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

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
Character	Actor	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
Leo McGarry	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

References edit

^ Finn 2003, p. 114.
^ 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.
^ 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.
^ Crawley 2006, pp. 123, 203.
^ Waxman 2003, p. 204.
^ 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.
^ ^a ^b Fahy 2005, p. 196.
^ McCabe, Janet; Akass, Kim (2007). Quality TV: Contemporary American Television and Beyond. I. B. Tauris. ISBN 9780857731708.
^ Fahy 2005, p. 196-197.
^ Webster 2020, p. 65.
^ 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

Webster, Patrick (2020). Windows Into The West Wing. MacFarland. ISBN 9781476639369.
Fahy, Thomas (2005). Considering Aaron Sorkin. MacFarland. ISBN 9780786421206.
Finn, Patrick (2003). "The West Wing's Textual President". In Rollins, Peter C. (ed.). The West Wing: The American Presidency as Television Drama. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 9780815651833.
Crawley, Melissa (2006). Mr. Sorkin Goes to Washington: Shaping the President on Television's The West Wing. McFarland Press. ISBN 9780786424399.
Waxman, Sharon (2003). "Inside The West Wing's New World". In Rollins, Peter C. (ed.). The West Wing: The American Presidency as Television Drama. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 9780815651833.

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

[FOOTNOTEFinn2003114-1] 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.

[FOOTNOTECrawley2006123,_203-4] Crawley 2006, pp. 123, 203.

[FOOTNOTEWaxman2003204-5] Waxman 2003, p. 204.

[2001-06-13_LA_Times-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.

[FOOTNOTEFahy2005196-7] Fahy 2005, p. 196.

[8] McCabe, Janet; Akass, Kim (2007). Quality TV: Contemporary American Television and Beyond. I. B. Tauris. ISBN 9780857731708.

[FOOTNOTEFahy2005196-197-9] Fahy 2005, p. 196-197.

[FOOTNOTEWebster202065-10] 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.

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