Brenda Strong

Brenda Lee Strong (born March 25, 1960) is an American actress and yoga instructor, best known for her role as Mary Alice Young on the ABC television comedy-drama series Desperate Housewives (2004-2012), for which she was nominated for Emmy Awards. She also is known for role as Sally Sasser on the ABC comedy-drama Sports Night (1998-2000) and currently starring as as Ann Ewing on the TNT drama series Dallas. Strong was born in Brightwood, Oregon, and grew up near Portland, Oregon, graduating in 1978 from Sandy Union High School in Sandy, Oregon. She later moved to Arizona to attend college, and graduated from Arizona State University with a Bachelor of Music in musical theater. Strong was crowned Miss Arizona in 1980; she is 6'0" (1.83 m) tall. Her first break after college was a spot in Billy Crystal’s 1984 music video You Look Marvelous. Her first television appearances came in 1985 with brief stints on St. Elsewhere, MacGyver, and Cheers. She also made guest appearances on Matlock, Murphy Brown, Herman's Head, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and Blossom, and had a brief role on the cult favorite Twin Peaks. By the mid-1990s she was a regular guest player on dozens of series,