People: Desperate to see her? Tune in tonight
For three years now, Brenda Strong has starred in one of the top shows on television.
Still, episodes like the one tonight on “Desperate Housewives” (9 p.m., KXLY-4 in Spokane) are important: We actually get to see her.
Strong plays Mary Alice Young, the narrator on “Housewives.” It’s a fine job, with the words crafted by Marc Cherry, the show’s creator.
“Marc is the singular vehicle for Mary Alice,” she says. “He sees all the ironies.”
It’s a great role, except for the whole complication of Mary Alice being dead. Usually, that keeps Strong off-camera.
Occasionally, a flashback nudges her on-camera. So it was good news for Strong when the character of Katherine Mayfair (Dana Delany) was added this season.
“Katherine has just moved back to Wisteria Lane after being gone for a long time,” Strong says. “She didn’t even know Mary Alice had died.”
That brings an opportunity for more flashbacks, including one tonight. After hearing Strong so often, viewers can again see her.
It’s an impressive sight. She stands 5-foot-111/2, towering over castmate Eva Longoria by almost 10 inches.
Strong has a pageant-ready look, so it’s no real surprise that she was Miss Arizona in 1981.
She grew up in Oregon but her family moved to Arizona. Strong majored in voice at Arizona State, sang in pageants, then moved to Hollywood.
There, she landed recurring roles in many series, including “The Help,” “Sports Night” and (in another dead-wife flashback role) “Everwood.” Still, she never did anything special with her voice.
“I always thought I would like to get into voice work,” Strong says. “Everyone told me, because I was doing yoga, ‘Your voice is so soothing.’ “
Her music background helps, especially because it connects her with Cherry, who was once a tenor with the Young Americans.
“The fact that Marc Cherry was a singer is important,” Strong says. “He writes in such a musical, lyrical way.”
As Cherry’s mouthpiece, Strong is one of the first to know what’s happening next on the show.
Yes, she says, she was stunned by last season’s finale, in which Edie Britt (Nicollette Sheridan) apparently commited suicide.
When it was revealed in last Sunday’s fourth-season opener that Edie was faking it (though with near-fatal results), fans were relieved – and so were cast members.
“We were all on pins and needles,” Strong says. “No one assumes anything … Look at poor Steven Culp.”
He played the husband of Bree Van De Kamp (Marcia Strong), who died at the end of Season 2.
Except, of course, that death doesn’t always mean the end on TV. Brenda Strong and Mary Alice Young prove that.
The birthday bunch
Singer Al Martino is 80. Musician John Mellencamp is 56. Gospel singer Michael W. Smith is 50. “American Idol” judge Simon Cowell is 48. Singer Toni Braxton is 40. Singer Thom Yorke (Radiohead) is 39. Singer Taylor Hicks (“American Idol”) is 31.