"Desperate Housewives" A primetime soap with a truly contemporary take on "happily ever after," this new hour- long drama takes a darkly comedic look at suburbia, where the secret lives of housewives aren't always what they seem.
Then there are the men: Hunky new neighbor Mike Delfino (James Denton), a supposedly widowed plumber who has Susan and Edie vying for his attention; Rex Van De Kamp (Steven Culp), who's just told Bree he wants a divorce; Gabrielle's better half, Carlos (Ricardo Antonio Chavira), who figures he bought his wife a $15,000 diamond necklace, so she should do whatever he tells her; as for Mary Alice's newly-widowed husband, Paul (Mark Moses), there must be a reason why he's acting so suspiciously - and why he's digging up the pool in the middle of the night!
JAMES DENTON (Mike Delfino) Currently starring as Mike Delfino in the Golden Globe Award winning Desperate Housewives, Nashville native James Denton has been one of Hollywood's busiest actors since he hit town with a training background that has launched many performers into stardom, a solid body of respected work in the Chicago theatre.
Denton, who originally attended college on a basketball scholarship, wasn't bitten by the acting bug until he was 28. He landed the role of George Gibbs in a Nashville production of "Our Town," got fine reviews, but thought there was a more solid career in selling advertising. He did that in Tennessee and then in North Carolina for four years before taking off for Chicago to risk everything to become a professional actor.
He soon was accepted as one of Chicago's brightest stars. And after earning a key casting when the "Untouchables" series came to town to film, Denton was drawn to Los Angeles where his strong theatre reputation had preceded him, and he was locked in with choice turns in film, on TV and on the stage.
He started building his big screen profile with performances in such films as "Primary Colors," "Face/Off" and "That Old Feeling," but soon off-beat roles in adventurous TV series were claiming his time. In 1997, Denton landed the role of the eerily sociopathic Mr. Lyle on NBC's hit drama show "The Pretender." The NBC series' multi-year run was followed by "The Pretender" television films "Pretender 2001" and "Pretender: The Island of The Haunted."
In 2001, Denton was cast by ABC to star opposite Kim Delaney in Steven Bochco's "Philly" series, which was critically acclaimed but short-lived. But Denton's growing reputation quickly led to a new series casting him as a top player in this nation's homeland security community, Special Agent Jon Kilmer on "Threat Matrix."
Acting obviously is serious work for the handsome and athletic star. His Chicago training with some of that area's most excellent teachers pointed him in that direction. His first role there was as Stanley Kowalski in "A Streetcar Named Desire," and his last was the terrorist on the French farce, "Lapin, Lapin." He was a company member of the Griffin Theatre and at the Strawdog Theatre Ensemble. He added a steady string of roles and accolades to his quickly growing list, including one of the leads in the world premiere of "Flesh and Blood," performing in and composing the music for "The Night Hank Williams Died," and his portrayal of Kentucky preacher C.C. Showers in "The Diviners," which gained him a coveted Joseph Jefferson Best Actor nomination. For these performances, Denton was listed as one of Chicago's hottest actors by Screen Magazine. In Los Angeles, he appeared in the premieres of "Asylum" at the Court Theatre, "Locked Up Down Shorty's" at the Powerhouse Theatre and "In Walked Monk" at the Hudson Theatre.
In addition to his series starring roles on TV, his guest appearances include "JAG," "Slider," "Dark Skies," "Two Guys and a Girl," "Ally McBeal" and "The West Wing."
STEVEN CULP ( Rex Van De Kamp) An actor who delivers a heady combination of charisma and intensity to his roles, Steven Culp continues to demonstrate his versatility.
Culp currently stars on ABC's new hit drama series "Desperate Housewives." Culp plays Rex, the husband of Marcia Cross' character Bree. The show recently won a Golden Globe for "Best Television Series -Musical or Comedy." "Desperate Housewives" also won a SAG Award for "Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series and a People's Choice Award for "Favorite New TV Drama." In addition, the show was selected as a 2004 AFI TV Program of the Year. The series airs on Sunday nights at 9:00PM.
Culp recently completed filming the independent feature "The Sisters," an adaptation of Anton Chekhov's drama "Three Sisters." The ensemble cast also includes Maria Bello, Mary Stuart Masterson, Erika Christensen, Eric McCormack, Tony Goldwyn, Alessandro Nivola, Chris O'Donnell, Elizabeth Banks and Rip Torn. "Sisters" premiered at the 2005 Tribeca Film Festival.
In 2000, Culp won critical acclaim for his performance as Robert F. Kennedy in the film "Thirteen Days." The film is set during the two-week Cuban missile crisis in October of 1962. Kevin Costner and Bruce Greenwood also starred.
In addition to film, Culp has an impressive list of television credits to his name. This year, he reprised his recurring role as Speaker of the House, Jeff Haffley, in a guest appearance on "The West Wing." In 2004, Culp appeared in major recurring roles on three different series in addition to "The West Wing": "Jag," "ER" and "Star Trek: Enterprise," while simultaneously guest starring on "CSI" and "The Lyon's Den."
Culp's other feature films include "The Emperor's Club," "Spartan," "Nurse Betty," "James and the Giant Peach," "Fearless" and "Dead Again." He made his primetime TV debut as John Hay in the Emmy-winning miniseries Gore Vidal's "Lincoln," opposite Sam Waterston and Mary Tyler Moore.
Since then he has appeared in numerous episodic television shows and TV movies, among them recurring roles on "24," "Ally McBeal" and "Philly;" guest-starring appearances on "The Practice," "Crossing Jordan," "Providence," "Boston Public" and "Chicago Hope;" and roles in the movie-of-the-week "A Story to Die For" opposite Angela Lansbury, "How to Make a Monster," produced by Stan Winston for HBO, and the Emmy winning HBO television movie "Norma Jean and Marilyn."
Beginning his career in New York, Culp has appeared in the premieres of Tony Kushner's "Slavs" (Actor's Theatre of Louisville), Terrence McNally's "The Lisbon Traviata" (Theatre Off-Park), A.R. Gurney, Jr.'s "Sweet Sue" (Williamstown Theatre Festival), Neil Simon's "Actors and Actresses" (Hartman Theatre), Keith Reddin's "Highest Standard of Living" (Playwright's Horizons) and Jonathan Tollins' "If Memory Serves" (Pasadena Playhouse).
He received Drama-Logue Awards for his performances in "Angels in America" at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco and in the West Coast premiere of Nicky Silver's "Raised in Captivity" at South Coast Rep. He starred opposite Annette Bening in "Coastal Disturbances" on Broadway, and appeared with Kevin Kline in "Richard III" in Central Park.
RICARDO ANTONIO CHAVIRA (Carlos Solis) Ricardo Antonio Chavira is currently starring as "Carlos" in the ABC hit series, DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES.
A native of San Antonio, TX, Ricardo has worked consistently in all areas of the entertainment industry - film, television and theatre - since arriving in Los Angeles.
Film credits include Touchstone's THE ALAMO, as well as several independent films.
In addition to DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES and a guest appearance on ABC's GEORGE LOPEZ show (5-2-05), his television credits include a series regular role on THE GRUBBS (FOX), recurring roles on SIX FEET UNDER (HBO) and THE DIVISON (Lifetime), and guest star roles on JOAN OF ARCADIA (CBS), KINGPIN (NBC), "24" (FOX), JAG (CBS) as well as NYPD BLUE (ABC) and two other Steven Bocho shows, PHILLY (ABC) and CITY OF ANGELS (CBS).
Ricardo starred in a production of TRACERS at the Odyssey Theatre in Los Angeles, and he has worked at some of the country's top regional theatres including the La Jolla Playhouse (DOGEATERS), The Guthrie (JACK AND JILL), San Diego Rep (BANDIDO) and most recently Seattle Rep & Missouri Rep, where he starred in a co-production of LIVING OUT.
Ricardo received his MFA from UC-San Diego in 2000, as well as his D-A-D degree in 2003 upon the birth of his son Tomas & was just named as San Antonio's honorary spokesman for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.
MARK MOSES (Paul Young) Mark Moses has had a distinguished career in film, television and theatre. His long and varied list of television credits include series regular roles on The Single Guy and In My Life, and recurring roles on Ally McBeal and Grand.
He has had lead roles in such celebrated movies and miniseries for television as Saving Jessica Lynch, The James Dean Story, The Rough Riders The Tracker and North and South. He has recently guest starred on such series as NYPD Blue, The West Wing, Las Vegas, The District, Malcolm in the Middle, 10-8, American Dreams, Seventh Heaven and Oliver Beene.
Moses' impressive feature career includes having the distinction of working with Oliver Stone three times, in Platoon, Born on the Fourth of July and The Doors. He has also had that opportunity twice with Brett Ratner, on Red Dragon and in the soon-to-be released feature After the Sunset. Other film work includes Ridley Scott's Someone to Watch Over Me, Race to Space, Gettysburg and Deep Impact.
His extensive list of theatre credits include appearing on Broadway in Slab Boys, at the New York Shakespeare Festival in Love's Labors Lost and at the Mark Taper Forum in Our Country's Good.
DOUG SAVANT (Tom Scavo) Southern California native Doug Savant's acting career began when he left the University of California at Los Angeles to perform in Los Angeles regional theater. Savant starred in the television movie Fight For Justice: The Nancy Kahn Story and he has also appeared in the series China Beach, Cagney & Lacey and the two-hour pilot of In the Heat of the Night. He also had a recurring role on Knots Landing as well as lead roles in the television movies Aftermath and Bonnie & Clyde: The True Story, made for FOX Night at the Movies. Savant's feature film credits include the role of Officer Mike McGill in Masquerade and Hanoi Hilton, Trick Or Treat and Red Surf. Born June 21, Savant resides in Los Angeles
