Lois will play Allison Scavo, the mother of Tom (Doug Savant), who moves in with him and wife Lynette (Felicity Huffman) to help Tom get over a case of male postpartum depression. Allison's more traditional views of husband-and-wife relationships will clash with Lynette's modern outlook, "Housewives" creator Marc Cherry told tvguide.com.
Smith won a Drama Desk Award for her performance as Carrie Ann Watts in the Signature Theatre Company's revival of Horton Foote's The Trip to Bountiful. She received Tony Award nominations for Buried Child and The Grapes of Wrath. She made her film debut in "East of Eden" and recently appeared on the HBO series "True Blood."
The seventh season of "Desperate Housewives" premieres Sept. 26 on ABC.
