User:Theleekycauldron/Drafts/List of The West Wing characters

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The television series The West Wing is a political drama series which was originally broadcast on NBC.

During its seven seasons, the ensemble cast of stars, recurring stars and guest stars earned 157 acting nominations (often competing in the same category against other members of the cast) across a variety of award-granting organizations, earning 30 awards. Many actors noted for work in sitcoms appeared in dramatic roles on The West Wing, including John Goodman, Alan Alda, John Larroquette, Christopher Lloyd, Ed O'Neill, Matthew Perry, Patricia Richardson, and Lily Tomlin.

Cast[edit]

Cast Table[edit]

  = Main cast (credited)
  = Recurring cast (2+)
Character Actor Seasons
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Reunion Special
Sam Seaborn Rob Lowe Main Recurring Main
Mandy Hampton Moira Kelly Main
Charlie Young Dulé Hill Main
C. J. Cregg Allison Janney Main
Toby Ziegler Richard Schiff Main
Leo McGarry John Spencer Main
Sterling K. Brown Main
Josh Lyman Bradley Whitford Main
Jed Bartlet Martin Sheen Main
Donna Moss Janel Moloney Recurring Main
Abbey Bartlet Stockard Channing Recurring Main
Will Bailey Joshua Malina Main
Kate Harper Mary McCormack Recurring Main
Matt Santos Jimmy Smits Main
Arnold Vinick Alan Alda Main
Annabeth Schott Kristin Chenoweth Recurring Main

Main characters[edit]

Jed Bartlet[edit]

Matt Santos[edit]

Arnold Vinick[edit]

Leo McGarry[edit]

C. J. Cregg[edit]

Claudia Jean Cregg, played by Allison Janney, was the White House Press Secretary from the series pilot until the sixth season.[1] She was then promoted to White House Chief of Staff, serving in this role until the series finale inaugurated Matt Santos as president.[2][3] It has been speculated that the character was based to some extent off of Dee Dee Myers, who served as the White House Press Secretary to Bill Clinton and as a consultant on The West Wing[4] – Sorkin, however, has denied this notion.[5]

Josh Lyman[edit]

Toby Ziegler[edit]

Sam Seaborn[edit]

Mandy Hampton[edit]

Charlie Young[edit]

Donna Moss[edit]

Will Bailey[edit]

Abbey Bartlet[edit]

Kate Harper[edit]

Annabeth Schott[edit]

Recurring characters[edit]

Introduced in season one[edit]

Mrs. Landingham[edit]

Dolores Landingham, played primarily by Kathryn Joosten, is Jed Bartlet's personal secretary in the first two seasons. Rather than playing a central political role, Mrs. Landingham often served as guidance for other characters, grounding them in the show's reality to remind the characters "who they should be working for".[6]

She was killed off in the second-season episode "18th and Potomac", but reappeared for multiple flashbacks afterwards.

Lord John Marbury[edit]

I am John, Lord Marbury, Earl of Croy, Marquess of Needham and Dolby, Baronet of Brycey, England's Ambassador to the United States, and a terrorist is a terrorist even if he wears a green necktie and sings "Danny Boy." Yes, you can call me John.

Margaret Hooper[edit]

Percy Fitzwallace[edit]

Ed and Larry[edit]

John Hoynes[edit]

Danny Concannon[edit]

Mallory O'Brien[edit]

Andy Wyatt[edit]

Zoey Bartlet[edit]

Laurie[edit]

Roberto Mendoza[edit]

Introduced in season two[edit]

Lionel Tribbey[edit]

Ainsley Hayes[edit]

Nancy McNally[edit]

Mark Godfrey[edit]

Introduced in season three[edit]

Amy Gardner[edit]

Cliff Calley[edit]

Oliver Babish[edit]

Howard Stackhouse[edit]

Robert Ritchie[edit]

Simon Donovan[edit]

Introduced in season four[edit]

Debbie Fiderer[edit]

Glenn Allen Walken[edit]

Bruno Gianelli[edit]

Introduced in season five[edit]

Joe Quincy[edit]

Taylor Reid[edit]

Liz Westin[edit]

Introduced in season six[edit]

Helen Santos[edit]

Ray Sullivan[edit]

Introduced in season seven[edit]

Vic Faison[edit]

Sheila Brooks[edit]

Jane Braun[edit]

Guest characters[edit]

Introduced in season one[edit]

Morris Tolliver[edit]

Morris Tolliver is the president's physician. He appears only in "Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc", the second episode of the first season. The president is trusting and fond of Morris throughout the episode; when Bartlet expresses worry about interacting with his military advisors, Tolliver comforts him.[7] At the end of the episode, Leo tells the president that a plane carrying Morris to a humanitarian mission in Amman exploded in midair, destroyed by a missile launched on the order of the Syrian Defense Ministry.[7] This creates the events of the next episode, "A Proportional Response", in which an angry and grieving Bartlet has to be talked out of drastic retaliation measures for the attack.[8][9]

Gail[edit]

Gail is a goldfish, given as a gift from Danny to C. J. in the first season. Danny, after being told by Josh that C. J. liked goldfish, bought Gail for C. J. without realizing that Josh was referring to a cracker brand with the same name.[10] Gail made numerous reappearances throughout the show, sporting various contextually significant decorations in her fishbowl. Sorkin donated Gail's fishbowl to the National Museum of American History, along with the Christmas tree shown in the first season episode "In Excelsis Deo".[11]

Introduced in season two[edit]

Josephine McGarry[edit]

Dr. Bartlet[edit]

Bernard Thatch[edit]

Ann Stark[edit]

Stanley Keyworth[edit]

Millie Griffith[edit]

Mike Casper[edit]

Introduced in season three[edit]

Will Sawyer[edit]

Jordon Kendall[edit]

Tabitha Fortis[edit]

Albie Duncan[edit]

Introduced in season four[edit]

Talmidge Cregg[edit]

Jean Paul[edit]

Jack Reese[edit]

Introduced in season five[edit]

Angela Blake[edit]

Colin Ayres[edit]

Introduced in season six[edit]

Greg Brock[edit]

Introduced in season seven[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Finn 2003, p. 114.
  2. ^ Shister, Gail (November 4, 2004). "Hail to the new chief of staff on 'The West Wing'". Orlando Sentinel. The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on March 6, 2022. Retrieved March 6, 2022 – via newspapers.com.
  3. ^ Gilbert, Matthew (May 16, 2006). "'West Wing' exits with dignity". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on March 6, 2022. Retrieved March 6, 2022 – via newspapers.com.
  4. ^ Crawley 2006, pp. 123, 203.
  5. ^ Waxman 2003, p. 204.
  6. ^ Bauder, David (June 13, 2001). "Fans still mourning Mrs. Landingham". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. Archived from the original on September 9, 2019. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  7. ^ a b Fahy 2005, p. 196.
  8. ^ McCabe, Janet; Akass, Kim (2007). Quality TV: Contemporary American Television and Beyond. I. B. Tauris. ISBN 9780857731708.
  9. ^ Fahy 2005, p. 196-197.
  10. ^ Webster 2020, p. 65.
  11. ^ BredenbeckCorp, Hannah (January 19, 2017). "Why does the Smithsonian have objects from a fake presidency on "The West Wing?"". National Museum of American History. Retrieved February 22, 2022.

Works cited[edit]



Category:Lists of American television series characters Category:Lists of drama television characters