The filmography of the actress Brenda Strong currently includes more than a hundred films and TV series. And, perhaps, the greatest success brought her the role of Mary Alice Young in the TV series "Desperate Housewives". For this role, Brenda Strong was even nominated for an Emmy. At the same time, not everyone knows that Strong is not only an actress, but also a yoga instructor in demand in the United States.
Early years and early career
Brenda Strong was born in 1960 in Portland (Oregon, USA). She graduated from high school in 1978, after which she entered Arizona State University. A few years later, the future actress successfully graduated from it with a bachelor's degree in Musical Theater. It is also known that in 1981, Brenda was one of the participants in the national beauty pageant "Miss America".
In 1984, she starred in the music video for comedian Billy Crystal "You Look Marvelous". A year later, in 1985, Brenda finally made her TV debut - in one of the episodes of the medical drama St. Elsver.
After that, she had guest roles in such multi-part projects as "Secret Agent MacGyver", "Matlock", "Dallas".
In 1988, Brenda starred in episode 16 of season 1 of the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation. And in 1989, she could be seen in cameo roles in three TV series at once - Murphy Brown, Only Love and Father Dowling's Secrets.
The creativity of the actress in the nineties and early two thousandth
In 1991, Brenda Strong took part in the filming of the final five episodes of the second season of the famous TV series Twin Peaks. Here she played the charming Miss Jones.
In general, for most of the nineties, Strong, as before, performed mainly small (one or two episodes) roles on TV. In particular, she has appeared in projects such as "Kindred", "Silk Nets", "The Third Planet from the Sun".
However, sometimes she still got more significant roles - for example, in the soap operas "We Are Five" and "Seinfeld", with which Brenda collaborated in 1996 and 1997. In addition, from 1998 to 2000, she took part in seven episodes of the series "Sports Night", which tells about the everyday life of the creators of the popular sports show.
During the same period, Brenda Strong also worked in films - her play can be seen in the melodrama "My Life" (1993), in the thriller "Ready for Anything" (1993), in the mystical film "Witchcraft" (1996). And, say, in 1997, she appeared in a fairly prominent role (as Captain Deladier) in Paul Verhoeven's fantastic action movie Starship Troopers.
At the beginning of the 2000s, Brenda Strong was involved in the TV series "Seventh Heaven". In total, from 2000 to 2002, her heroine (her name was Carmen Macul) appeared in 8 episodes. During the same period, she took part in projects such as Ellie McBeal, Dawson's Creek, Widower's Love and Body Parts.
It should also be mentioned that in 2002 Brenda starred in one of the films about the maniac Hannibal Lecter - "Red Dragon" (directed by Brett Ratner).
Participation in "Desperate Housewives"
Strong's true fame came with her role as Mary Alice Young in the ABC series Desperate Housewives. Interestingly, this role was originally supposed to be played by another actress - Cheryl Lee. But at some point, she was replaced by Strong.
The first episode of Desperate Housewives premiered in 2004 and the last aired in 2012. The series became a hit not only in the United States, but also in other countries, and made the leading performers very famous (it should be noted that, in addition to Strong, such stars as Felicity Huffman, Eva Longoria and Marcia Cross were filmed here).
Basically, the plot of "Desperate Housewives" revolves around four women from the fictional American town of Fairview. In a satirical vein, various stories from the life of this town are told here (and the story is told on behalf of Mary Alice Young - her voice sounds at the beginning and end of almost every episode throughout all eight seasons).
As a result, this role brought Strong not only audience love, but also a couple of nominations for the Emmy TV award.
Brenda Strong in recent years
From 2012 to 2014, Strong played a character like Ann Ewing in the legal series Dallas, a sequel to the legendary television project of the eighties (in which the actress, as mentioned above, also took part). But the revived Dallas only lasted three seasons, after which it was canceled due to low ratings.
In 2016, Brenda Strong portrayed Lillian Luthor for the first time in the Supergirl series. At the moment, she has played this heroine in more than ten episodes of this series (and, by the way, it is not finished yet).
In the spring of 2018, Brenda Strong began to appear periodically in Netflix's teen drama series 13 Reasons Why as Nora Walker. And in the third season (it started on August 23, 2019) Nora became a regular heroine.
It is also worth adding that in 2019 the actress made her directorial debut - she shot a short film "# 3 Normandy Lane". This debut was even honored with an award at the GI Film Festival in San Diego.
Other activities
In the US, Brenda Strong has a definite reputation as a certified yoga instructor and fertility expert. In this capacity, Strong taught at the University of California Los Angeles Medical Center and also spoke at TEDxWomen in Beverly Hills as a speaker on women's health. She also received an honorary doctorate from Yo San University of Traditional Chinese Medicine for her pioneering work on the beneficial effects of yoga on female fertility.
Plus, Brenda Strong has recorded a series of videos designed to help women who want but cannot get pregnant.
Personal information
In 1989, Brenda Strong became the wife of Tom Henry. In 1994, they had a boy named Zackery. In general, this marriage lasted more than two decades - until June 2013.
On May 2, 2015, Brenda married a second time - the actor John Farmanes-Bocca became her legal husband. At the moment, John and Brenda are still in a relationship.
