Karen McCluskey

Karen McCluskey (née Simonds) is a fictional character from the ABC television series ''Desperate Housewives''. The role was played by Kathryn Joosten, who won the Primetime Emmy Award twice for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series in 2005 and 2008. In the series finale, Karen succumbs to cancer. This was agreed upon between Marc Cherry and Kathryn since she was battling cancer in real life as well. Kathryn Joosten died 20 days after the series finale aired. Provided by Wikipedia