Christine Estabrook

Christine Estabrook, born Mary Christine Estabrook on September 13, 1952, in East Aurora, New York, is an American actress whose career spans Broadway, film, and television. She grew up with three brothers and one sister, graduated from East Aurora High School, and later became associated with Erie, Pennsylvania. Her professional work began in regional and off-Broadway theater before expanding into a decades-long presence across multiple performance mediums.

Estabrook's stage career took an early significant turn at the O'Neill National Playwrights Conference, where she originated the role of the young daughter in Kevin O'Morrison's Ladyhouse Blues, a production that subsequently moved to off-Broadway. She also created the role of Helen opposite William H. Macy in Christopher Durang's Baby with the Bathwater at Playwrights Horizons. Her off-Broadway performance in Deborah Eisenberg's Pastorale at the Second Stage Theater earned her an Obie Award.

Her Broadway career ran from 1977 to 2006 and included several notable productions. She appeared in The Inspector General and in Andrei Șerban's production of The Cherry Orchard. She took over the role of Feni in Wendy Wasserstein's The Sisters Rosensweig, and also appeared in The Heidi Chronicles. In the fall of 2006, she returned to Broadway in the musical Spring Awakening, performing all the adult female roles. Her stage work brought two Drama Desk Award nominations: Outstanding Actress in a Play in 1983 and Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play in 1987.

Since the 1990s, Estabrook's work has shifted predominantly to film and television. Her film credits include Second Sight, Sea of Love, Presumed Innocent, and Spider-Man 2. On television, she is recognized for her roles on The Crew, Nikki, and for playing Martha Huber, the widowed and nosy neighbor, on the ABC series Desperate Housewives. She appeared in a 2002 episode of the HBO series Six Feet Under as Emily Previn, a woman who died without family or friends, an episode that generated considerable discussion. Additional guest appearances include 7th Heaven, Dharma & Greg, The Guardian, Veronica Mars, NYPD Blue, and a 2009 two-episode arc on Ghost Whisperer as Evelyn James. In 2011, she appeared in the first season of the FX series American Horror Story as Marcy, and she held a recurring role across the fifth, sixth, and seventh seasons of AMC's Mad Men, playing Gail Holloway, the mother of Joan Harris.