List of Northern Exposure cast members
Encyclopedia
The following are characters who appeared in Northern Exposure
, an American television series which originally aired from July 1990 to July 1995.
Northern Exposure
Northern Exposure is an American television series that ran on CBS from 1990 to 1995, with a total of 110 episodes.-Overview:The series was given a pair of consecutive Peabody Awards: in 1991–92 for the show's "depict[ion] in a comedic and often poetic way, [of] the cultural clash between a...
, an American television series which originally aired from July 1990 to July 1995.
Main characters
- Joel Fleischman (Rob MorrowRob MorrowRobert Alan "Rob" Morrow is an American actor. He is known for his portrayal of Don Eppes on Numb3rs and as Dr. Joel Fleischman on Northern Exposure, a role which garnered him three Golden Globes and two Emmy Award nominations for "Best Actor in a Dramatic Series."-Personal life:Morrow was born in...
) is the central character, a young, somewhat uptight, Jewish doctor from Manhattan (New York City) who is contractually bound to practice in the remote Alaskan town of Cicely for four years to repay a student loan from the state. The comedy centres originally on the clash between Fleischman's neurotic, almost Woody Allen-like, urbanUrban cultureUrban culture is the culture of towns and cities. In the United States, Urban culture may also sometimes be used as a euphemistic reference to contemporary African American culture.- African American culture :...
mindsetMindsetIn decision theory and general systems theory, a mindset is a set of assumptions, methods or notations held by one or more people or groups of people which is so established that it creates a powerful incentive within these people or groups to continue to adopt or accept prior behaviors, choices,...
and the easy-going, community-minded people around him. As time went on, the show focus shifted to the quirky characters of the town. Morrow left the series in the middle of the sixth (and final) season. - Maurice Minnifield (Barry CorbinBarry CorbinLeonard Barrie Corbin, known as Barry Corbin , is an American actor with more than one hundred film, television and video game credits.-Early life:...
) is a macho, patriotic ex-astronaut and millionaire entrepreneur, owner of the local radio station KBHR and newspaper, as well as fifteen thousand acres (60 km²) of local land. Determined to make tiny Cicely the next boomtown, on "the cusp of the new Alaskan Riviera," Maurice arranges to bring Dr. Fleischman to the town, which previously had no permanent physician. - Chris Stevens (John Corbett), an ex-felon, is the disc jockeyDisc jockeyA disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
at KBHR. He intersperses the music of his morning show with philosophical musings on the nature of life and readings from such writers as Walt WhitmanWalt WhitmanWalter "Walt" Whitman was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse...
, William ShakespeareWilliam ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
, Leo TolstoyLeo TolstoyLev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was a Russian writer who primarily wrote novels and short stories. Later in life, he also wrote plays and essays. His two most famous works, the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are acknowledged as two of the greatest novels of all time and a pinnacle of realist...
, Carl JungCarl JungCarl Gustav Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist and the founder of Analytical Psychology. Jung is considered the first modern psychiatrist to view the human psyche as "by nature religious" and make it the focus of exploration. Jung is one of the best known researchers in the field of dream analysis and...
and Maurice SendakMaurice SendakMaurice Bernard Sendak is an American writer and illustrator of children's literature. He is best known for his book Where the Wild Things Are, published in 1963.-Early life:...
(Where the Wild Things AreWhere The Wild Things AreWhere the Wild Things Are is a 1963 children's picture book by American writer and illustrator Maurice Sendak, originally published by Harper & Row. The book has been adapted into other media several times, including an animated short in 1973 , a 1980 opera, and, in 2009, a live-action feature film...
). Chris is also Cicely's only clergyman, ordained as a minister in the Universal Life ChurchUniversal Life ChurchThe Universal Life Church is a religious organization that offers anyone semi-immediate ordination as a ULC minister free of charge. The organization states that anyone can become a minister immediately, without having to go through the pre-ordination process required by other religious faiths...
through an advertisement in Rolling StoneRolling StoneRolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine. - Maggie (Mary Margaret) O'Connell (Janine TurnerJanine TurnerJanine Turner is an American actress who starred on the prime time television show Northern Exposure from 1990 to 1995. From 2000 to 2002, she appeared on the Lifetime original series Strong Medicine...
) is a professional bush pilotBush flyingBush flying is a term for aircraft operations carried out in remote, inhospitable regions of the world. Bush flying involves operations in rough terrain where there are often no prepared landing strips or runways, frequently necessitating that bush planes be equipped with abnormally large tires,...
and property agent. She was a debutanteDebutanteA débutante is a young lady from an aristocratic or upper class family who has reached the age of maturity, and as a new adult, is introduced to society at a formal "début" presentation. It should not be confused with a Debs...
from a wealthy Irish AmericanIrish AmericanIrish Americans are citizens of the United States who can trace their ancestry to Ireland. A total of 36,278,332 Americans—estimated at 11.9% of the total population—reported Irish ancestry in the 2008 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau...
family in Grosse Pointe, MichiganGrosse Pointe, MichiganGrosse Pointe is a suburban city bordering Detroit in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The city covers just over one square mile, and had a population of 5,421 at the 2010 census. It is bordered on the west by Grosse Pointe Park, on the north by Detroit, on the east by Grosse Pointe...
. She sometimes believes herself to be curseCurseA curse is any expressed wish that some form of adversity or misfortune will befall or attach to some other entity—one or more persons, a place, or an object...
d because all of her former boyfriends died in bizarre accidents. She maintains a strong love-hate relationshipLove-hate relationshipA love–hate relationship is an interpersonal relationship involving simultaneous or alternating emotions of love and hate. This relationship does not have to be of a romantic nature, and may be instead of a sibling one...
with Fleischman, including the occasional sexual episode. - Shelly Marie Tambo Vincoeur (Cynthia GearyCynthia GearyCynthia Geary is an American actress best known for her role as Shelly Tambo in the television series Northern Exposure. In her Emmy-nominated role, she played a former Miss Northwest Passage beauty queen living with a decades-older lover, Holling Vincoeur...
) is a young, beauty pageant winner, Miss Northwest PassageNorthwest PassageThe Northwest Passage is a sea route through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways amidst the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans...
, with a somewhat 'surfer dude' shallow-but-sweet personality, who comes from SaskatchewanSaskatchewanSaskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
and is brought to Cicely by Maurice, who had hoped to marry her. Shortly after her arrival, she met and fell in love with the much older (by 44 years) Holling Vincoeur. Shelly nearly becomes a bigamist when she almost marries Holling before divorcing her schoolmate, hockey player Wayne Jones (Brandon DouglasBrandon DouglasBrandon Douglas is an American actor. He first came to prominence in the television series Falcon Crest, in which he played Ben Agretti during the 1988-1989 season. He is well known for playing Dr. Andrew Cook in the popular CBS series Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman...
), whom she had married solely to get him to stop proposing. - Holling Vincoeur (John CullumJohn CullumJohn Cullum is an American actor and singer. He has appeared in many stage musicals and dramas, including On the Twentieth Century and Shenandoah , winning the Tony Awards for Best Leading Actor in a Musical for each...
) is a sexagenarian hunter and owner of the Brick bar and restaurant, where he lives upstairs with Shelly. Born in QuebecQuebecQuebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
(or the YukonYukonYukon is the westernmost and smallest of Canada's three federal territories. It was named after the Yukon River. The word Yukon means "Great River" in Gwich’in....
; both are mentioned in different seasons) and later becoming a naturalized US citizen, he had been best friends with Maurice until they had a falling out over Shelly. His father and grandfather both lived to be over 100 years old, spending most of their lives as widowers despite having married much younger women; fearing the same bitter fate, Holling had sworn off love until Shelly appeared. He claims to be a direct descendant of King Louis XIV of FranceLouis XIV of FranceLouis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
and attempts to distance himself as much as possible from his despotic forebears. After 23 years as mayor of Cicely, he loses that post to Edna Hancock who runs against him because of a grudge. He is arguably the most rational/normal of the main characters. - Ed Chigliak (Darren E. BurrowsDarren E. BurrowsDarren E. Burrows is an American Actor / Director.Burrows was born in Winfield, Kansas, the son of actor Billy Drago. Burrows is best known for playing Ed Chigliak in the television series Northern Exposure...
) is a mild-mannered, amiably tactless, half-Native AlaskanAlaska NativesAlaska Natives are the indigenous peoples of Alaska. They include: Aleut, Inuit, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, Eyak, and a number of Northern Athabaskan cultures.-History:In 1912 the Alaska Native Brotherhood was founded...
foundling raised by the local Tlingits. He does odd jobs for Maurice and works part-time at Ruth-Anne's general store. A film buff and would-be director, Ed learned everything he knew about life and the outside world from movies, especially those of Woody AllenWoody AllenWoody Allen is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, jazz musician, author, and playwright. Allen's films draw heavily on literature, sexuality, philosophy, psychology, Jewish identity, and the history of cinema...
and Federico FelliniFederico FelliniFederico Fellini, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI , was an Italian film director and scriptwriter. Known for a distinct style that blends fantasy and baroque images, he is considered one of the most influential and widely revered filmmakers of the 20th century...
. He is a shaman-in-training and is occasionally visited by his invisible spirit guideSpirit guide"Spirit guide" is a term used by the Western tradition of Spiritualist Churches, mediums, and psychics to describe an entity that remains a disincarnate spirit in order to act as a guide or protector to a living incarnated human being....
, One-Who-Waits, and by his personal demon, Low Self Esteem, who resembles a leprechaunLeprechaunA leprechaun is a type of fairy in Irish folklore, usually taking the form of an old man, clad in a red or green coat, who enjoys partaking in mischief. Like other fairy creatures, leprechauns have been linked to the Tuatha Dé Danann of Irish mythology...
. Ed writes, directs and produces his own film about Cicely. - Ruth-Anne Miller (Peg PhillipsPeg PhillipsPeg Phillips was an American actress best known for playing storekeeper Ruth-Anne Miller on the television series Northern Exposure....
) is the septuagenarian owner of the general storeGeneral storeA general store, general merchandise store, or village shop is a rural or small town store that carries a general line of merchandise. It carries a broad selection of merchandise, sometimes in a small space, where people from the town and surrounding rural areas come to purchase all their general...
, who moved to Cicely thirty years ago from Portland, OregonPortland, OregonPortland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
. A widow, Ruth-Anne lives alone until late in the series, when she becomes involved with Walt Kupfer, a fur-trapper and retired stockbroker. Like Holling, she is one of the more rational/balanced characters. - Marilyn Whirlwind (Elaine MilesElaine MilesElaine Miles is an American actress best known for her role as Marilyn Whirlwind in the television series Northern Exposure.-Biography:...
) is Fleischman's receptionist, a stoic Native American. Marilyn barely ever speaks, while her boss rarely stops talking. She occasionally offers up wisdom in the form of a Native American folk legend in response to another player who is troubled about some issue.
Final season's main characters
- Phil Capra (Paul ProvenzaPaul ProvenzaPaul Provenza is an actor, comedian and filmmaker, a self-professed skeptic currently based in Los Angeles.-Early years:...
) is recruited as town physician after Fleischman takes to the wilderness. A refugee from Los AngelesLos ÁngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, Capra is more gracious than Fleischman in a small town setting, but even more hapless. Provenza was originally hired to take over the role of Dr. Joel Fleischman. The difference in their appearance was to be attributed to a new haircut, with Maggie O'Connell commenting, "It suits you." This idea was rejected to avoid alienating Morrow's fans. - Michelle Schowdowski Capra (Teri PoloTeri PoloTheresa Elizabeth "Teri" Polo is an American actress known for her role of Pam Focker in the movie Meet the Parents and its two sequels, Meet the Fockers and Little Fockers...
) is Phil's wife. She works as a reporter on a newspaper owned by Minnifield. When he starts applying editorial pressure, she decides she prefers waitressing at the Brick and has visions of Fleischman's rabbiRabbiIn Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
, Schulman.
Recurring characters
- Lester Haines (Apesanahkwat) is the fifth wealthiest man of the tundraTundraIn physical geography, tundra is a biome where the tree growth is hindered by low temperatures and short growing seasons. The term tundra comes through Russian тундра from the Kildin Sami word tūndâr "uplands," "treeless mountain tract." There are three types of tundra: Arctic tundra, alpine...
and is considered a rival by the richest, Maurice. He is the father of Heather Haines, who becomes Ed Chigliak's brief love interest.
- Adam (Adam ArkinAdam ArkinAdam Arkin is an American television, film and stage actor and director. He played the role of Aaron Shutt on Chicago Hope. He has been nominated for numerous awards, including a Tony as well as 3 primetime Emmys, 4 SAG Awards , and a DGA Award...
) is an abrasive, ungroomed, misanthropic, colourful, "genius" gourmet chef who may or may not have worked for the CIA in the past, which may explain how he has so much information about everyone. He was first introduced as a mythic legend figure, something akin to BigfootBigfootBigfoot, also known as sasquatch, is an ape-like cryptid that purportedly inhabits forests, mainly in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. Bigfoot is usually described as a large, hairy, bipedal humanoid...
. People in Cicely spoke of him as a tall-tale figure at first. Adam usually has a chip on his shoulder and offers an offensive rebuttal to anyone who compliments him. Arkin directed one of the episodes in the fourth season.
- Bernard Stevens (Richard Cummings Jr.Richard Cummings Jr.Richard Cummings Jr. is an American actor and film director most recognized for his acting roles in the Emmy award-winning dramas thirtysomething and Northern Exposure. He is currently working as a film and television director....
) is Chris' "half-brother and spiritual doppelgängerDoppelgängerIn fiction and folklore, a doppelgänger is a paranormal double of a living person, typically representing evil or misfortune...
." Their relationship extends beyond being merely half-brothers, as they also share dreams, emotions, and thoughts. They have the same birthday and birth year, making them "twins," despite having different mothers, one white and the other black. Their father was a bigamist "travellin' man," whose double life is exposed only after his death.
- Sergeant Barbara Semanski (Diane DelanoDiane DelanoDiane A. Delano is an American character actress, sometimes credited as Diana Delano. Her best known roles might be "Bobbi Glass" as well as her twin sister nurse "Jessi Glass "on the 1999 series Popular and the recurring character "Barbara Semanski" on Northern Exposure...
) is an Alaskan state trooper and gun enthusiast, and the on-again/off-again love interest of Maurice Minnifield, whom she finally dumps for protecting a fugitive, but becomes engaged to in the series finale episode.
- Mike Monroe (Anthony EdwardsAnthony EdwardsAnthony Charles Edwards is an American actor and director. He has appeared in various movies and television shows, including Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Top Gun, Zodiac, Revenge of the Nerds, Northern Exposure and ER.-Early life:Edwards was born in Santa Barbara, California, the son of Erika...
) is a hyper-allergicAllergyAn Allergy is a hypersensitivity disorder of the immune system. Allergic reactions occur when a person's immune system reacts to normally harmless substances in the environment. A substance that causes a reaction is called an allergen. These reactions are acquired, predictable, and rapid...
lawyer, called "The Bubble Man" by the citizens of Cicely at first. Mike comes to Alaska to escape the pollution that gave him multiple chemical sensitivityMultiple chemical sensitivityMultiple chemical sensitivity is a chronic medical condition characterized by symptoms the affected person attributes to exposure to low levels of chemicals. Commonly suspected substances include smoke, pesticides, plastics, synthetic fabrics, scented products, petroleum products and paints...
. Maggie O'Connell, attracted by Mike's show of courage in battling his illness, encourages him to come out of his airtight house more often, and they briefly become a couple. In an apparent inversion of "Maggie's Curse," Mike's symptoms suddenly vanish, whereupon he leaves to join a GreenpeaceGreenpeaceGreenpeace is a non-governmental environmental organization with offices in over forty countries and with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, The Netherlands...
ship at MurmanskMurmanskMurmansk is a city and the administrative center of Murmansk Oblast, Russia. It serves as a seaport and is located in the extreme northwest part of Russia, on the Kola Bay, from the Barents Sea on the northern shore of the Kola Peninsula, not far from Russia's borders with Norway and Finland...
, much to Maggie's disappointment.
- Richard 'Rick' Pederson (Grant GoodeveGrant GoodeveGrant Goodeve is an American actor and television host. He is best known for playing the role of David, the oldest son, on Eight Is Enough, from 1977 to 1981. He sang the theme song for the show as well...
) is Maggie O'Connell's first season boyfriend. He dies at the end of the second season when an errant satellite falls on him during a camping trip. After his death, it is revealed that he was a compulsive sex addict who cheated on Maggie with hundreds of other women. In one episode after Rick's death, Maggie encounters one of them face to face where they discuss Rick's relational complexities.
- Leonard Quinhagak (Graham GreeneGraham Greene (actor)Graham Greene is a Canadian actor who has worked on stage, and in film and TV productions in Canada, England and the United States.-Early life:...
) is a native medicine manMedicine man"Medicine man" or "Medicine woman" are English terms used to describe traditional healers and spiritual leaders among Native American and other indigenous or aboriginal peoples...
and Ed's mentor. He is also the local totem poleTotem poleTotem poles are monumental sculptures carved from large trees, mostly Western Red Cedar, by cultures of the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America...
carver, which is featured in an episode where he creates a totem for the Whirlwind family, which rekindles a long-running feud between the Raven and Bear tribes.
- Eve (Valerie Mahaffey) is a hypochondriac, heiress to a tungstenTungstenTungsten , also known as wolfram , is a chemical element with the chemical symbol W and atomic number 74.A hard, rare metal under standard conditions when uncombined, tungsten is found naturally on Earth only in chemical compounds. It was identified as a new element in 1781, and first isolated as...
fortune, and Adam's wife. Mahaffey won an Emmy AwardEmmy AwardAn Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
in 1992 for her portrayal. Eve and Adam spend part of each year as jet-setters and part as near-hermits in a cabin near Cicely. She and Adam eventually have a child together, named Aldridge.
- Earl the Barber is a frequent background extra, played by Jerry Morris, the real owner of the barbershop used in the television series.
- Walter 'Walt' Kupfer (Moultrie PattenMoultrie PattenMoultrie Patten was an American actor and jazz musician. Patten was perhaps best known for his role as Walt the trapper on the American television series, Northern Exposure, which aired from 1990 until 1995. Patten appeared as Walt Kupfer from 1993 until the show's ending in 1995.- Early life...
) is a rugged but friendly trapper, and love interest of Ruth-Anne Miller in later seasons. He was addicted to his work as a stockbroker in New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and retired to Cicely on the advice of his doctor "more than 30 years" ago.
- One-Who-Waits (Floyd Westerman) is Ed Chigliak's spirit guide, the ghost of a long-dead chief from Ed's Native AmericanIndigenous peoples of the AmericasThe indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
side of his family, the Bear clan.
- Dave (William J. White) is the Native American cook at the Brick. In early episodes, he has few speaking parts, but in later seasons, began participating in scenes, particularly with Holling and Shelly, but also Joel, who often asks him to explain local Native AmericanIndigenous peoples of the AmericasThe indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
customs. He was replaced by Eugene (Earl Quewezance) near the end of the fifth season.
- Rabbi Schulman (Jerry AdlerJerry AdlerJerry Adler is an American theatre director, production supervisor and a television and film actor.Adler was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Pauline and Philip Adler, who was a general manager of the Group Theatre...
) is Joel's rabbi in New York who inexplicably appears to Joel in "visions".
- Hayden Keyes (James L. Dunn) is a Cicelian, generally liked, but occasionally dishonest.
- Caldecott "Cal" E. Ingram (Simon TemplemanSimon TemplemanSimon Templeman is an English voice actor known for his role as Kain in the video game series "Legacy of Kain", and as Teyrn Loghain Mac Tir in Dragon Age: Origins. He is also known as Simon Templeton. He is married to character actress Rosalind Chao with whom he has a son and daughter.- Animated...
) is a violinist who becomes obsessed with an antique violin purchased by Maurice. He attempts to kill Maurice and reappears in several episodes as a fugitive.
- Erick Reese Hillman (Don McManus) and Ron Bantz (Doug Ballard) are a gay couple, introduced at the end of the second season when they buy a house from Maurice to open the Sourdough Inn, a bed and breakfastBed and breakfastA bed and breakfast is a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast, but usually does not offer other meals. Since the 1980s, the meaning of the term has also extended to include accommodations that are also known as "self-catering" establishments...
. They are married (by Chris) late in the fifth season.