Marc Cherry Bio
Marc Cherry (born March 23, 1962) is an American television writer and producer widely recognized for shaping some of the most talked-about serialized dramas of the early twenty-first century. He is best known for creating the ABC dramedy series Desperate Housewives and the Lifetime series Devious Maids, both of which showcased his talent for weaving sharp satire, intricate female ensembles, and darkly comic suburban mystery into long-running network television. Beginning his career in the early 1990s as a writer on The Golden Girls, Cherry rose through the ranks of network sitcoms before reinventing himself as a creator-showrunner with a distinctive voice.
Throughout his career, Cherry has remained an influential figure in television, celebrated for blending humor with melodrama and for centering morally complex women at the heart of his stories. His work continues to influence the craft of modern serialized storytelling, and he has pursued new projects while mentoring emerging performers and writers.
Early Life and Background
Marc Cherry was born in Long Beach, California, and lived briefly in Oklahoma during his childhood before his family returned to the West Coast. His father worked as an accountant, and the demands of that career shaped the family’s early relocations. After settling back in California, Cherry attended Troy High School in Fullerton, where he first discovered his love of storytelling and performance.
Following high school, Cherry enrolled at California State University, Fullerton, where he studied in the theater program and graduated in 1985. During his university years, he trained in acting and stagecraft, and he initially considered pursuing a career as a performer. After winning fifteen thousand dollars as a contestant on the television game show The $100,000 Pyramid in 1986, Cherry decided to redirect his ambitions toward writing and made the move to Hollywood.
His relocation coincided with the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike, which made breaking into the industry difficult. Determined to find a foothold, Cherry took a job as the personal assistant to Designing Women star Dixie Carter, an experience that gave him an inside look at how a hit television series operated behind the scenes and ultimately opened the door to his first writing assignments.
Path to Television Writing
Cherry’s transition from aspiring actor to working writer began in 1990, when he joined the writing staff of The Golden Girls, the long-running NBC sitcom created by Susan Harris. Working under producer Paul Junger Witt, Cherry honed his skills crafting witty dialogue for an ensemble of older women, and the experience proved formative. He later wrote for the short-lived spinoff The Golden Palace, further deepening his understanding of character-driven network comedy.
In the mid-1990s, Cherry moved into creating his own projects. He co-created The 5 Mrs. Buchanans, a CBS sitcom centered on four women married to brothers and their difficult mother-in-law that aired during the 1994 to 1995 season. He also co-created The Crew in 1995. In 2001, he developed Some of My Best Friends, a sitcom loosely inspired by the 1997 film Kiss Me, Guido. These early series gave Cherry the opportunity to refine his voice and build the relationships with actors and executives that would later support his biggest successes.
Marc Cherry Career
Early Career (1990–2001)
Marc Cherry began his television career in 1990 as a writer and producer on The Golden Girls, contributing scripts to one of the most acclaimed ensemble sitcoms of its era. His work on the show and its short-lived spinoff The Golden Palace established him as a reliable voice for character-driven comedy, and he quickly earned opportunities to develop his own series.
During the early 1990s, Cherry co-created The 5 Mrs. Buchanans for CBS and The Crew in 1995, both of which explored ensemble dynamics with a comic edge. He later created Some of My Best Friends in 2001, drawing on his own experiences to craft a sitcom about friendship and identity. These formative projects, though short-lived, allowed Cherry to sharpen his craft and prepare for his breakthrough work in the next decade.
Breakthrough (2004–2012)
In 2002, a conversation with his mother inspired Cherry to develop a show about the fractured lives of four upper-middle-class suburban women. After HBO, FOX, CBS, NBC, Showtime, and Lifetime all passed on the project, circumstances changed when Cherry’s agent was arrested and jailed for embezzlement. His new agents brought the script to the attention of ABC, which decided to pick it up. The result was Desperate Housewives, which premiered in 2004 and became an immediate ratings smash, generating enormous national and international debate.
Cherry signed a long-term deal with Touchstone Television, the studio behind the series, and assembled a cast that included Teri Hatcher, Felicity Huffman, Marcia Cross, Eva Longoria, and Nicollette Sheridan. He reunited several actors he had worked with before, including Mark Moses and Harriet Sansom Harris from The 5 Mrs. Buchanans, as well as his former boss Dixie Carter, who joined the cast in season three. The series ran for eight seasons and cemented Cherry’s reputation as a leading showrunner of his generation.
Following the end of Desperate Housewives, Cherry partnered with Eva Longoria to develop Devious Maids, a mystery-drama set in Beverly Hills centered on a group of Latina maids working for the wealthy. Initially developed for ABC, the series moved to Lifetime, where it premiered in 2013 and ran for four seasons. Cherry again hired several collaborators from his earlier shows, including Roselyn Sanchez, Rebecca Wisocky, and James Denton, reinforcing his reputation for building loyal creative ensembles.
Notable Works and Milestones
Desperate Housewives stands as Cherry’s signature work, reshaping prime-time television with its blend of satire, melodrama, and serialized mystery. The show earned Cherry multiple awards and nominations, and its global success helped redefine what a network dramedy could look like. His later creation Why Women Kill, which premiered on CBS All Access in 2019, extended his exploration of complex female characters across different decades and settings.
Marc Cherry Award Nominations
Marc Cherry has earned multiple award nominations across his career in recognition of his work as a writer, creator, and showrunner. His contributions to Desperate Housewives and his later projects have been acknowledged by television industry organizations, including nominations recognizing both his writing and his work as a producer.
Marc Cherry Awards Won
Marc Cherry has received notable awards throughout his career as a television writer and producer, including recognition from television industry organizations for his work on Desperate Housewives and his contributions to serialized drama. In 2006, Cherry received the Log Cabin Republicans’ American Visibility Award.
Marc Cherry Family
Marc Cherry’s mother, Martha Kay Cherry, was a formative presence in both his life and his work. A conversation with her in 2002 directly inspired the creation of Desperate Housewives, and she is widely credited as the inspiration for the characters Bree Van de Kamp and Lynette Scavo. Martha Kay Cherry passed away on September 12, 2020.
Personal Life
Cherry came out as gay early in his career and has been open about his identity in interviews. In 2007, Newsweek described him as a somewhat conservative, gay Republican, and in 2006 he received the Log Cabin Republicans’ American Visibility Award. However, in 2018 Cherry stated that he had stopped being a Republican following Donald Trump’s emergence in national politics. He also serves on the board of directors of The Young Americans youth performing arts group and is a 1979 alumnus of the organization.