Shirley Knight Appears Live on THE VIEW Friday September 30

Tony winner, Emmy winner and two-time Oscar nominee Shirley Knight will sit down with the ladies of "THE VIEW" live on ABC, Friday, September 30 at 11am EST. Knight will discuss her starring role on the NY stage in Deborah Grimberg's new play CYCLING PAST THE MATTERHORN and give the Wisteria Lane dish on her guest appearance as Phyllis, Bree's emotional mother-in- law on "DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES."

Set in contemporary London, CYCLING PAST THE MATTERHORN is a fast-paced comedy about a mother and daughter at a crossroads. Esther (Knight) recently left by her husband, discovers she is slowly going blind. Her daughter Amy fears being stuck as her mother's caretaker and considers marrying her American boyfriend to escape. Esther decides to forge ahead with her life ("If Stevie Wonder can do it then so can I!"), and joins a cycling excursion in Switzerland to see the mountains while she still can.

On the second season of the smash hit series "DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES," Phyllis (Knight) continues to drive Bree (Marcia Cross) crazy with her melodramatic grieving over the death of her son Rex.

CYCLING PAST THE MATTERHORN will play a limited, 12-week Off-Broadway engagement at The Harold Clurman Theatre (410 West 42nd Street, at Theatre Row) through December 11, 2005. The official opening night is Thursday, September 29 at 7:00 p.m. For more CYCLING PAST THE MATTERHORN show information, cast bios and tickets, log on to www.cyclingpastthematterhorn.com.

"DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES" airs Sunday nights at 9pm on ABC. Visit http://abc.go.com/primetime/desperate/ for Wisteria Lane news and episode recaps.

Later this year, Knight will also appear in the comedic feature film GRANDMA'S BOY opposite Doris Roberts ("Everybody Loves Raymond"), executive produced by Adam Sandler. View the official movie trailer at http://www.adamsandler.com/.

Biography:

Shirley Knight made her Broadway debut in 1964 in the revival of Chekhov's Three Sisters, directed by Lee Strasberg. Since then she has starred in more than fifty plays on and off Broadway, in regional theatre and in England. She won the Tony Award for Kennedy's Children and was nominated for the Tony for The Young Man From Atlanta. She was nominated for the Drama Desk Award for both The Young Man From Atlanta and Landscape of the Body. Other New York appearances include Losing Time; A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur; Come Back, Little Sheba; Necessary Targets and Colette in Love. For her extensive work in television and film, she has won the Best Actress Award at The Venice Film Festival, The Jury Prize at Cannes, two Academy Award nominations, three Golden Globes, three Emmy Awards and nine Emmy nominations. A short list includes: The Dark at the Top of the Stairs, Sweet Bird of Youth, The Group, Petulia, The Rain People, Dutchman, Endless Love, As Good As It Gets, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, "Indictment: The McMartin Trial," "Playing For Time" and Ingmar Bergman's "The Lie." Films soon to be released include Thanks to Gravity, Open Window and Grandma's Boy. She is also starring in the first three episodes of "Desperate Housewives" this fall. She was married to the writer John R. Hopkins until his death and has two daughters: the writer, Sophie C. Hopkins and actress/singer, Kaitlin Hopkins (currently starring in The Great American Trailer Park Musical).