Grace Adler

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Grace Elizabeth Adler is a fictional character on the popular American sitcom Will & Grace, portrayed by Debra Messing. She is a Jewish interior designer (Messing is also Jewish in real life), living in New York City with her gay best friend Will Truman (played by Eric McCormack). She is originally from Schenectady, New York, and has graduated from Columbia University.

Contents 1 Overview 2 Trivia 3 Quotes from Grace 4 See also

[edit] Overview

Grace's birthday is in April 1967. She has been particularly influenced by her mother, Bobbi (Debbie Reynolds), an overly dramatic actress. She also constantly strives for the affection of her father Martin (Alan Arkin), competing with her two sisters (one older, one younger), who have more obvious problems than she (Joyce, played by Sara Rue, is a mentally slow compulsive overeater, while Janet, portrayed by Geena Davis, is marginally employed and promiscuous). Grace herself is decidedly selfish and neurotic, but it is usually played for laughs, like when her husband Leo asked "You want me to be happy, right?" and she sweetly replied "Not if it affects me negatively in any way." She is also somewhat vain, once declaring herself to be a "frickin' bombshell" and believing that she bears a strong resemblance to Rita Hayworth (once even thinking a photo of Hayworth was one of herself).

Grace has become infamous for her string of boyfriends, many played by famous guest stars such as Woody Harrelson and Gregory Hines. Grace finally got married to Jewish doctor Leo Markus, played by Harry Connick, Jr., in the fall of 2002, but the marriage failed when he had a one-night stand while working in Cambodia. In season 8, the two reunited briefly during a flight to London when they coincidentally met on the plane. This one-night tryst led to Grace's becoming pregnant, but she didn't tell Leo because he was engaged to another woman. However, in the series finale, she and Leo reunited and raised the baby, a girl named Lila, together. Lila then went on to attend college with and eventually marry Will and Vince's son, Ben.

Grace also has a reputation for "turning" men gay. Several of her boyfriends - such as Will himself, and her second season boyfriend Josh - ended up gay or bisexual, and she has a recurring fear that this will happen again. (At one point she entered a room to find Jack, Will and Nathan all passed out on a bed together, and moaned, "Oh, no, I turned another one.") In season 8, she took this to a new level when she briefly married James Hanson, a boyfriend of Will's, so that he could get a green card. They broke off the relationship days later.

Aside from Will, she also has a strong relationship with her secretary, Karen Walker, a rich, alcoholic socialite who does virtually no secretarial work. Karen is nevertheless useful to Grace, as she pays for her employer's health insurance and occasionally uses her society connections to help Grace get work. Otherwise, Karen spends her "work" hours harassing Grace, her maid Rosario, and trading banter with her flamboyantly gay friend Jack. She routinely criticizes Grace's breast size and choices in fashion (usually by disdainfully asking "Honey, what's this all about?") and men. Grace and Karen became close over the years. Grace once commented to a man (played by Andy Garcia) who had refused to ask Karen out on a second date that, "I've kissed Karen more times than I can count, and I've always felt something."

[edit] Trivia

• Grace is known for her keen sense of smell. She once estimated the cooking time of a lamb though a heatin vent, and could also tell that milk would go bad in twelve hours.

[edit] Quotes from Grace

• "I got caught on the F Train, or what I now like to call the f-ing train."
• "It's a gift."

[edit] See also

• List of fictitious Jews