Karl Mayer is a fictional character portrayed by Richard Burgi and created by television producer and screenwriter Marc Cherry for the ABC television series Desperate Housewives. He is the ex-husband of housewife Susan Mayer (Teri Hatcher) and father of Julie Mayer (Andrea Bowen), as well as a successful practitioner of family law. The character also becomes romantically involved in the series with two other housewives, Edie Britt (Nicollette Sheridan) and Bree Van De Kamp (Marcia Cross), both of whom he gets engaged to. Karl dies in Season 6, Episode 11 after injuries sustained when a plane crashes into Wisteria Lane during the Christmas Festival.