List of Six Feet Under characters
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The following are a list of descriptions for characters on the HBO television series Six Feet Under, which aired from 2001–2005 for five seasons.
[edit] Major characters
[edit] Nate Fisher
Nathaniel Samuel "Nate" Fisher, Jr. (1965–2005), played by Peter Krause, is the oldest of the three Fisher siblings; the series begins when he returns to Los Angeles on Christmas Eve only to learn that his father has died, and the series ends in season five shortly after his death.
Throughout the series, Nate searches for the ideal life that he wants to live. On the airplane while flying home to Los Angeles, he meets Brenda Chenowith, with whom he has sex upon landing, in an airport maintenance room. Hoping to keep the family business alive, Nate becomes a funeral director (a job he swore he would never do) and co-operates the business with his brother David. Not long after, Nate becomes diagnosed with arteriovenous malformation (AVM) and becomes engaged to Brenda around the same time. Nate and Brenda end the relationship both because of Brenda's sexual addiction and her discovery that Nate had an affair with Lisa, his former roommate. Nate then has surgery to have his AVM removed which is a success. Nate instead marries Lisa who bears him a daughter, Maya. Months later, Lisa goes missing and is found dead. Nate waits the proper time until getting back together with Brenda who is already seeing someone. The two move in together and soon marry. Brenda becomes pregnant with Nate's second child which Nate does not want. Nate then meets George's daughter, Maggie, with whom he becomes fascinated. Before a Quaker meeting, they unexpectedly kiss and have sex. Mere moments later, Nate suffers a seizure due to a reappearance of AVM and collapses on her floor. Nate is rushed to the hospital, wakes up long enough to effectively end his marriage with Brenda, and dies the following day.
Following his death, the series spends the last three episodes addressing the other characters' lives as they attempt to cope with his absence. Nate appears several times to them as a representation of their own thoughts, in a device that had been commonly used for many dead characters throughout the series to dramatically illustrate characters' internal monologues.
[edit] David Fisher
David James Fisher (1969-2044), played by Michael C. Hall, is the middle child (four years younger than Nate) who was co-operator of Fisher & Sons Funeral Home (later Fisher & Diaz). David is gay and is at first in the closet about his sexuality. Prior to the start of the series, David was confused about his sexuality after being engaged briefly to a woman named Jennifer Mason. David met Keith Charles, an African-American police officer at a church social function and the two began dating. David joined the family business in 1989 at the age of 20 and was very jealous of his brother Nate who ran away from home years prior.
After his father's death and Nate's return, David has a visible resentment against Nate, but the tension soon dissolves when Nate wants to help with the family funeral business. At the same time, David is offered his father's old position as deacon at their church. In addition to not coming out to his family and becoming deacon at a local church that frowns upon homosexuality, Keith breaks up with David. David then dates a younger man named Kurt, a dance instructor who loves to use drugs and go to dance clubs. The relationship ends briefly after David catches him making out with another man. After arranging a funeral for a young gay man who was brutally murdered for his sexual orientation, David comes out to his family and resigns from his post as deacon. David then reconciles with Keith whom he begins dating months later. It is not long after that the two are in couples counseling for their issues. Slowly they work out their differences but become once again separated when David suffers a traumatizing experience with a carjacker. The experience leaves David shocked and vulnerable. The only people to whom he entirely opens up about the ordeal are Keith and his sister, Claire. David finally decides that he wants to have children with Keith and they adopt two abandoned children: Anthony and Durrell.
David marries Keith around 2009 and they remain together until the latter's death in 2029. David dies in 2044 at a family outing.
[edit] Ruth Fisher
Ruth O'Connor Fisher Sibley (1946-2025), played by Frances Conroy, is the widow of Nathaniel and mother of three.
Ruth marries Nathaniel Fisher in 1965 after becoming pregnant with her first child, Nate. Four years later she gives birth to another son, David. Their third and final child, Claire, is born later in life in 1983. Ruth had an estranged relationship with her sister Sarah ever since Sarah was negligent while watching Ruth's sons one weekend. She reconciles with her years later. Shortly before the series begins, Ruth has an affair with her hairdresser, Hiram Gunderson, who takes her camping. After Nathaniel's sudden death, she calls off the affair to mourn but rekindles the relationship months later. Seeing as her responsibilities as a housewife are now relieved, Ruth takes a job at a flower shop where the owner Nikolai becomes infatuated with her. Hiram then breaks up with Ruth and she begins seeing Nikolai. Their relationship ends when Nikolai is robbed and beaten by a Russian mob and Ruth offers to pay off his debt. Ruth ends their relationship when Nikolai becomes bored with Ruth and is ungrateful for what she did. Ruth then becomes obsessed with her granddaughter Maya and starts a friendship with a new friend Bettina. Ruth marries George Sibley, a man she knew for only 6 weeks but slowly learned bits of his past. George becomes increasingly paranoid, particularly with theories regarding the Earth's apocalypse, & receives moderately successful treatment in the form of electro-convulsive therapy. Shortly after, Ruth finds George a new apartment but she remains at the Fisher residence. George comes back into Ruth's life when Nate dies but remains at his apartment. Ruth decides she needs a change in her life and moves in with her sister and Bettina. Ruth dies in 2025 of old age at a hospital with George and her surviving children at her bedside.
[edit] Claire Fisher
Claire Simone Fisher Fairwell (1983-2085), played by Lauren Ambrose, is a rebellious young adult, who falls into into drugs, bad relationships and a general search for 'meaning in life'. She is the most creative in the family, being inspired by those closest to her (such as her family, Aunt Sarah, Billy). At one time dating the bitter high school student Gabe, she also engages briefly in a complex relationship with Brenda's brother Billy. While studying art at LAC-Arts College, she sleeps with a crematory employee, Phil, but he does not want an exclusive relationship. She then becomes pregnant by fellow student Russell, whom she had dated even though she suspected he was gay; when she discovers he had slept with their professor, Olivier, she has an abortion. She briefly experiments with lesbianism with a friend, Edie, but soon becomes attracted to her friend, Jimmy. After Jimmy convinces an art dealer to give Claire an art show, Claire leaves art school and begins a relationship with Billy. Their relationship ends when Billy goes off his medication and becomes manic once again. Seeing she has no money and is in a deep feud with her mother, Claire takes a temporary job at a legal department where she meets Ted, a handsome Republican lawyer whom Claire begins to date. Ted becomes a source of comfort after Nate's death. In the series finale, Claire receives a job offer to work as a photographer's assistant in New York, leaving her family and Ted behind. Claire returns to L.A. shortly before her mother's death in 2025 and reunites with Ted, whom she marries. According to her obituary, Claire begins teaching photography as a faculty member at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in 2018, earning tenure in 2028. She becomes an award-winning photographer. Claire dies in 2085 at 101 years old.
[edit] Brenda Chenowith
Brenda Chenowith Fisher (1969-2051), played by Rachel Griffiths, is Nate's wife, (formerly his long-time girlfriend). As a child, she was under the scrutiny of Dr Gareth Feinberg and various psychologists who documented her behavior in a book called Charlotte Light and Dark. Being a genius, however, she would study the symptoms of diseases and feign them, to make Charlotte Light and Dark completely inaccurate. Her parents are wealthy psychiatrists while her brother (Billy) is a successful photographer, struggling with bipolar disorder. Brenda spent much of her life care-taking for Billy and has struggled to build her own life outside of Billy's illness. Billy has a strong fixation on Brenda's life and their relationship at times bordered on incest. Brenda's first real love was Trevor, with whom she planned on going to Yale until she chose to stay home after Billy attempted suicide.
Brenda meets Nate Fisher at an airport and they have sex shortly after. The two begin a relationship which is often interrupted by her brother Billy who continues to worm his way into his sister's life. Nate breaks up with Brenda after events cause her sexual addiction to become out of hand. Brenda moves away from Los Angeles and seeks out therapy. She arrives back in L.A. after her father is diagnosed with cancer. She then begins a relationship with a neighbor, Joe, a kind French Horn player who likes to be dominated in bed. After Joe catches Brenda making out with Nate, he ends the relationship and moves out of the house they bought. Brenda gets back together with Nate by whom she becomes pregnant. On the night before their wedding, Brenda suffers a miscarriage which casts a dark pall on her wedding day. Brenda becomes pregnant again and begins a job as a counselor at a local college. Following differences over Nate's interest in his stepsister (George Sibley's daughter, Maggie), Nate cheats on Brenda and dumps her. It is not long after that Nate is taken to the hospital and dies from a brain hemorrhage. Six weeks later Brenda delivers a premature baby girl named Willa, who eventually becomes healthy enough to go home after spending weeks in the hospital. Years later, Brenda is remarried to a man named Daniel Nathanson, and has a third child, Forrest Nathanson. She dies in 2051 at the age of 82 of natural causes (the audio commentary on the DVD suggests that Billy, still complaining about his failed relationship with Claire, bores Brenda to death).
[edit] Keith Charles
Keith Dwayne Charles (1968-2029), played by Mathew St. Patrick, is David's tempestuous lover, who has anger issues. Keith was born in 1968 in San Diego and attended West Point Military Academy, graduating with a degree in Criminology in 1989. David and Keith met at church. He was a police officer for nine years before moving on to work in private security.
Keith begins dating David Fisher after meeting at a church social function around 2000. Their relationship ends briefly after David refuses to come out to his family and becomes deacon at his family church. Keith then begins dating Eddie, an EMT but their relationship also ends when Keith is forced to deal with his niece Taylor after his sister Karla goes into drug rehabilitation. David and Keith reunite. After Keith's sister Karla is arrested for hitting a homeless man and leaving the scene of the accident, Keith is forced to care for Taylor. Keith's parents then come and ask to care for Taylor. Keith refuses and sends his angered parents home. After Keith brutally beats a man during a domestic violence call he resigns from the Los Angeles Police Department and gives Taylor to his parents. He and David then go into couples counseling to sort out their issues. Keith begins work as a bodyguard to a pop music diva, Celeste, and does not come clean about his sexuality to co-workers. This infuriates David, since it is why Keith broke up with him 3 years prior. Keith soon comes out to Celeste and his partner, Javier, who offers to have sex with him. Instead, Celeste seduces Keith and the two end up having sex. The following day Keith leaves the tour and comes clean about his one-night stand to David. After David bites a man's ear at a sushi restaurant, Keith offers to be the man's (who happens to be a prominent movie producer) bodyguard. David then decides that he wants to have children with Keith, which causes a debate between surrogacy and adoption. They end up adopting two brothers: Durrell and Anthony, whom Keith cannot stand at first. After they become adjusted, Keith begins to embrace his new family life.
Keith will eventually own his own security company, and die in 2029, at age 61 during an armored car robbery. A vision of Keith returns in 2044 to help ease David's transition into death.
[edit] Federico Diaz
Hector Federico Diaz (1974-2049), played by Freddy Rodriguez, is the extremely skilled restorative artist who later becomes a partner in the business. In 1992, Rico's father Mauricio slipped on the roof and crashed face-first into the chimney. Rico and his mother Lilia went to the Fisher funeral home for burial, and to Rico's shock, Nathaniel Fisher Sr. (who then owned and operated the home) had made his father look just as he was before the accident. Rico struck up a friendship with Nathaniel, who paid for his education and hired him as a restorative artist. They remained close until Nathaniel's death. Around this time Rico married his high school sweetheart, Vanessa (Justina Machado) and had two children. Federico graduated from Cypress College in 1997 with a degree in Mortuary Science. Rico is considered one of the best in the business, and is briefly hired away by the funeral home powerhouse, Kroehner Services International, before he realizes he has become just another over-worked employee among many. He returns to work with David and Nate, but resents his low-level status. Rico and Vanessa struggle for money, but a little old lady in the neighborhood leaves them $149,000 because they had always shown her kindness. With that money, Rico buys 25% of Fisher & Sons. His wife Vanessa later throws him out after finding out about his relationship with a stripper. He is contrite and unable to form another relationship away from his marriage, and is eventually allowed to move back in. Federico is frequently in conflict with the Fishers over the direction of the business. After the death of Nate, Federico is pondering his future with Fisher & Diaz when he hears about a mortuary in the area for sale. David and Keith purchase Rico's 25% and Federico and Vanessa go on to establish the Diaz Family Mortuary in 2005, where he serves the community for 35 years before retiring. Rico dies in 2049 at age 75 on a cruise ship apparently of a heart attack while at his wife's side. He leaves behind his sons Julio and Augusto and his three grandchildren: Emily, Celestina and Vincent.
[edit] Supporting Characters
[edit] Nathaniel Fisher
Nathaniel Samuel Fisher, Sr. (1943-2000), played by Richard Jenkins, is the patriarch of the Fisher family and owner of Fisher & Sons Funeral Home until his death on Christmas Eve, 2000. Although Ruth viewed him as a distant husband and father, many flashbacks show him trying his best to bond with his children, but also to give them their space, as well as acting as a surrogate father and friend to Rico. Even after his death, he is still a presence in most of the Fishers and frequently appears as a ghost/fantasy/hallucination to them. In many of the early episodes, family members have lengthy conversations with the senior Nathaniel, on their way to reconciling themselves with his death. His children, particularly Nate, all come to realize that never really knew their father - something they all grieve over. Both Nathaniel Sr. and Jr. appear to Ruth shortly before her death.
[edit] Vanessa Diaz
Vanessa Diaz, played by Justina Machado, is Federico's high school sweetheart, wife, and mother of his two sons Julio and Augusto. Vanessa is a registered nurse. In 2002, after several years of working at the Bay Breeze Nursing Home she is fired for negligence after not realizing that a resident's roommate shoved a hot dog down the deceased's throat. She later finds work at a hospital. In 2003 Vanessa sinks into clinical depression following the death of her mother, and begins abusing prescription medication. When her health begins to suffer she gets help, her spending habits and closeness to her sister, Angelica, alienate Rico. In late season four, Federico's infidelity causes the couple to separate and consider divorce. However, after finding it very difficult to live and raise her sons alone, she asks Federico to move back in, which he gladly accepts. Throughout the series, Rico's moods and decisions outside the home are often closely affected by Vanessa's advice and attitude. Vanessa pushes Rico into opening his own mortuary business, and they remain together for many years until his death at age 75.
[edit] Billy Chenowith
Billy Chenowith, played by Jeremy Sisto, is Brenda's younger brother, who is a bipolar artist and often has episodes of violent, psychotic behaviour. He has been prescribed psychiatric medication to control his disorder, but frequently causes problems by failing to take them as needed. Billy's episodes have proved chronic, causing critical events in the life of his family. In one example, he allegedly burnt down a section of the family home in 1986. Due to another incident, in which he carves a tattoo out of his back with a box cutter and attempts to do the same to his sister, his family has him committed. (The tattoos were of their favorite fictional characters: Nathaniel and Isabel – there was speculation that the two siblings were intimately involved during their childhood, until the episode "Static" showed they hadn't been.) Billy is also an alumnus and teacher at LAC-Arts, where Claire Fisher attends college until late 2004. Billy first meets Claire in 2001 at Brenda's, and they strike up a good friendship until Billy ends it. After being institutionalized, the only person he can talk to is Claire. After he is released he rekindles the relationship, and the two begin dating two years later, briefly living together. After some taunting by old acquaintances that he's not the guy he used to be, and finding himself lacking artistic inspiration, Billy again ceases taking his medication. Soon after, Claire realizes this and breaks it off with him for her own safety. Billy goes back on his medication and asks Claire to forgive him, but she refuses. Billy later helps his sister after Nate dies, until she asks him to leave. However, the two remain close, and Billy is present when Brenda finally passes away.
[edit] George Sibley
George Sibley, played by James Cromwell, is Ruth's second husband, a professor of geology who had 6 wives and a past unknown to his new spouse. He has two children from a previous marriage: a son, Brian, and a daughter, Maggie, who is a traveling pharmaceutical representative. Before marrying, while he was still a student, George dated a woman and she became pregnant with a son, Kyle. Before Kyle was born, however, George signed away his custodial rights, and Kyle, though he was born into great wealth, intensely hated his father and sent boxes of feces to the Fisher home. George and Kyle later reconcile with Ruth's help. George suffers a nervous breakdown and undergoes shock therapy, still recovering from the wounds of his mother's suicide when he was a child in 1953. It soon becomes too much for Ruth to take care of him, and the two separate. After adjusting, he reveals to Ruth that he is engaged for the eighth time. Ruth warns this new fianceé of George's past and sabotages the relationship. George and Ruth later reconcile at the time of Nate's death, with George briefly helping to look after Maya. They plan to move in together, but Ruth changes her mind at the last minute, preferring her independence. Meanwhile, his daughter Maggie walks out of his life after blaming him for her problems. Ruth and George remain in separate residences but stay together until her death in 2025.
[edit] Lisa Kimmel Fisher
Lisa Kimmel Fisher (1967-2003), played by Lili Taylor, is Nate's spiritual friend from Seattle who becomes pregnant by him after a one night stand. They later marry after the birth of their daughter, Maya. Their marriage laststhroughout season 3, but is a turbulent one, as Lisa worries about Nate's remaining feelings for Brenda. Lisa later goes on a trip and never returns. It soon becomes evident that she is dead, and after some episodes her body is found in the ocean. Nate later comes into conflict with Lisa's family on how she wanted to be buried; Lisa had told him that she wanted to buried in the wilderness with no chemicals or preservatives, while her family wants her cremated and buried in their family mausoleum. Nate goes on to bury Lisa as she had wanted, while giving her family the cremated remains of an unclaimed body. At the end of season 4 it is revealed that her brother-in-law, Hoyt, with whom she had an affair before marrying Nate, was with her on the beach the day she drowned. The details of Lisa's death are left ambiguous (although murder by Hoyt is certainly implied) but she remains in the show as another deceased character who appears in recurring visions, frequently to Nate or Brenda.
[edit] Margaret Chenowith
Margaret Chenowith, played by Joanna Cassidy, is Brenda and Billy's dysfunctional mother and a psychologist. In the 1960s, she met her future husband, Bernard Chenowith in therapy when she was working as an intern. The couple later married in 1967. In the 1970s, the Chenowiths had become a topic of discussion after allowing their daughter Brenda to undergo testing by the controversial Gareth Feinberg, who later wrote Charlotte: Light and Dark, for which Brenda always resented her parents. Though Margaret and Bernard have an open marriage, they separate briefly in 2002 after Bernard lies about an infidelity. The two later renew their vows and soon after Bernard dies of cancer in early 2003. Margaret moves on and begins dating her son's former lover (and art teacher), Olivier Castro-Staal.
[edit] Maggie Sibley
Maggie Sibley, played by Tina Holmes, is George's daughter. A Quaker and traveling pharmaceutical representative from Arizona, Maggie moves to Los Angeles to help take care of her ailing father. She and Nate become close friends, with Nate confiding to her his fears about his and Brenda's unborn child after blood tests show the baby may have special needs (Maggie's own child had died of leukaemia when he was only two). Nate's feelings for her, combined with his problems with Brenda, lead to him committing adultery with Maggie shortly before his fatal stroke. Maggie feels very guilty and makes a quiche for Brenda, who angrily rejects her apologies. After Nate's funeral, Maggie leaves town, but not before some harsh words with George. Ruth later calls Maggie to ask her if Nate had been happy while he was with her before he had his stroke. During the phone call, Maggie is at the doctor's office, which led some viewers to speculate as to whether she was pregnant with Nate's child. Alan Ball (the series creator and writer/director of the final episode) specifically debunks this speculation during his DVD commentary on the series finale, noting that as a pharmaceutical industry representative, Maggie is simply working when we see her in the doctor's office.
[edit] Sarah O'Connor
Sarah O'Connor played by Patricia Clarkson, is Ruth's artistic younger sister who runs an artists' colony in Topanga Canyon; Sarah feels she has little talent but surrounds herself with people who do. As a young girl Sarah left Ruth alone to deal with sick relatives. Sarah later baby-sat Ruth's sons and they got into trouble (with a fifteen year-old Nate losing his virginity to one of her older friends and David getting lost in the wild); Ruth once resented Sarah for both of these reasons and they stayed out of touch for decades. The two finally reconcile after Ruth attends a self-help seminar and Sarah returns from Spain. Ruth's strongest resentment of her sister stems from her feeling that Sarah had taken her happiness - when Ruth learned infertility had killed Sarah's plans to have children and that the love of her life had died when she was 21, their relationship thaws. Soon after, Ruth discovers that Sarah has developed a drug addiction to the pain killer, Vicodin. Weeks after going through withdrawal, Sarah goes into drug rehabilitation which puts her life into full perspective. Sarah later gives Ruth invaluable support following Nate's death, and Ruth moves into Sarah's house at Topanga Canyon.
[edit] Maya Fisher
Maya Fisher (2002-unknown), played alternately by twins Brenna Tosh and Bronwyn Tosh, is Nate and Lisa's daughter. After Nate's death, Brenda (her stepmother) is given custody of Maya. After learning of Nate's affair with George's daughter, Brenda gives temporary custody to Ruth so that she can fully deal with her grief. Maya soon moves back in with Brenda after Brenda gives birth to her younger sister, Willa. In the final scenes, she's seen celebrating her sister's first birthday, as a little girl at David and Keith's wedding (still having her favorite puppet toy, a monkey), and as a woman in her twenties at Ruth's funeral and Claire and Ted's wedding.
[edit] Nikolai
Nikolai, played by Ed O'Ross, is the Russian owner of Blossom d'Amour Flower Shop where Ruth Fisher works for a time. In addition to being Ruth's lover for almost two years, Nikolai is in serious debt which includes several encounters with a Russian mob. When they break his legs because he is unable to repay his debt, he recuperates at the Fishers' house. Ruth takes this as an opportunity to expand their relationship, but instead causes more tension when she pays off Nikolai's debt with Nathaniel's life insurance policy. Several weeks after their break-up, Ruth resigns from Blossom d'Amour so that she can spend more time with her newborn grandchild, Maya. He has a brief cameo in episode #5.9 ("Ecotone") when Ruth envisions herself shooting all of her ex-lovers with a rifle to the tune of carnival music, as in a bloodless shooting gallery.
[edit] Gabriel Dimas
Gabriel Dimas, played by Eric Balfour, is Claire's boyfriend during her senior year in high school. Claire thinks she's in love, however, when Gabe tells the entire school she slept with him and sucked his toes, an upset Claire gets her revenge by throwing a severed foot from a deceased person into his locker. The two don't speak to each other until the death of Gabe's brother, when they reconnect. Gabe's mother blames him, and his stepfather beat him up at the funeral. Soon after, Gabe overdoses on drugs and Claire tries to help him. However, he just digs himself deeper and deeper into a hole, holding up a convenience store, stealing the Fishers' embalming fluid to use for extra-potent joints, and finally pulling a gun on another driver while Claire is trying to drive him to a secluded area. After that, Claire receives closure from a fantasy scene that shows she believes Gabe has died and feels better in death than he did in life.
[edit] Bernard Chenowith
Dr. Bernard Asa Chenowith (1939-2003), played by Robert Foxworth, is Brenda and Billy's father who worked as a celebrity psychiatrist with his wife Margaret, whom he met when she was a college intern. Bernard was raised Jewish but ultimately became an atheist. In the 1970s, the Chenowiths made headlines when they allowed their daughter to undergo testing by the controversial Dr. Gareth Feinberg for her brilliant, yet uncontrollable behavior. Bernard and Margaret briefly separate in 2002 for reasons of infidelity but soon reconcile and renew their vows. He succumbs to stomach cancer in 2003.
[edit] Taylor
Taylor, played by Aysia Polk, is Keith's niece. Her mother, Karla, is a drug addict and not in a fit state to look after the young girl. Keith and David look after her for some time during season 2. She is quite often rude and unhappy due to her poor upbringing. After Keith is suspended from the police force, Taylor goes to live with Keith's parents, Roderick and Lucille Charles (played by James Pickens Jr. and Beverly Todd).
[edit] Russell Corwin
Russell Corwin, played by Ben Foster, is Claire's sexually-ambiguous classmate at art school and one-time boyfriend. Claire initially suspects that Russell is homosexual. However, Russell claims that he isn't, and starts seeing Claire. Later, Russell has sex with his teacher, Olivier Castro-Staal, and Claire subsequently breaks up with him and aborts their pregnancy. When he finds out about the abortion, Russell is hurt. He begins sleeping with Claire's friend Anita, but still carries a torch for Claire. Claire enjoys great success with an art project that Russell helps her begin, but Claire takes all the credit, and also gets a gallery showing. Russell is infuriated and gets into an ugly fight with Claire at the showing. She drops out of art school and doesn't see him again for several months. When she runs into him at another showing, he tells her he had been hit by a car, and that while most believe he's in love with fellow student/artist, Jimmy (to whom he gave a drunken blow job), he confides in Claire that he's merely jealous and wishes he could be as talented as she.
[edit] Parker McKenna
Parker McKenna played by Marina Black, is Claire's best friend during her senior year of high school. Parker is a rebellious transfer student from a private school, although she appears to be a "goody two-shoes", who attempts to start a friendship with the unlikely Claire Fisher. The friendship blossoms, however. after finding out that Parker had cheated on her SATs and had been accepted into better colleges than Claire, the friendship is broken off until Claire learns it's better to have one friend than no friends at all. After Claire enrolls in art school, Parker is caught and enrolled in community college. The two don't speak again after graduation.
[edit] Anthony and Durrell Charles-Fisher
Anthony Charles-Fisher played by C. J. Sanders, is David and Keith's adopted 8 year old son. The couple meet young Anthony at an "adoption picnic" where David feels an instant bond with the boy. After Mary, David and Keith's surrogate mother announces her pregnancy, the plans to adopt Anthony slowly fade away. However after Mary gets her period, Keith and David try to adopt Anthony, at which time they learn he also has an older brother. In the last scene of the last episode, Anthony is shown as an adult attending his aunt Claire's wedding in the company of a male companion.
Durrell Charles-Fisher played by Kendre Berry, is David and Keith's adopted 11 year old son. At first when going back to adopt younger brother Anthony, David and Keith do not realize they will be adopting his older brother also. After two weeks of Durrell testing the waters and Keith's patience, Keith believes it's time for the brothers to go. David then sticks up for the boys in front of Keith and the social worker, and the adoption becomes permanent. Slowly, Durrell becomes comfortable in his surroundings after David and Keith set some boundaries and show Durrell some support and nurturing. At age 11, Durrell expresses interest in becoming a fireman. However, in the last scenes of the last episode, he is shown spending time with his father David in the prep room, and it is later revealed in David's obituary that he has become a funeral director. He most likely inherits the operation of Fisher and Sons Funeral Home after David's retirement. Durrell becomes involved with a woman and has several children with her: Matthew, Keith Jr., and Katie.
[edit] Bettina
Bettina played by Kathy Bates, is Sarah's caretaker. Bettina's brash personality and Ruth's reserved nature compliment each other and they form a strong friendship. She prides herself on her ability to see people through drug detoxes; although she has done quite a few drugs herself, she seems to be someone who can still run her life without the drugs running her. She does have a reckless streak; she eggs Ruth on to shoplifting once, and encourages her to take a Vicodin when they are overseeing one of Sarah's detoxes. Bettina was married three times - her second husband cheated on her and her first and third husbands left her a widow. Bettina has a daughter who got caught up in a militia movement in Montana.
[edit] Olivier Castro-Staal
Olivier Castro-Staal, played by Peter Macdissi, teaches Form and Space at LAC-Arts. Claire, Russell, and Billy Chenowith were all his students. Olivier is bisexual and has flings with Russell and Billy, but ends up living with Billy and Brenda's mother, Margaret. Despite having a rocky relationship with Claire, he is the one who makes the recommendation for her photographer assistant's job in New York.
[edit] Arthur Martin
Arthur Martin, played by Rainn Wilson, is an intern at Fisher & Diaz Funeral Home from March to November 2003, though it was intended to be permanent. The eccentric Arthur was orphaned at the age of 5 and was home schooled by his great Aunt Pearl. After his aunt died of old age, Arthur went on to college to study music, but after discovering his major wasn't what he had hoped, Arthur attended mortuary school to become a funeral director. During his senior year, he receives a live-in apprenticeship from the Fishers and Federico. Things soon decline after Ruth Fisher starts thinking their budding friendship is becoming physical. When she realizes he is not able to relate to her in a sexual, more mature relationship, she stops the relationship and acts coldly to Arthur during his attempts at conversation. When Ruth's daughter-in-law Lisa goes missing, she is comforted by George Sibley, who had been attending one of Fisher and Diaz's funerals. The two become close and marry after only a few months, to Arthur's discomfort. When George moves in, Arthur has a confrontational relationship with him. Later, George's estranged son starts sending boxed feces to them, and Ruth assumes it is a jealous Arthur. When she confronts Arthur, he becomes offended and leaves. After Ruth talks about pressing charges against Arthur, George tells her that it is his son who has been sending the feces. Arthur has a brief cameo in episode #5.9 ("Ecotone"), when Ruth imagines herself shooting all of her ex-boyfriends (and eventually her dead husband Nathaniel) with a shotgun to the tune of circus music.
[edit] Anita Miller
Anita Miller played by Sprague Grayden, is Claire's former best friend and roommate. The two met at art school and have developed a Laverne and Shirley-like relationship. The relationship is broken off when Claire is abandoned by her friends soon after she leaves art school for good. They briefly meet again towards the end of the series, and Anita makes it clear that she was hurt by Claire's lack of contact.
[edit] Edie
Edie played by Mena Suvari, is a free-spirited lesbian artist who becomes a friend and (briefly) a lover of Claire. Their relationship ends when Edie gets fed up with Claire's sexual ambivalence.
[edit] Hiram Gunderson
Hiram Gunderson, played by Ed Begley, Jr., is a fling of Ruth's. A divorcee and an environmentalist (he drove an Hybrid Toyota Prius car, while Begley drives an electric vehicle in real life), Hiram was once a major chef (he received a rave review from the Chicago Tribune) who gave up cooking to become a hairdresser. One of his clients, Ruth Fisher, was unhappily married, and during frequent camping trips, Hiram taught her how to enjoy sex. After Ruth's husband dies, she initially pushes Hiram away, but then dates him for several months. Their relationship ends when he tells her he has feelings for another woman; to his surprise, she happily sends him on his way. Months later, she calls him to make amends (she is on The Plan at this time) but he mistakenly assumes she wants to reunite, leading to a fight. Several years pass before they meet up again for another camping trip. While on the trip, Ruth realizes she is no longer attracted to Hiram and hitchhikes back home.
[edit] Ted Fairwell
Ted Fairwell, played by Chris Messina, is an attorney at Braeden Chemical Legal Department who becomes Claire Fisher's love interest after she begins working as a temp secretary. Prior to meeting Claire, Ted had a (one-night stand and some "discreet" making out in the men's room of a local bar) relationship with Kirsten, one of Claire's other co-workers at the Legal Department. Ted insists that it is over, making Claire feel at ease when she secretly makes out with him. On their first date, Ted reveals himself to be a conservative Republican which upsets Claire at the moment when the mood changes to somber after receiving the news of Nate's stroke. Rather than going home, Ted drives Claire to the hospital and stays with her through the night as her emotional support, causing Claire to see that Ted is a positive force in her life. Ted and Claire part ways when Claire moves to New York in the final episode, although when Claire returns to Los Angeles for her mother's funeral in 2025, she and Ted will reunite and marry, and stay together for the rest of Ted's life.
[edit] Carol Ward
Carol Ward, played by Catherine O'Hara, is Lisa Kimmel's boss during seasons 2 and 3, a neurotic, self-involved motion picture producer with an unstable demeanor. Her demands on Lisa prove incompatible with Lisa's newfound roles as a wife and mother, leading to a confrontation in which Lisa quits. Carol later appears in Episode 52, in a video flashback to 2002 revolving around Nate and Lisa's wedding where she expresses her views on relationships and marriage.
[edit] Joe
Joe, played by Justin Theroux, is Brenda's boyfriend for the first half of season 4. They become neighbors when Brenda returns to L.A. and quickly beoame friends. Although Brenda is hesitant to start a new relationship, and insists on a period of celibacy, they soon become serious. The couple buys a house together and even try for a baby. However, Brenda soon becomes tired of Joe's kinky sex desires and begins sleeping with Nate again. Their relationship ends when Joe walked in on Nate and Brenda together.
[edit] Kroehner's
Kroehner Service International is a mortuary conglomerate that tries to get Fisher & Sons out of business in the first two seasons. In the first season, a smarmy company representative named Matthew Gilardi tries buying the Fishers out. When he fails, his boss Mitzi Dalton-Huntley, fires him and tries buying the Fishers out, but she also fails. Ultimately, Kroehner Service International files for bankruptcy at the end of the second season, though their bankruptcy was most likely not connected to the Fishers.
[edit] Willa Chenowith
Willa Fisher Chenowith (2005-unknown) is Brenda and Nate's younger daughter, born prematurely, six weeks after Nate's death. Willa's birth is unexpected, since Brenda was due to deliver 2 months later. Several weeks after her birth, Willa is healthy enough to go home, a cause for celebration between the two families. Brenda worries about her daughter's health for some time after, but Willa is completely fine. In the final scenes, she's seen celebrating her first birthday, as a little girl at David and Keith's wedding, and as a woman in her twenties at Claire and Ted's wedding.
| Six Feet Under |
|---|
| Episodes | Crew | Characters | Deaths |
| Characters |
| Nate | David | Ruth | Claire | Brenda | Keith | Rico |
