Katherine Justen is known to television movie enthusiasts for her roles in Desperate Housewives, Anatomy of Passion and The West Wing. And although Katherine was not megapopular, the actress left behind a rich filmography. How did Justen's career begin and how did she end her career?
early years
Katherine Justen was born in 1939 in Florida. She had a very extraordinary fate by acting standards.
Katherine Justen in her youth received a medical education and for a long time worked as a regular nurse in a psychiatric clinic. At 24, Katherine lost her mother, who died of cancer. Before her death, she told her daughter that she had made only one mistake in life - she had betrayed her dream. But Catherine then missed those words. She continued to work in a psychiatric clinic, although she was an avid movie fan and, perhaps, even then felt a desire to try herself in this profession.
Justen married a psychiatrist, gave birth to two children. But when a woman turned forty years old, her marriage broke up. Work in a psychiatric clinic also became unbearable, so Katherine quit and went to acting classes. At 42, she got her first movie role.
Katherine Justen: Movies
Katherine first appeared on the screens in 1984 in the film "Grandview, USA", which also starred Jamie Lee Curtis and Patrick Swayze. This was just one role out of hundreds that the actress had a chance to play in her career. However, the main characters Katherine was never trusted.
Katherine Justen most often appeared on TV shows. From 1988 to 1997, she continually flashed in the drama "Rosanna." And in 1996, she began acting in the series Ambulance, which subsequently won 23 Emmy awards. By the way, 33-year-old George Clooney began his career in this series.
Also, the actress can be seen in the popular serial films "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", "The X-Files" and "Enchanted". In the movie "New Joan of Arc," Katherine appeared in the image of an old God. Justen also starred in the TV series "Clinic", in the image and likeness of which Russian "Interns" were created.
West Wing
For the first time, the play of Katherine Justen was appreciated after filming the actress in the political series "The West Wing."
The political drama The West Wing was created by Aaron Sorkin and aired on NBC. The series was so successful that the channel extended it for seven seasons. The plot focuses on the everyday life of the administration of the fictional president of the United States, whose role was played by Martin Sheen.
Perhaps the success of the film is explained by the novelty of the plot: viewers are already fed up with the adventures of policemen, magicians, witches and teenagers, and political intrigues, squabbles and squabbles have not yet been covered by anyone. Here are the producers of the NBC channel and decided to fill this gap.
Catherine Justen in this story got the role of Dolores Landingham - Secretary of the President. For this role, the actress twice won the US Screen Actors Guild Award.
Anatomy of Passion
Another top-rated American television series starring Justen is the medical drama Anatomy of Passion. The creator of the project was Shonda Rimes, who, thanks to her work on the series, was nominated three times for an Emmy.
Anatomy of Passion is considered more than a successful project, because twelve seasons have been released (252 episodes in total). The project was curated by ABC.
"Desperate Housewives"
However, the central place in Katherine’s career was not the Anatomy of Passion series, the actress was completely recognized on the streets thanks to the acclaimed multi-part film Desperate Housewives.
"Desperate Housewives" conquered the whole world. It is difficult to find a civilized country in which this series would not be broadcast. In Russia, this film was shown by the STS television channel.
The plot focuses on the fate of four women who live in the private sector in the fictional city of Fairview. The four main characters are friends, but they are not at all alike: Susan Mayer is raising her daughter alone; Lynette Skavo abandoned her business in order to raise four children; Bree Van de Camp - just a red-haired domineering bitch; and Gabriel Solis is a former model who is weary of boring family life. This is the colorful ensemble of the film.
Katherine Justen first appeared in episodes of the series as a guest celebrity. For these episodic appearances in 2005, the actress got her first Emmy Award. By 2008, the character Justin (Karen MaClaski) was introduced into the storyline of the series on an ongoing basis. And then Katherine got her second Emmy Award.
Why did the series “Desperate Housewives” seduce the audience so that its rating for the first two seasons was kept at 10.66? The thing is that the directors and scriptwriters skillfully combined several screen genres in one film at once: the melodrama, comedy, drama, tragedy and detective story unfolded in front of the audience. The plot twists constantly kept the audience in suspense and made everyone look forward to each new series.
The cause of death of the actress
Ironically, the heroine Katherine Justen at the end of the eighth season dies of cancer. The creators of the series could not know that the actress is actually fighting this disease. Nevertheless, they wrote a similar episode in the script.
Katherine first became ill with lung cancer in 2001. She managed to temporarily stop her illness, but in 2009 the disease returned again. The actress died in 2012, two weeks after the last episode of Desperate Housewives aired.