Fair-skinned Desperate Housewives star Marcia Cross is trying to scare people against staying out of the sun as the spokeswoman for awareness group Skin Cancer Takes Friends.

The actress teamed up with the organization last year and now spends much of her time away from Wisteria Lane warning about the dangers of tanning on unprotected skin and urging sun worshippers to get their skin checked regularly.

Cross, who reveals there's a history of skin cancer in her family, says, "I'm not a sun worshipper and I want to convince people not to be, which is a hard sell. So I always encourage people to find a dermatologist in your area and make an appointment, because, when not detected, skin cancer is a deadly disease. One person dies every hour. The curable rate detected early is about 100 per cent and, if you let it go, it will literally kill you. A dermatologist told me a dime-size melanoma, when not detected, can kill you in six months."

And the actress' message has already got through to her husband Tom Mahoney after he was treated for a skin cancer scare.

She adds, "I've really had to nag to get him to take care of his skin and, sure enough, he was at the dermatologist for something else and the doctor wound up burning a little precancerous thing off his cheek and now he puts that sunscreen on."

-Marcia Cross Pictures

(This news article provided by World Entertainment News Network)