Roger Bart dispenses creepiness as "Desperate Housewives" druggist-boyfriend

Beware of harmful side effects from the pharmacist serving Wisteria Lane.

He's pretty creepy, with his simpering smile, embarrassed manner and dead brown eyes. George Williams is the sort of guy you're glad to be separated from by a drugstore counter.

But nothing, so far, can separate George from Bree Van De Camp, the red-haired homemaker of "Desperate Housewives."

Certainly not her husband Rex: George killed him last season by tampering with his &to=http://english.pravda.ru/science/19/94/377/15429_ointment.html' target=_blank>heart medication. Or Bree's therapist, who cautioned the new widow to think twice about accepting a marriage proposal from George who then heaved the therapist from a bridge.

Played by Roger Bart, George thus far has covered his tracks as a murderous swain. But things are likely to come to a head this Sunday (9 p.m. EST Sunday; 0100 GMT Monday on ABC). No episode details were available, but, as viewers saw last week, George is coming unglued and Bree is catching on.

"Nobody in their right mind would say, 'Hmmm, what a great guy,"' Bart acknowledges. "He's not your average sociopath. But I've tried to find things in him that a viewer can identify with. He's so _ well, clumsy is a nice word for it. And besides that, I made the choice that he's very, very angry about something. People can relate to that."

"I've tried to maintain an uneasy balance between your friendly unassuming neighborhood pharmacist and Anthony Perkins in 'Psycho,"' says Bart, whose own pleasant manner evokes neither.

Tucking into an omelet at a restaurant near his New York apartment, Bart can't help marveling at the almost instant fame George has brought him.

"I've been working for 20 years," says the 43-year-old actor, whose stage roles include a Tony-winning run as Snoopy in the 1999 revival of "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" and the outrageous, catsuit-clad Carmen Ghia, which he originated in Mel Brooks' hit musical comedy, "The Producers."

For those performances he won applause. "But now I'm getting a LOT of recognition," he says. "And a lot of wagging fingers."