See Also: Marc Cherry (Creator) People Guide

It is well known that characters in Desperate Housewives, in particular Bree Van De Kamp and Lynette Scavo, have been based on or inspired by his mother. But creator Marc Cherry recently gave new insight into the extent to which his family has influenced some stories.

Cherry revealed to The Times that the scene where Bree made a bed while her husband was having a heart attack was based upon his family. "Yes, although in fairness to my poor mother, my dad, for about four or five, maybe even six years straight, he would have a heart attack, like, once a year," he explained. "It got to be a fairly common occurrence in the family to be woken up in the middle of the night by the sounds of my parents preparing to go to a hospital. They started having these marital problems and one night she just made the bed before taking him."

Potentially giving some insight into Bree's motives, Cherry explained his mother's behavior. "I think she was annoyed that she had to get up again—he forgot to take his medicine or something—and I think maybe, yes, there was a part of her that didn't care if he made it to the hospital on time. I was 20, maybe 22, and I remember at the time going, 'Mom, why aren't you taking him to the hospital?' And it was just one of those weird family moments where she said, 'Well my day has started and when my day starts I make the bed. You know that.' And I went, 'Oh-kaaaay'."

Cherry often reveals what could be seen as traumatic family memories, but he said his childhood was in no way an unhappy one. "At some point they became two people who really had in common only their children. That was the bad part of their marriage. The good part was that so much love was poured into us kids. I mean, I just adored my parents: I was treated magnificently. My problems kind of occurred with the outside world. I was a very shy and smart child who got beaten up regularly at school. I had my share of childhood angst, but it didn't come from the family."

His family experiences did lead to Desperate Housewives, something Cherry is more than happy about. "Thank God for my family's weirdness; now I drive a Lexus because of it."

You can read the full interview at at Times Online.

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