

Marc Cherry was born in Long Beach and lived briefly in Oklahoma. His father was an accountant which required the family to relocate to California. After graduating from Troy High School in Fullerton, California, Cherry graduated from California State University, Fullerton's theater program and initially considered a career in performance. After winning $15,000 as a contestant on The $100,000 Pyramid in 1986, he decided to move to Hollywood and pursue writing work. His move came at a bad time; the 1988 writer's strike hit as soon as Cherry arrived. Cherry broke into the industry by working as Designing Women star Dixie Carter's personal assistant.

In 1990, he became a writer and producer for the long-running hit sitcom The Golden Girls. Cherry wrote for the show, and its short lived spinoff The Golden Palace.

When those shows concluded, Cherry co-created The 5 Mrs. Buchanans. The concept of the show centered around the matriarch of the family (played by Eileen Heckart) and the wives of her four sons. The show had a brief run on CBS during the 1994-1995 season.

Cherry also co-created The Crew (1995). On his own, he later created Some of My Best Friends, a 2001 sitcom that was based in part on the film Kiss Me, Guido.

Desperate Housewives

In 2002, a conversation with his mother inspired him to develop a show about the fractured lives of four upper middle class suburban women. After HBO, FOX, CBS, NBC, Showtime, and Lifetime all passed on the show, Cherry got his big break when his agent was arrested and sent to jail for embezzlement. His new agents brought the show to ABC, which decided to pick it up. The series, Desperate Housewives, was an immediate ratings smash and generated enormous national (and subsequently, international) debate. Cherry received several lucrative offers from various parties, but chose to sign a long-term deal with Touchstone, since their network had shown faith in Desperate Housewives when no one else would.

Cherry has featured several actors on "Housewives" that he has worked with before; Mark Moses, who played Paul Young, and Harriet Sansom Harris, who played Felicia Tilman, were both cast members of The 5 Mrs. Buchanans. In season three, Cherry cast former boss Dixie Carter in the role of Gloria Hodge, Orson's unhinged mother. Actor Alec Mapa, who appeared in Some of My Best Friends, appears on "Housewives" in a recurring role as Gabrielle's stylist.

Cherry appeared in a cameo as one of Susan's moving men on the final episode of Desperate Housewives.

Lawsuit

On April 5, 2010, former Desperate Housewives cast member Nicollette Sheridan filed a $20 million lawsuit against Cherry and ABC, alleging that he had assaulted her on set and wrongfully terminated her contract. Sheridan also alleged in her lawsuit that Cherry was abusive to other actors and writers on the show. ABC said in a statement that they had investigated similar claims made by Sheridan and found them to be of no merit.

The stars of Desperate Housewives (Teri Hatcher, Felicity Huffman, Marcia Cross and Eva Longoria) pledged their support to Cherry in his battle against assault allegations made by Sheridan. At the end of 2010, Sheridan removed abuse claims from the suit.

The case finally went to trial in February 2012. On March 13, 2012, the judge dismissed the battery charge against Cherry due to lack of evidence, and Cherry was no longer a defendant in the lawsuit which then focused solely on Sheridan's alleged wrongful termination by ABC. Closing arguments were heard in the case on March 14, 2012 and the jury began their deliberations. By March 19, 2012, the twelve members of the jury had failed to reach a verdict and a mistrial was declared. A retrial was scheduled to begin on September 10, 2012, but on August 16, 2012, the Los Angeles Court of Appeal determined that Sheridan had not been wrongfully fired and dismissed the retrial. A further appeal made by Sheridan to the California Supreme Court was rejected on November 16, 2012.

Other credits

Cherry appeared as himself in an episode of Arrested Development, which was created by fellow Golden Girls writer Mitchell Hurwitz.

Political affiliation

Cherry was described in an article about him in Newsweek as a "somewhat conservative, gay Republican."

On June 29, 2006, Cherry accepted Log Cabin Republicans' American Visibility Award at a dinner in Hollywood where the main award recipient was California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who received the club's "Courage To Lead" Award.