‘Desperate Housewives’ star Kathryn Joosten dies at 72

Wellington: ‘Desperate Housewives’ actress Kathryn Joosten, who portrays irritable Karen McCluskey in the US TV show, died on Saturday in Westlake Village, California. She was 72.

The star had battled lung cancer, although her official cause of death has not been determined. Kathryn won two Emmy Awards for her work on Desperate Housewives, scooping the Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy prize in 2005 and 2008. The star was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2001 and it returned in 2009. She was treated and given the all clear the following year and spent time promoting cancer awareness. Show’s co-star Dana Delany has paid tribute to Joosten on Twitter. “Very sad to hear of @KathyJoosten’s death. She was a salt-of-the earth nurse who became a brilliant actor. Her comic timing was nonpareil,” Stuff.co.nz quoted her as writing. “Kathryn spoke openly and passionately about her fight with lung cancer. It is our loss that she is gone (sic),” she wrote. ANI