Jack Monk
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Jack Monk | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| First appearance | Mr. Monk Meets His Dad |
| Portrayed by | Dan Hedaya |
| Information | |
| Gender | Male |
| Age | 68 |
| Occupation | truck driver |
| Children | Adrian Monk (son) Ambrose Monk (son) Jack Monk Jr. (son) |
Jack Monk is an occasional and fictional character appearing on the USA Network television series Monk.
Jack Monk is played by Dan Hedaya and appears in the episode entitled "Mr. Monk Meets His Dad". Jack, the father of both Ambrose and Adrian Monk, abandoned his young family while running to pick up an order of Chinese food. Adrian was only eight years old and his father's abandonment is seemingly the catalyst for both Adrian and Ambrose's psychological illnesses. After leaving, Jack isn't heard from for over forty years. During that time he fathered yet another son, Jack Jr. whom Jack proudly brags about to his co-workers as a genius doctor (but later admits to Adrian's surprise that Jack is an unemployed buffoon who smokes marijuana). Jack finally makes an appearance - albeit an unnoticed one - at Ambrose's door to leave him a congratulatory note on Ambrose's exit from the house (though this was because he was being driven to the hospital in an ambulance at the time, having eaten what he thought was a poisoned candy bar).
When Jack finally shows up in person, he is working for a Midland, Texas-based trucking company and had been stopped in San Francisco for running a red light. He was arrested and was placed in jail for shoving the police officer who had stopped him. Initially, Adrian's reception to his father was icy and uninviting, but the two later reconciled over a road trip.
Although the elder Monk is portrayed as eccentric, unpleasant, and erratic, he is also apparently quite intelligent, possibly implying that Ambrose and Adrian inherited at least some of their prodigious mental abilities from their father.
|
||||||||||||||
