She also starred in Francis Ford Coppola 's The Rain People ( 1969 ) .In the 1960s she abandoned Hollywood in favor of the Broadway stage , but she has since returned to TV in a number of programs , including as Faith Ford 's mother in Ford 's failed sitcom Maggie Winters , and on series such as Murder , She Wrote , Law & Order , Law & Order : Special Victims Unit , and Desperate Housewives as Bree Van De Vamp ( Marcia Cross ) 's mother-in-law .
Marcia Cross played Bree Van De Vamp in Desperate Housewives .