Katherine Mayfair

Infobox character
bgcolour = #C41E3A
name = Katherine Mayfair


caption = Dana Delany as Katherine Mayfair
portrayer = Dana Delany
creator = Marc Cherry
gender = Female
first = Now You Know (episode 4.01)
last =
cause =
age = 49
occupation = Housewife
Caterer
President of the Homeowners Association (2008-)
residence = 4356 Wisteria Lane
Fairview, Eagle State
alias= Kathy (nickname, by Wayne)
Katherine Simms (maiden name)
Katherine Davis (former married name)
Katherine Mayfair (current married name)
family = Lillian Simms (maternal aunt; "deceased")
Mr. Simms (cousin)
spouse = Wayne Davis (ex-husband; deceased)
Adam Mayfair (ex-husband)
children = Dylan Mayfair (adoptive daughter)
Dylan Davis (daughter; "deceased")
relatives = Bradley (son-in-law)
Un-born grand-child

"Katherine Simms" (formally, Mayfair and Davis) is a fictional character on the ABC television series Desperate Housewives. The character is played by actress Dana Delany.

Character Overview

Before Season Four

Katherine Mayfair, known as Katherine Davis when she last left Wisteria Lane, lived on 4356 Wisteria Lane (the house that Mike Delfino first moved into during the first season) twelve years prior to Season Four. Sharing the home was her daughter Dylan and Aunt Lillian, who owned the house herself. It is revealed throughout season 4 that Katherine's ex-husband Wayne Davis had beat her on several occasions and often left her constantly in fear. Katherine, her aunt and daughter made their way to Wisteria Lane and spent several years there in relative peace, having divorced Wayne.

As revealed in the fourth season finale, Katherine and Aunt Lillian had Mary Alice babysit Dylan one particular night. When they return Mary Alice informs them that Wayne, Dylan's father, had stopped by to visit his daughter and gave her a doll as a gift. After Mary Alice goes home, Katherine goes up to her daughter's bedroom and spots the doll her father had given her. Furious, Katherine took the doll from her sleeping daughter and places it atop a huge wooden bookshelf in the bedroom. Later, Wayne returns and a confrontation between the two leads to Katherine striking Wayne with a candlestick, causing him to leave. According to the episode "Sunday", Susan Mayer's cousin witnessed the incident. Feeling liberated, Katherine and Aunt Lillian decide to celebrate.

Katherine awoke sometime later to Aunt Lillian's screams from her daughter's bedroom. Upon reaching the room she discovers that her daughter, while trying to retrieve the doll, had been crushed and killed on the off-balanced bookshelf. In shock, Katherine and Aunt Lillian realize that Wayne is too powerful and could have them arrested for murder, so they bury Dylan's body in the woods behind the house. The next day, Mary Alice and Susan Mayer knock on Katherine's front door only to find that she is moving away without any explanation.

After leaving Wisteria Lane, Katherine visits a Romanian Orphanage and finds a young girl who bears a striking resemblance to her now-deceased daughter. Katherine adopts the young girl and changes her name to Dylan in an attempt to cover up the accidental death of her daughter.

Several years later, while living in Chicago, Katherine has remarried. Her new husband is Dr. Adam Mayfair, a Gynecologist. Over the course of living in Chicago, Adam has an affair with another woman. Escaping embarrassment, the Mayfairs (including Dylan) relocate to Wisteria Lane having thought Wayne would never think to look there again. They also bring an ill Aunt Lillian. These events are the starting point for the main plot of season 4.

eason Four

Katherine first arrives in season four's premiere "Now You Know," as a former resident of Wisteria Lane, who had left abruptly and without further explanation for over twelve years.

As Bree Hodge, Susan Delfino, Gabrielle Solis and Lynette Scavo watch her and her family move into the street, Susan recognizes her and runs up to hug her, while Bree, in the distance, raises her eyebrows. At Katherine's home, she introduces her husband Adam Mayfair who is a doctor, and her daughter Dylan Mayfair, who Susan says was Julie Mayer's best friend from when they were little kids. Katherine immediately gets upon Bree's nerves by telling her she should cut down the tree in her yard and has the nerve to call the rest of the wives "newcomers" . Bree begins to grow a dislike towards her. Katherine then hosts a barbecue, during which Edie Britt arrives back from hospital after her suicide attempt, assuming that the party was for her. Katherine and Adam find a room in the house and Adam asks her if "this is the room" and she says yes. She also adds that Dylan has asked to move in there but she won't allow it.

In "Smiles of a Summer Night," Katherine suggests to Bree, Gabrielle and Susan that they all make Lynette a lunch due to her hard time going through chemo, and Bree and Katherine argue about dessert due to the fact that Bree is always the one who brings it. At the lunch Gabrielle and Susan try the pie and tell Bree it's the best she's ever made. When Bree tries some herself she immediately says that it's not her pie. Then Katherine reveals it's hers and that she swapped hers over Bree's. Bree becomes annoyed and tries to figure out Katherine's secret ingredient quite unsuccessfully. Later in the episode, Dylan tries to find out more about her father when Karen McCluskey tells Dylan she used to baby-sit her when she was little and that she had met Dylan's father a few times. Dylan corrects Karen and says that her father walked out on her when she was a baby but Karen insists that she has met him. Dylan questions Katherine later in the episode about her father and Katherine tells Dylan not to listen to a thing Karen says. When Dylan calls Katherine a monster, Katherine slaps her hard across the face and Dylan runs to her room as Adam watches disapprovingly. Katherine, Dylan and Adam do not notice however that Bree was listening to the entire conversation because she was hiding around the corner after looking for Katherine's secret recipe. Bree then overhears Katherine say to Adam "Then we'd better start coming up with better lies." Also in this episode, there is a flashback to the day when Katherine left Wisteria Lane, and Susan and Mary Alice Young question her. Susan asks if Julie can say good-bye to Dylan, but Katherine won't allow it. There is a crash heard upstairs, and Susan asks Katherine if she is okay. Katherine assures Susan and Mary Alice that she is fine, but that she has had a long night and still has a lot to do. She then says good-bye and shuts the door, leaving Susan and Mary Alice very confused.

In "The Game," Katherine attends Susan's small games party, and comes to blows with Gabrielle when she spills wine over Adam's shirt and rubs a towel against it to soak it up. Katherine then sets upon Gabrielle's nerves when she brings up Gabrielle's past affair with her (Gabrielle's) then-underage teenage gardener, John Rowland, when she and Gabrielle got into an argument about reputations. Katherine later catches Julie Mayer and her daughter in her house and she not only sends Julie home, but forbids Dylan to hang out with her ever again. At the end of the episode Katherine informs Adam her aunt is ready to come home and she says she's letting her sleep in the room which she forbade Dylan to sleep in. When alone, Katherine lifts up a rug and looks at a large gash in the floor and breaks down in tears.

In "If There's Anything I Can't Stand," its revealed her aunt Lillian Simms knows about Dylan's mysterious secret. Lillian is brought home so she can die there. As she tells Katherine that she is worried that God will not accept her into heaven, Katherine tells her God will accept her with open arms. However, Lillian remains worried and she tells Katherine that they should tell Dylan the truth about what they lied and covered up so many years ago. Katherine, on the other hand, refuses. Lillian pretends to take a sleeping pill so Katherine would leave the house and she could tell Dylan the truth, but Katherine returns home just in time to stop Lillian. Later in the episode in her last living moments, Lillian writes down what they had covered up in hope that Dylan would find it. She dropped it on the floor and then passed away. Katherine watches as her body is taken away and she leaves the room, but the piece of paper remains hidden under the bed.

In "Art Isn't Easy," Katherine runs for Homeowner's Association, opposing Lynette. Adam frowns upon Katherine, and refuses to celebrate her win of Homeowner's Association because he feels she had created many enemies. Then it's revealed Bob Hunter and Lee McDermott know about the scandal caused by Sylvia Greene and why Katherine and her family had to flee from Chicago. In the episode "You Can't Judge a Book By Its Cover," Dylan tries to find out more information about her father, but Katherine won't allow it. Finally, after a fight, Katherine tells Dylan that all the information on her father is on a folded sheet of paper she is holding, and she will give it to her, as long as she dosn't tell him where she lives. She also tells Dylan that he used to beat her. Dylan, feeling uncomfortable, tells her she won't look for her father anymore. Katherine unfolds the sheet when Dylan has gone, revealing that it is blank.

In the episode "Something's Coming" Katherine along with her husband Adam stay with Bree, her husband Orson, and adoptive son Benjamin in their house during a tornado. Since one of Adam's ex-patients Sylvia has locked herself in their original storm room they hid in another room. It is revealed that Adam did indeed have an affair with Sylvia back in Chicago. During the tornado Bree comforts Katherine and at the end of the episode we see that Bree and Katherine have finally become friends.

In the episode "Welcome to Kanagawa," at the end it is implied that she may have killed her ex-husband, Dylan Mayfair's father. Adam discovers Lily's note and confronts Katherine, leaving her. In her anger, she burns the note, only for Dylan to find information in the remains.

In the episode "Sunday" Katherine's purportedly dead ex-husband (played by Gary Cole) appears in a flashback, but his face is never seen. Bree, Susan, Lynete, and Gaby then come over to Katherine's house, supplying muffins and jam since they have discovered that Adam has left her. Katherine rudely shows them to the door. Katherine then goes to the woods and cries as she looks at what seems to be where something is buried. Susan's cousin Tim, who is visiting, tells Susan how years ago he and Katherine had an a affair when he was 16. Then he tells the story of how one night he went over to the Davis home and saw Katherine get slapped by her then-husband Wayne. He then saw Katherine pick up a candlestick and strike her husband. Wayne fell to the floor and Katherine just looked at him soulessly. Then Tim said he just ran back to Susan's house. The scene switches to Dylan talking to Adam, where he gives Katherine one last alibi and tells Dylan that Katherine didn't kill Wayne.

In the episode "In Buddy's Eyes," Katherine and Bree both volunteer to organize the founder's ball. When Katherine begins to take over the whole project, Bree hands her dip that has gone sour, and Katheine becomes sick. Later, when Katherine confronts Bree on this, Bree says Katherine doesn't fit into her group of friends, as she and Bree have the same personality. However, Katherine says that she understands Bree more then anyone else, and she could not prevent them from being best friends.

In the episode "Hello, Little Girl," Dylan meets her father, Wayne Davis, who is a police officer. He stopped her the day before for speeding, but it turned out he just wanted to get a good look at her. Dylan then lies to Katherine and meets Wayne to have dinner.

In "Opening Doors," Dylan claims she is dating a boy at school, but Katherine finds out it is her father when she spys on her. Dylan finally comes clean, and Katherine agrees to see Wayne. Wayne seems pleased to see Katherine, but Katherine tells him that she does not believe he has changed at all, and still thinks he is abusive. When Wayne leaves, it is revealed Katherine had a revolver in her drawer as a form of protection.

In "Mother Said," Dylan confronts Katherine when she decides to move, now that Wayne knows where they live. When Wayne picks Dylan up to take her to her recital, Wayne suggests they go as a family. But Katherine tells him that Dylan is not his daughter. Wayne takes some of Dylan's gum and gets a DNA test. This proves Dylan is not related to him. When he discovers Dylan does not have scars from when she had fallen off her bike years ago, he yells at her and tells her to leave before he calls the police. Katherine is later seen comforting her.

In "The Gun Song" and "Free" the 4th season finale, Katherine's story is finally revealed. Since Wayne was a police officer, whenever Katherine went to the police about Wayne they always seemed to "lose the paperwork". The woman who Katherine talked to advised her to get as much money as she could, take Dylan, and run. So she took Dylan and ran to her Great Aunt Lillian's house on Wisteria Lane. While Katherine and Aunt Lillian were out and Dylan was at home with Mary Alice Young (who was babysitting), Wayne showed up and gave Dylan a doll and a bike. Mary Alice told Katherine she didn't know it was him until Dylan called him "Daddy," and that she was so happy to see him. Katherine rushed inside and began to pack to run away again. Aunt Lillian appeared and said that Wayne had pulled up in the driveway. She wanted to call the police, but Katherine wanted to confront him. She took Dylan's doll and put it on a high bookshelf (Dylan was asleep). Wayne and Katherine got into an argument, and he threatened Katherine and said that he wanted his daughter. When Katherine refused to hand Dylan over, as she was afraid he would abuse Dylan like he abused her, Wayne lunged at Katherine, but she picked up a candlestick and struck him with it. He then left but promised to be back. After celebrating Wayne's departure with her Aunt, Katherine awakens to hear Aunt Lillian screaming. Katherine rushes upstairs and is horrified to discover that Dylan is under the bookshelf the doll was on, and she is dead. Aunt Lillian and Katherine bury Dylan in the woods instead of going to the police, because they are afraid Wayne will make it look like Katherine killed Dylan. Katherine then went to a Romanian orphanage and found a girl who looked just like the first Dylan, Katherine saying "the resemblance was uncanny," and adopted her, naming her Dylan. In the modern time, Adam and Katherine seemed to have rekindled their marriage and go to Dylan's cello recital together. Wayne is there as well and asks Adam if he can help him with his car. Adam, who doesn't know what Wayne looks like, agrees to help. Then Wayne knocks Adam unconscious with a tire-iron, kidnaps him, and beats him to within an inch of his life. Adam then fakes death and Wayne leaves his "corpse" in the shack where he was being held. Adam escapes and heads to Wisteria Lane to save Katherine. Wayne surprises Katherine as she struggles to find Dylan, who ran off after Katherine finally told her the truth. Wayne then attacks Katherine and holds her hostage, asking about Dylan. Ellie, who is on the run from the cops, breaks in to the Mayfair's as Wayne is pointing his gun at Katherine, but Ellie can't see he has a gun. Wayne then shoots and kills Ellie. Then Bree comes knocks on the door looking for Katherine, who bailed out on their catering job for Bob and Lee's wedding. Bree is then taken hostage by Wayne. It is then when Wayne threatens Bree's life that Katherine tells him the truth. After she does, Wayne, in a fit of rage, raises his gun and says he wants to kill Katherine. Adam shows up and in the whole mess Wayne shoots himself in the abdomen. As Bree goes to help clean Adam up, Katherine is left holding a gun to Wayne. As Wayne lays there he continues to make threats saying he'll only do a little time then come after Katherine again. Katherine shoots Wayne in the chest, instantly killing him. Moments later the police arrive, and Katherine is in cuffs and it appears she is going to jail. However, Bree calls Susan, Lynette, and Gaby over and tells them everything. When the police question all of them, they all give alibis in Katherine's favor, saying how horrible and dangerous Wayne was. Katherine is then released as it was self-defense. As she walks out her house she looks over the police line and sees her friends (Bree Hodge, Lynette Scavo, Gabrielle Solis and Susan Delfino) looking at her and smiling. Then Dylan returns and the two hug.

eason Five

Five years after the events concluding Season 4, Katherine is seemingly a happy woman. Her daughter Dylan has recently become engaged and the other housewives appear to have fully accepted Katherine as "one of them". Katherine seems to be divorced to Adam. She also is in business with Bree and tension is beginning to form because Bree is the star of their business and Katherine is doing all the work- without credit. Mrs. McCluskey has enlisted Katherine's help in discovering the secret of Edie's new husband- Dave.