Edie Britt

Edie Britt is a fictional character created by television producer and screenwriter Marc Cherry for the ABC television series Desperate Housewives. Nicollette Sheridan portrayed Edie from her debut in the pilot episode of the series until the character's death in the fifth season.

Within the series, Edie lived at 4362 Wisteria Lane in Fairview. Edie was a real estate agent. She was married three times; to Charles McLain (with whom she had a son, Travers), Umberto Rothwell, and Dave Williams. Throughout her time on the series, she also had numerous relationships with the ex-husbands or former lovers of other characters.

Sheridan's portrayal of the character earned her a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress.

At the end of the reading, the director looked at me and said, "No, no, I see you as Edie." I said, "Oh, I see, I come in a housewife and mother of two and leave the slut."

The character Edie Britt was a series regular for the first 5 seasons, despite originally being conceived as a recurring character. Actress Nicollette Sheridan, who originally auditioned for Bree Van de Kamp, one of the series' more prominent roles, was cast in the role in February 2004. On August 11, Sheridan was announced to have joined the main cast for the series' first season, the thirteenth regular cast member to do so. Despite proving popular with fans and critics, Sheridan's role remained somewhat minimal in the series' first two seasons. Series creator Marc Cherry insisted that Edie served "only as a spoiler to complicate the other women's lives." Although Sheridan thought of Edie as the fifth main housewife—in addition to Susan Mayer, Bree Van De Kamp, Lynette Scavo, and Gabrielle Solis—the opening credits only pictured the other four women. Additionally, Cherry shared that his goal was to have the central four women remain in the series.

However, Marcia Cross' maternity leave caused Bree to be written out of the later part of the third season. Edie's character was elevated in prominence, providing the fourth concurrent storyline for the episodes. During this time, the character's "layers are peeled away and the character is developed on a deeper level than has been previously explored." Despite Cross' return, Edie maintained a more important role throughout seasons four and five until the character's death.

In February 2009, it was announced that Sheridan would be leaving the show following her character's death, which would involve a car accident and electrical wire. Cherry had confirmed the death of several fan favorites at the beginning of the series' fifth season in September 2008. Rumors of on-set problems with Sheridan and her squabbles with Cherry reportedly led to her departure. Sheridan commented that killing Edie "was a risky decision that could have devastating ramifications," and admitted to feeling ignored by Cherry while on the series. Cherry alleges that the reason behind Edie's death was to cut costs from the series. The series reportedly saved an estimated $100,000 to $200,000 per episode without the cost of Sheridan's salary. In April 2010, Sheridan filed a lawsuit against Cherry, alleging wrongful dismissal and assault and battery, among five other counts. The following June, Sheridan filed an amended claim, clarifying that the alleged assault was a "light tap," but reaffirmed her stance that her contract was wrongfully terminated.

On August 7, 2011, after the announcement that Desperate Housewives would be concluding at the end of its 8th season, Marc Cherry hinted that he may ask Nicollette Sheridan back for the series finale, "to pay homage to everyone who has been on the show", including Edie and without addressing Sheridan's lawsuit. However, while being interviewed on NBC's Today the following day, the actress firmly denied her comeback on Wisteria Lane, saying "That's news to me. [...] I had an amazing time playing that character. I loved her dearly, but they killed her! She's dead."