Marc Cherry

As a writer and producer for "The Golden Girls" (NBC, 1985-1992) and the creator of the spin-off "Golden Palace" (CBS, 1992-93), writer-showrunner Marc Cherry seemed well on his way to a long and fruitful career. But after a string of commercial flops, which included short-lived series like "The Five Mrs. Buchanans" (CBS, 1994-95) and "Some of My Best Friends" (CBS, 2000-01), Cherry's career hit the skids, which was exacerbated by his former agent embezzling tens of thousands of dollars. Penniless and forced to borrow money from his mother, Cherry made one final attempt to score a hit and struck gold when he created the wildly successful "Desperate Housewives" (ABC, 2004-12).

Part comedy, part soap opera and part mystery, the show - which he later stated was greatly inspired by his mother - stood atop the ratings during its first few seasons, attracting millions of viewers with every episode, broad critical acclaim, numerous awards and even a small amount of controversy. Despite his failures over the years, Cherry finally had not only a major hit, but created a cultural touchstone destined to be long remembered.

Born on March 23, 1962 in Oklahoma, Cherry was raised on a farm by his father, Truman, an accountant, and his mother, Martha. He moved around often because his father worked for the oil business, making stops in such far away places as Hong Kong and Iran. The family eventually settled in Fullerton, CA, where Cherry graduated from Troy High School before becoming a theater major at California State University, Fullerton.

In 1986, Cherry was a contestant on "The $100,000 Pyramid" (CBS/ABC/syndicated, 1973-2004), where he won $10,000 with Ken Kercheval from "Dallas" (CBS, 1978-1991) as his partner and Dick Clark as host. He came within four seconds of beating the record for the show's fastest win. Fresh off his game show victory, Cherry decided to move to Los Angeles and break into show business. He started working as the personal assistant for Dixie Carter from "Designing Women" (CBS, 1986-1993) fame while working on spec scripts at night with his writing partner, Jamie Wooten.

Though he tried to launch his career during the devastating Writers' Guild strike of 1988, Cherry and Wooten nonetheless scored an agent and eventually found themselves in the Warner Bros Writers Workshop. From there, both were invited to join the writing staff of "The Golden Girls" (NBC, 1985-1992) for its final two seasons. Cherry climbed his way up to producer level by the time the show went off the air, before moving on to write and produce the short-lived spin-off "Golden Palace" (CBS, 1992-93).

Cherry went on to write and co-create another short-lived sitcom, "The Five Mrs. Buchanans" (CBS, 1994-95), a well-reviewed series about an irascible mother (Eileen Heckart) who loves her sons, but hates the women they married. The network put the show in a bad time slot on Saturday night, where it failed to attract an audience and soon died off after 17 episodes. His next project, "The Crew" (Fox, 1995-96), a sitcom about four friends who work as flight attendants, suffered the fate of his previous two efforts.

After a fourth failed attempt to create a hit with "Some of My Best Friends" (CBS, 2000-01), a sitcom adaptation of the feature film "Kiss Me Guido" (1997), Cherry found himself at a professional crossroads. With $79,000 embezzled by his agent and forced to ask his mother for financial help, Cherry made a last-ditch effort to revive his floundering career. Inspired by a comment his mother made while following the Andrea Yates murder trial, Cherry began work on the pilot for what became "Desperate Housewives" (ABC, 2004-12).

Billed as a dark comedy, the script was passed on by all the networks and several cable stations when, at the insistence of his new agent, he revamped the concept and pitched it as a primetime soap. Interest was renewed, particularly with ABC, which was desperate for a hit of its own. The network bought the show and cast a group of actresses looking to revive their own stalled careers, including former primetime soap queen Nicolette Sheridan. Rounding out the cast was Terri Hatcher, Felicity Huffman, Marcia Cross, Eva Longoria and Nicollette Sheridan, all of whom knew they were working with a good script, though no one expected the enormity of the success that was to follow.

From the moment the first episode aired, "Desperate Housewives" was a huge hit, both for Cherry and the previously struggling ABC. Regularly pulling in over 20 million viewers per episode, the show - which followed the sordid lives of five women living on the fictional Wisteria Lane, as see through the eyes of their dead neighbor - turned the cast into tabloid stars, while Cherry became the rare showrunner to become a household name. Despite a minor outrage caused by a plug on "Monday Night Football" (ABC, 1970- ), where a naked Sheridan jumped into the arms of Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Terrell Owens, "Desperate Housewives" rode high atop the ratings for several seasons, while simultaneously being nominated year in and year out for Golden Globes and Emmy Awards.

Cherry took home Globes in 2005 and 2006 for Best Television Comedy Series. But steadily over time, the ratings started to decline, as did the quality of the show, which failed to match its outstanding first year in subsequent seasons.

Faced with a stagnating storyline, Cherry took the bold step of fast-forwarding the show's timeline five years in order to breathe new life into the series, while adding fresh faces like Dana Delany to the cast. With renewed interest in the show, fans continued to buttress the show's strong ratings despite an overall decrease of network viewership following the Writers' Guild strike in 2007-08, for which Cherry openly marched and demonstrated along with his cast. Throughout the "Desperate Housewives" run, Cherry remained singularly dedicated to the show he knew was the high water mark of his entire career.

However, just when things appeared to be on an even keel, Cherry and ABC were slapped with a $20 million lawsuit in early 2010 from former cast member, Nicollette Sheridan, who had left the series after the fifth season. Sheridan was previously the focal point of controversy, when uncertainty surrounded her return to the show prior to season five. She ultimately did, only to have her character killed off in the season's finale in a particularly grisly manner the actress would later attribute to Cherry's true feelings for her. Sheridan alleged in her suit that in September 2008, Cherry "took her aside and forcefully hit her with his hand across her face and head" during rehearsal, which she claimed led to her wrongful termination.

Cherry strongly denied the allegations, though he confirmed that he did slap her as a means of demonstrating how to perform a scene. The tabloids were alight with allegations and rumors from both sides closely associated with the show, with some claiming that Cherry hated women, while others defended him, including his entire female cast who stood in solidarity with him. The news came just before the death of Dixie Carter, whom Cherry considered a close friend following his employment as her assistant and whom he would later cast in a guest-starring role on "Housewives."

After announcing his beloved series was concluding in 2012, he began that year locked in a courtroom battle with Sheridan. After weeks of trial testimony from Cherry, Sheridan and even co-star James Denton in early 2012, the case was deadlocked and a mistrial declared in March.