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Actor

1952-09-13 · Erie, Pennsylvania, USA · Female

34 series in the catalog

Christine Estabrook (born Mary Christine Estabrook; c. 1952) is an American actress, known for her roles on the television series The Crew, Nikki, Desperate Housewives, and American Horror Story; she had a recurring role on the drama Mad Men during the show's fifth, sixth, and seventh seasons. Estabrook has received an Obie Award and Drama Desk Award.

Early life

Estabrook was born to Julianne Shed. She graduated from East Aurora High Schoolin 1968 and from the Yale Drama School. She has three brothers and one sister.

Career

At the O'Neill National Playwrights Conference, she created the role of the young daughter in Kevin O'Morrison's Ladyhouse Blues, which then moved to off-Broadway. On Broadway, she was in The Inspector General and Andrei Șerban's production of The Cherry Orchard. She won an Obie Award for her off-Broadway performance in Deborah Eisenberg's Pastorale, at the Second Stage Theater. She created the role of Helen opposite William H. Macy in Durang's Baby with the Bathwater at Playwrights Horizons. On Broadway, she took over the role of Feni in Wendy Wasserstein's The Sisters Rosensweig. In the fall of 2006, she returned to Broadway in the musical Spring Awakening, playing all the adult female roles.

Since the 1990s, she has mostly done TV and movies, the latter including include Second Sight, Sea of Love, Presumed Innocent, and Spider-Man 2.

She had a recurring role on the ABC television series, Desperate Housewives playing Martha Huber, the widowed, nosy neighbor of the street. Her other appearances include a 2002 episode of the HBO series, Six Feet Under, wherein she played Emily Previn, a woman who died alone without any family or friends. The episode sparked much discussion in the following days about the character's death. Estabrook has also guest-starred on 7th Heaven, Dharma & Greg, The Guardian, Veronica Mars, and NYPD Blue. In 2009, she guest-starred in two episodes of the CBS drama Ghost Whisperer as Evelyn James, Eli's mom.

In 2011, she appeared on the first season of FX series Murder House as Marcy. She later appeared in a recurring role in the AMC cable-television series Mad Men, playing Joan Harris' mother, Gail Holloway.

Personal life

Estabrook married actor Vic Polizos, and she has two stepchildren.

Christine Estabrook at the Internet Broadway Database

Christine Estabrook at the Internet Off-Broadway Database (archived)