Teri Lynn Hatcher (b December 8, 1964) is an Emmy-nominated and Golden Globe Award-winning American actress and author. She gained attention for her role as Lois Lane in the television series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman co-starring with Dean Cain. (In the mid-1990s, a publicity photo of Hatcher wearing Superman’s cape became the most downloaded image on America Online.) Hatcher has achieved her greatest fame to date starring in the show Desperate Housewives, as Susan Mayer, a charming, accident-prone divorcée.

Teri Hatcher in ‘Desperate Housewives’.

Hatcher began her performing career as a young girl taking ballet lessons at the San Juan Girls’ Ballet Studio in downtown Los Altos, California. She later studied acting at the American Conservatory Theater. One of her early jobs (in 1984) was as a cheerleader with the San Francisco 49ers. During this time she also appeared as one of the mermaids on the show Love Boat in its final season.

Hatcher has also appeared in such feature films as Spy Kids (2001), as Paris Carver in the 1997 James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies, Dead in the Water (1991), 2 Days in the Valley (1996), and Heaven’s Prisoners (1996). Hatcher has also made a guest appearance in Star Trek: The Next Generation and had a recurring role on MacGyver as Penny Parker, a naïve, high-strung, young woman who always seemed to get into trouble.