Kathryn Joosten Filmography

Kathryn Joosten is an American television actress best known for her regular role as Karen McCluskey in Desperate Housewives, for which she won two Emmy Awards, and for her recurring role in The West Wing as Dolores Landingham. Joosten did not begin to hone her craft until the 1980s, after taking acting classes in Chicago, Illinois. She started acting at age 42, which is unusual for most actors. Prior to her career as an actress, she worked as a psychiatric nurse at Michael Reese Hospital, in Chicago. In 2005 and 2008, Joosten won an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress - Comedy Series for her... portrayal of Karen McCluskey on Desperate Housewives. It was not until the mid-1990s that Joosten made the move to Hollywood, where she took guest roles in television series such as Roseanne, Home Improvement, Picket Fences, Murphy Brown, ER, Seinfeld, Frasier, Just Shoot Me!, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dharma & Greg, Las Vegas and The Drew Carey Show. In the 1997 episode of Frasier, 'Roz's Turn', Joosten appeared as Vera, the mother and personal secretary of Frasier's conniving agent, Bebe Glazer, played by Harriet Sansom Harris.
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