Nicollette Sheridan portrayed Edie from her debut in the pilot episode of the series until the character's death in the fifth season.

She was married three times; to Charles McLain (with whom she had a son, Travers), Umberto Rothwell, and Dave Williams.

Sheridan's portrayal of the character earned her a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress.

[4] Despite proving popular with fans and critics,[2][5] Sheridan's role remained somewhat minimal in the series' first two seasons.

Series creator Marc Cherry insisted that Edie served "only as a spoiler to complicate the other women's lives.

"[5] Although Sheridan thought of Edie as the fifth main housewife—in addition to Susan Mayer, Bree Van De Kamp, Lynette Scavo, and Gabrielle Solis—the opening credits only pictured the other four women.

In February 2009, it was announced that Sheridan would be leaving the show following her character's death, which would involve a car accident and electrical wire.

[7][11] Sheridan commented that killing Edie "was a risky decision that could have devastating ramifications," and admitted to feeling ignored by Cherry while on the series.

[15] In April 2010, Sheridan filed a lawsuit against Cherry, alleging wrongful dismissal and assault and battery, among five other counts.

[16][17] The following June, Sheridan filed an amended claim, clarifying that the alleged assault was a "light tap," but reaffirmed her stance that her contract was wrongfully terminated.

[18] On August 7, 2011, after the announcement that Desperate Housewives would be concluding at the end of its 8th season, Marc Cherry hinted that he may ask Nicollette Sheridan back for the series finale, "to pay homage to everyone who has been on the show", including Edie and without addressing Sheridan's lawsuit.

[19] However, while being interviewed on NBC's Today the following day, the actress firmly denied her comeback on Wisteria Lane, saying "That's news to me.

Martha Huber (Christine Estabrook) tells Susan that she will be babysitting Edie's son, although he does not appear until season 3.

Edie is upset when Martha is murdered, and proves to be the only Wisteria Lane resident who wants to give her a proper burial.

Edie finishes rebuilding her new house on the property of 4362 Wisteria Lane and starts dating Karl, Susan's ex-husband.

In actuality, the ring is because Karl has temporarily remarried Susan so she can access his health insurance to pay for a splenectomy.

He starts dating Susan's daughter, Julie Mayer, after the two of them and Edie are held hostage by Carolyn Bigsby (Laurie Metcalf) at the supermarket.

Edie and Susan later catch Austin having sex with Bree's daughter, Danielle Van de Kamp.

He is later forced by Orson Hodge to leave Wisteria Lane when Danielle is discovered to be pregnant with his child.

When Edie develops romantic feelings for Carlos, she uses his relationship with Travers to her advantage and tries to seduce him, but he tells her he's not interested in her that way.

At the closing scene of the season, Edie is shown with a sealed letter to her "beloved" Carlos, and hangs herself with a scarf.

Carlos feels responsible and agrees to resume their relationship, leading Edie to discover his secret offshore bank account containing $10 million.

Edie hires a private detective to spy on Carlos and gets pictures of him and Gabrielle sharing a passionate kiss, before telling the IRS about his offshore account.

She discovers that Carlos has emptied and closed his offshore account so she turns the pictures over to Victor, knowing he will get revenge.

While off the lane, Edie starts visiting Orson while he is in prison for the hit and run of her ex-boyfriend Mike Delfino.

Bree doesn't tell anyone about this until she, Susan, Lynette, Gabrielle and Karen McCluskey go to bring Travers Edie's ashes.

When Edie learns that Eli Scruggs, the neighborhood handyman, has died, she recalls how he helped her out when she was having marital problems with her ex-husband Umberto.

Upon receiving a news article on the fateful car accident and finally learning the truth about her husband's intentions, she confronts Dave when he returns home from his camping trip.

The housewives pay a visit to Travers (Stephen Lunsford) to announce her death and to give him her ashes.

Edie explains that she gave her son to her ex because she wanted him to have a good life and she knew that she would have made a bad mother.