Kathryn Joosten

Credit: Jonathan Leibson/FilmMagic

UpdatePosted 06/02/2012 08:15PM

Kathryn Joosten Dies at 72

Originally posted 06/02/2012 05:10PM

Emmy winner Kathryn Joosten died of lung cancer Saturday. She was 72.

The actress, best known for her role on Desperate Housewives as plucky neighbor Karen McCluskey and as The West Wing's secretary Mrs. Landingham, was surrounded by family and friends in Westlake Village, Calif., at the time of her death.

"Kathryn passed away this morning after a valiant fight against her cancer," Nadine Jolson, Joosten's rep, told E! News. "Her family was with her. Funeral arrangements are pending. This is a terrible loss, and she fought as hard as she could."

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Filed Under: Tributes, Desperate Housewives, Kathryn Joosten

Credit: Matthew Rolston/ABC

Desperate Housewives

UpdatePosted 05/14/2012 10:30AM

Desperate Housewives Finale Proves Classically Desperate

Originally posted 05/14/2012 08:00AM

Desperate Housewives is over. For longtime fans of the ABC comedy-drama, the two-hour finale flew by.

The first half concluded the preposterous murder trial against Bree (Marcia Cross). It was sad to see Bree led off to the death chamber manacled and in an unflattering orange jumper. Am I kidding? As narrator Mary Alice would say: Yesssssss …

The second half saw the death of one of the best-loved residents of Wisteria Lane, plus a wedding and a birth. If you're at all up on the season you know who did what of which. In other words, it was sweet, it was pat, it was all a bit anticlimactic – but why wouldn't it be after all this time?

Here are some moments – none of them spoilers – that made the farewell classically Desperate.

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Filed Under: , Desperate Housewives, Doug Savant, Eva Longoria, Felicity Huffman, Johnny Mathis, Kathryn Joosten, Marc Cherry, Marcia Cross, Ricardo Chavira, Scott Bakula

Credit: Danny Feld/ABC

Health

Kathryn Joosten Recovering from Lung Surgery

Originally posted 10/05/2009 06:10PM

Emmy Award-winning Desperate Housewives actress Kathryn Joosten, 69, underwent surgery Monday morning in Los Angeles to remove a cancerous growth on her lung, PEOPLE has learned.

According to Joosten's rep, the actress's doctors believe the cancer was well contained – and that the surgery was a complete success.

"She's doing great," her rep says. "She'll be in the hospital recovering for a few days. And she'll need to go in for proactive CAT Scans every few months. But there will be no [need for] chemo, no radiation."

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Filed Under: Kathryn Joosten

Credit: Danny Feld/ABC

Health

Desperate Housewives' Kathryn Joosten Has Lung Cancer

Originally posted 09/14/2009 03:40PM

Kathryn Joosten, a two-time Emmy winner for her role as feisty neighbor Mrs. McCluskey on Desperate Housewives, has lung cancer – and she plans to do everything she can to fight it.

"I've got a little hang-up here," Joosten tells PEOPLE exclusively of the diagnosis she received less than a week ago, "but we're going to handle it and move forward. I'm doing great."

The actress, 69, who already won a bout with lung cancer in 2001, broke the news to her Housewives producers Monday morning as she expects her shooting schedule could be interrupted for treatment. "They're totally supportive," she says. "I said, 'If you want to put it in the story line, do it! Tell anybody you want, because the public's going to know.' "