Kathryn Joosten

Actor

• Born: December 20, 1939
• Birthplace: Eustis, Florida
• Died: June 2, 2012
• Also known as: Kathryn Rausch

Contribution: Kathryn Joosten was an Emmy Award–winning American actor best known for her roles on the political drama The West Wing and the comedy Desperate Housewives.

Background

Kathryn Joosten was born Kathryn Rausch on December 20, 1939, in Eustis, Florida. From an early age, she wanted to become an actor, but she decided to settle into a more secure line of work. She chose nursing as an alternate career, eventually becoming a psychiatric nurse at a Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago.

After Joosten had become comfortable in this job, she married her husband, began to have children, and moved to the Chicago suburb of Lake Forest. The family lived a quiet life until Joosten’s husband became an alcoholic. This eventually drove Joosten to divorce her husband in 1980, leaving her alone with her two sons.

Career

At a crossroads in her life, Joosten decided to follow her early ambition and become a professional actor. In 1981, at forty-two years old, she auditioned for Lake Forest’s Steppenwolf Theatre and began earning parts in some of their amateur productions. She did this for the next several years before winning her first television role, that of a waitress in a 1987 episode of the short-lived ABC sitcom Sable.

After an additional five years of theater work, interspersed with decorating and painting jobs to supplement her income, Joosten was hired by Walt Disney World to work at the park as a street performer. She moved to Orlando in 1992 and worked as a Disney performer for a year. In 1995, she relocated to Hollywood to pursue acting full time.

Joosten lived in Hollywood for five months before landing a part in a 1995 episode of the popular sitcom Family Matters. She finished the year with small parts in the drama series Picket Fences and the sitcom Grace under Fire. These appearances kicked off what would become a steady stream of single-episode jobs on an array of television shows over the following few years. Joosten later said that her age—then fifty-five—as well as her comedic abilities were the reasons she had virtually no trouble finding television work, as they helped her stand out from the thousands of young actors looking for their own starts.

In 1996, Joosten performed on a variety of television programs, including Third Rock from the Sun, ER, Murphy Brown, and the immensely popular sitcom Roseanne, playing two different characters in two episodes of the latter.

Joosten continued to appear in mainstream television shows into 1997, with guest spots on the sitcoms Seinfeld and Frasier and the police dramas NYPD Blue and Brooklyn South. Over the several years that followed, she stayed active with parts on shows such as The Drew Carey Show, Dharma & Greg, and Just Shoot Me!

In 1999, Joosten began appearing in the role that would shoot her to stardom. She played Dolores Landingham, secretary to the president of the United States, in the political drama The West Wing, appearing in thirty episodes over a three-year period. Mrs. Landingham was the drily humorous type of older woman that Joosten had made a living portraying. She ended her run on The West Wing in 2002 when her character was written off the show.

In 2001, between filming episodes of The West Wing, Joosten appeared in episodes of the legal comedy Ally McBeal and the sitcom Spin City, among other shows. Also in 2001, she made her first of three guest appearances on the popular medical sitcom Scrubs.

In 2002, after guest starring in an episode of the successful science-fiction series The X-Files, Joosten began a recurring role in five episodes of the long-running and hugely popular daily soap opera General Hospital. From 2003 to 2005, she had another recurring role, that of an old woman who was one of several incarnations of God on the fantasy drama Joan of Arcadia. In 2004, Joosten continued her sitcom work with appearances on Curb Your Enthusiasm, Will & Grace, and Yes, Dear and also appeared in the WB dramas Gilmore Girls and Everwood.

Joosten landed another big role when she was cast as nosy neighbor Karen McCluskey on the ABC series Desperate Housewives. Portraying Mrs. McCluskey from 2005 until the show’s finale in 2012, Joosten received critical acclaim for her performances. Over the show’s eight-season run, she won two Emmy Awards for outstanding guest actress in a comedy series, in 2005 and 2008, and was nominated for an additional two Emmys in 2010 and 2012.

While Joosten was involved with shooting Desperate Housewives, she still found time to appear in a variety of other programs, making appearances on such shows as Reba, Las Vegas, and the soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful. In 2012, she guest starred in an episode of the successful drama The Mentalist.

A lifelong smoker, Joosten was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2001. She died of her illness on June 2, 2012, in her Los Angeles–area home.

Impact

In her mid-forties, Joosten fulfilled her life’s dream to become a full-time comedic and dramatic actor. With a long list of television credits and two Emmy Awards to her name, she proved that she had the skill and determination to realize her goals, and she has left an indelible mark on American television as a result.

Personal Life

Joosten was an animal-rights advocate. She was survived by her two sons, Jonathan and Timothy.

Principal Works

Dharma & Greg, 1998–2001

The West Wing, 1999–2002

General Hospital, 2002–3

Joan of Arcadia, 2003–5

Desperate Housewives, 2005–12

Bibliography

“Emmy Winner Kathryn Joosten Succumbs to Lung Cancer.” Emmys.com. Acad. of Television Arts & Sciences, 2 June 2012. Web. 12 Aug. 2013.

Joosten, Kathryn. “In the Spotlight: Kathryn Joosten of Superior Donuts.” Interview by Jason Kehe. Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 15 June 2011. Web. 9 Aug. 2013.

Joosten, Kathryn. “Kathryn Joosten Interview: Desperate Housewives Star Not Shocked by Cancellation.” Interview by Melissa Parker. Smashing Interviews Magazine. Smashing Interviews Mag., 24 Oct. 2011. Web. 12 Aug. 2013.

“Kathryn Joosten of Desperate Housewives Dies at 72.” Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 2 June 2012. Web. 9 Aug. 2013.

“Kathryn Joosten, 72, TV Character Actress.” New York Times. New York Times, 5 June 2012. Web. 12 Aug. 2013.