Andrea Parker is an American film and television actress. She is known for her roles on ER, JAG, The Pretender, Less than Perfect, Desperate Housewives, and Pretty Little Liars.
Her first documented film role was at age 19 in the movie Rented Lips in which she played a dancer/nurse. Parker appeared in Married... with Children as a go-go dancer in two episodes.
In 1995, Parker was cast in Donald Bellisario's NBC series JAG as Kate Pike, the initial female lead for the two-part pilot. However, when JAG was picked up for a full series, the producers replaced Parker with Tracey Needham in the new role of Meg Austin, although Parker did make several guest appearances as Kate throughout the first season. Parker instead went on to star in The Pretender; another NBC series in which she portrayed Miss Catherine Parker, an operative for a sinister agency known as The Centre. She played the role for all four seasons.
After The Pretender was cancelled in 2000, Parker did another guest spot on JAG before signing on to reprise her role as Miss Parker in two telemovies for The Pretender, which aired on TNT in 2001. She then returned to series television in 2002 and starred in the ABC comedy Less than Perfect, playing Lydia Weston until it was cancelled in 2006. From 2011 to 2012, Parker had recurring role of Jane Carlson in the ABC series Desperate Housewives.[1] She later starred in NBC drama pilot Beautiful People,[2] and joined the cast of ABC Family series Pretty Little Liars.[3]
Parker supports various charities such as the National Hospice Palliative Care Organization, Glenn Siegel's My Good Friend charity organization, The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's disease research and Project Angel Food. In February 2006, Parker attended a benefit with former Pretender co-stars Michael T. Weiss and James Denton for Cure Autism Now.[4]