List of Shameless characters
The following is a list of fictional characters from the American comedy-drama Shameless, created by Paul Abbott, which began broadcasting on Showtime in 2011. It is based on the UK series of the same name, and many of the characters are named after their UK counterparts.
Set in Chicago's famous South Side neighborhood, Shameless tells the story of alcoholic father Frank Gallagher and his seven motherless children who strive to take care of each other and create better lives despite Frank's incessant catastrophic influence. The creator Paul Abbott grew up in a family in the U.K. much like "Shameless."
Main cast
Frank Gallagher
Frank Gallagher (William H. Macy) is the father of six children. He is a deadbeat alcoholic, drug addict, and morally deficient freeloader who relies on his children to barely get by. He swindles the state welfare system at every opportunity and he starts affairs with anyone he can, leading him to have even more children. His opportunistic deceit appears to have been impressed on his kids. He begins a relationship with Sheila Jackson when he discovers that she gets maximum disability benefits for her agoraphobia. He is the biological father of Sammi, Fiona, Lip, Debbie, Carl, and Liam—but not Ian, just their half-brother, and in season 4, reveals his eldest daughter is Sammi, and is referred to by his first name by the offspring. He often self-righteously pontificates about political and social issues, yet spends most of his time developing schemes to cheat the system and take advantage of others in order to make money. He pays little attention to his children but can display care and concern for them in drastic circumstances. In season 4, his liver fails, from his chronic alcoholism. He tracks down his daughter Sammi, and although she is not a match for his liver, Sammi along with Sheila go out of their way to arrange Frank's liver surgery. They find an unlicensed Bangladeshi surgeon willing to do the operation, from a Bangladeshi donor, who initially asks for $30,000 but when the two admit they can only pay just $26,000, the surgeon reluctantly agrees. Sammi then sells all of Sheila's furniture to cover the costs, and while the family is absent during the operation in an abandoned warehouse, in the hospital they learn that the Bangladeshis just took off with Frank's kidney and the money but nevertheless, Frank is supplied a replacement liver which allows Frank to continue drinking regardless. In s5, a home beer still ends catastrophically and has Sheila leave for good and an in e9, starts a "bucket list"-esque spree with Bianca, his hospital examiner for his gunshot wound from Sammi.
Fiona Pfender
Fiona Pfender (née Gallagher) (Emmy Rossum) is the second eldest of the Gallagher children (23). Because of her mother's absence and Frank's neglect, most of the responsibility for child-rearing falls on her shoulders; this forced her to drop out of high school in her junior year. She works a few dead-end minimum-wage jobs to support her five siblings. Though often stressed and exhausted by her responsibilities, she never fails to perform them. Prone to selflessness, she sometimes needs to be reminded to look out for her own happiness as well. At the close of Season 2, she gets her GED and begins to take interest in more serious jobs. In Season 3, after Frank calls social services on them out of sheer spite, she wins a court case (and the admiration of the judge) to be her siblings' legal guardian, which strains her relationship with Jimmy, who is presumed (but unconfirmed) to be dead at the end of Season 3 (at the hands of Estefania's father after she's taken by the INS). Fiona finally gets a decent job towards the end of Season 3 with a cup company. When Lip goes off to college, Frank out of the house (seemingly) for good, and Ian (unbeknownst to the others) having enlisted in the Army, Fiona is somewhat isolated and more exasperated. In season 4, Fiona is arrested when Liam ingests cocaine at a house party and is hospitalized. Mike posts her bail and she is put under house arrest with a curfew, but when Fiona breaks her probation while partying with Robbie, she starts serving time. She is then released shortly after due to overcrowding and gets a job at a diner, out of pity by her parole officer. In s5e4, Fiona marries Gus Pfender, the bassist of an indie rock band almost immediately after meeting him. But reuniting with Jimmy, bonding with Sean strains the infantile marriage.
Jimmy Lishman
Jimmy Lishman (Justin Chatwin; main cast seasons 1-3, cameo season 4), also known as Steve Wilton and Jack, is a young man who relentlessly pursues Fiona, going to great lengths to win her over. He owns expensive things and throws money around liberally, which Fiona finds off-putting until she discovers that he steals cars for a living. It is later discovered that his real name is Jimmy and he comes from a wealthy family. In Season 2, he marries Estefania, the daughter of a Brazilian mafia mob leader, though he is not interested in her. Fiona and Jimmy resume their relationship at the end of Season 2. Nando, Estefania's father, wants her to become a citizen and stay in the US, and he threatens to kill Jimmy if he does not act as her devoted husband for the Immigration office. Jimmy spends Season 3 living a dual life split between Fiona and Estefania with Beto, one of Nando's cronies, keeping a close eye on him. In the end, Estefania cannot convince Immigration that the marriage is not a scam, and Nando takes Jimmy on a boat, presumably to murder him. In the post-credits scene of the Season 4 finale, he was revealed to be alive, called 'Jack', sitting in a car in front of the Gallagher residence with Angela, later revealed to be his "partner-in-crime"; only there shortly before driving away. In s5e6, he remeets Fiona at her diner job, before explaining that he was kidnapped, shipped to Brazil chained in a boiler room and enslaved in a coca harvesting camp, guarded by "ladies with mustaches and AKs" and that he had escaped, Fiona was punching and kicking him outside her diner job and is still unsympathetic to Jimmy after hearing his story. When Jimmy meets Gus, who punches him in the face at Patsy's Diner, Fiona has a personal moment with Jimmy, telling him "he needs to let her go", Jimmy responds by wishing her good luck, walking away and riding away by himself on a motorcycle.
Lip Gallagher
Phillip "Lip" Gallagher (Jeremy Allen White), born March 29, 1994, is the second Gallagher child (18) and the most academically minded. He was a straight-A student throughout high school, and used his intelligence in various money-making schemes, such as running an ice cream truck that also sold beer and marijuana, or taking the SATs for fellow students (often scoring a 2400, a perfect score) for a fee. Despite his above-average intelligence, his personal life behavior is the opposite; he smokes cigarettes and marijuana, drinks alcohol, pursues casual sexual encounters with any girl, and even steals vehicles. He has a strong bond with Ian and is the first Ian comes out to as gay. While tutoring Karen Jackson in math, Lip develops a sexual relationship with her, and soon falls in love with her. But their relationship is not an easy one. Karen eventually decides to marry Jody, and gives birth to a baby that is neither Lip's nor Jody's. Lip then starts a new relationship with Mandy Milkovich. When Mandy discovers Lip doesn't plan on going to college, she considers that he is wasting his potential and his chances to a brighter future. She secretly applies to colleges on his behalf and gets him accepted into MIT. They break up after Lip discovers that Mandy hit Karen with her car, resulting in brain damage. In season 4, Lip begins courses at Chicago Polytechnic. He quickly starts struggling to juggle his studies, his job at the cafeteria, and his family life (he still frequently goes back to the Gallagher house and brings food and supplies stolen from his place of work). Thanks to Amanda who helps him adapt to academic life, initially for her own benefit, his grades go back up and he is allowed to keep his scholarship. In season 5, he begins working in construction for Tommy. When invited to Amanda's summer home, he and Amanda's father cold and distant towards each other (Her father even asks for the money back). However after showing Lip some of his inventions and ideas, he takes Lip under his wing and offers him an internship. Lip's sudden change in demeanor and behavior become apparent when Mickey calls him out and says that he's not the same person anymore. He tries to disprove this when Mickey offers to help him vandalize a coffee shop called "the Zen Bean". Lip has no idea how they're going to wreck the place when Mickey and brothers hand out machine guns and give Lip an AK-47 and Mickey himself an M16. Mickey notices Lip was trigger shy and calls him "college bitch" noting Lip's not a "true southsider". Mickey and his brothers lock out Lip from their getaway ride and leave Lip to run away from the police at his heel and hide in a dumpster. Lip has tuition issues at college because no one gave him his grant envelope and makes rash decisions such as maxing out a dozen credit cards, opening a mailbox at a post office, doing "milkman style" runs of selling weed with Kevin at multiple frats, doing pity plees with the financial aid counselor and dumping his family issues on the counselor despite the counselor's generosity. Nevertheless, things turn up for Lip, beginning an affair with married Professor Helene Runyon and the counselor contacts an alumni philanthropist, who made his fortune from BareMaids, grants Lip's tuition. At the end of s5, Amanda punches him in the face in the college library by setting her up at some unknown time, and is humiliated by applauding bystanders.
Ian Gallagher
Ian Clayton Gallagher (Cameron Monaghan) is the third of the Gallagher siblings (17), and according to Frank the one who resembles the most their mother Monica. It is revealed in season 1 that Ian is not Frank's biological child, and Monica seems unable or reluctant to remember his father's identity. After this revelation, Ian remains an integral part of the Gallagher household. He participates in Army JROTC at school, and during season 1 works at the Kash and Grab grocery store. When the show starts, the only other person aware of his homosexuality is his employer Kash, with whom he entertains an affair. He then comes out as gay to his brother Lip, and eventually the rest of his family. He then develops a complicated relationship with his neighbor Mickey Milkovich. At the end of season 3, Ian, still underage, enlists in the Army under his brother Lip's identity. In season 4, it is revealed that he has deserted training camp, stolen an army helicopter, and is being pursued by Army MPs. When season 4 starts, he works as a dancer and rent boy at gay club The White Swallow, and is squatting in an abandoned house. Lip and Debbie track him down and try to persuade him to come back home. Eventually, Mickey carries him, unconscious, back to the Gallaghers'. His behavior becomes more erratic throughout the season, which is eventually suggested to be a symptom of Bipolar disorder, a mental illness his mother Monica has been diagnosed with. Ian is committed to psych ward evalutation and is discharged with medication, which he flushes all down. Ian's siblings go out of their way to refill the meds only in vain. Ian is arrested in e10, but is released soon afterwards into the care of Monica. Monica brought him to the south to where she was living, upon arrival Ian meets Walter, Monica's Boyfriend which is about the same age as him and lives in a Trailer which was Walter's "Grandma's old place". After finding Meth in Monica's purse, Ian was frustrated and went outside of the trailer, Monica came out after him and was questioned by him. They started arguing and he left the next morning. He called Mickey in the morning. Mickey ran over to the Gallaghers' to see Ian sitting on the porch and they argued. Ian eventually broke up with Mickey at the end of the season.
Debbie Gallagher
Debbie Gallagher (Emma Kenney) is one of the middle Gallagher children (14). She is reserved, intent on positive impressing and willing to cover for others albeit influenced by the deleterious family culture, in contrast to her brash and reckless brothers. She brings baby brother Liam to school for show-and-tell when there's no one else to watch him, puts a pillow under her father's head when he's passed out on the floor, and collects money for charity year-round—only some of which she keeps for herself. She is capable of forgiveness for her father's neglect and irresponsibility as well as her mother's absence. She is very mature in some ways and therefore has trouble making friends with people her age. Debbie is also physically unimpressive, a source of frustration and anxiety from other girls at the city pool. In Season 3, she enters into her teen years, becoming more rebellious, disrespectful, and secretive like her siblings. In Season 4, having two friends, Holly and Ellie who glamorize sexual promiscuity, she meets Matty (James Allen McCune), a 20 year old at an arcade who she attempts to seduce but rejects her, although upset, she remains just friends with him, and discovers Matty's apparent girlfriend, Seema, attempts to scare her away, such as making ominous calls to her while at work and leaving a shoplifted snake in her car. Seema eventually confronts her, threatening her with a baseball bat, "If you want a war, you got it". When Seema hires a boy in Debbie's class to humiliate her in front of the whole school, Matty claims that he's broken up with Seema and that he will still be with her. In Season 5, Debbie has a falling out with Holly and Ellie, although unexplained why, and trying to compete with Carl in a contest to lose one's virginity first, tries to flirt with a boy at a public pool with special needs children and mistaken for one of them, Debbie befriends Svetlana to gain sexual proficieny only to get shorter hair and makeup to Kev and Fiona's disapproval and believing Carl's comment of trying to be a hooker as being positive. After getting liquor from Frank, Debbie invites Matty and some other kids to a party. Matty drinks some of Frank's beer and instantly becomes intoxicated. Debbie takes him to her room and date rapes him. Matty tells Debbie to meet him in the park and she confirms it. Although Debbie cares about Matty, he is more concerned with being charged with statutory rape and cuts Debbie out of his life. Running into Holly with three other girls on a main street, starts a fight over being called a rapist and mysterious Derek comes to her aid. Debbie starts an affair with Derek and finds out she's pregnant at the end of the season.
Carl Francis Gallagher
Carl Francis Gallagher (Ethan Cutkosky) is the second-youngest Gallagher child (14). He shares a room with older brothers Lip and Ian, who try to keep their more adult interests from him. Carl is often in trouble at school for attacking other students. In his early years, he displays several psychopathic tendencies such as mutilating his toys and killing stray animals, although this behavior seems to be less prevalent as he ages, and he begins to show concern for Frank. His bond with Frank is strengthened after Frank convinces him he has cancer (for one of his schemes—later "cured"), and Carl helps him stay in the van after being kicked out. Later, Frank somewhat inexplicably takes the blame for a heist he and Carl have committed. In season 4, when Frank's liver fails, Carl takes it on himself to find him an organ donor, and commits many crimes with Bonnie, doing a store robbery and stealing a car to do a ram and grab, starting a pseudo-sexual relationship with her. In season 5, Carl is walking with crutches (Which according to Debbie happened because of a skateboarding accident.). Not long after stealing a mobility scooter, Holly Herkimer takes sexual interest on Carl and starts making out with him (Likely to intimidate Debbie). In s5e9, Carl deliberately gets himself sentenced to a maximum sentence at Juvie to "get his education and street cred".
Liam Gallagher
Liam Gallagher (Brennan Kane Johnson & Blake Alexander Johnson) is the youngest of the Gallagher children (2). He is black despite having two white parents, due to a recessive black gene the Gallaghers acquired from Frank's grandmother, who (allegedly) had an affair with a jazz musician. Although stunted in verbal and emotional responses, the whole family is sentimental to Liam. In season 4, Liam ingests cocaine that Fiona acquired from Robbie Pratt (offered as a peace-offering from him on her birthday), and is hospitalized. This leads to her being arrested for child endangerment. Despite being okay, Liam is reported to have brain damage. This causes Carl's peers to make fun of him and Liam until Carl headbutts for them doing so. In season 5, he does virtually nothing to help the family in its arduous trials.
Veronica Fisher
Veronica "Vee" Fisher (Shanola Hampton) is the Gallaghers' neighbor and Fiona's best friend and confidante; she often gives Fiona advice concerning relationships, caring for her siblings, and caring for herself. Always willing and able to lend a hand, Veronica had pursued a medical career until she was fired from the hospital for stealing medical supplies. She currently works as a webcam girl. Thought to be unable to conceive with Kevin, she has him impregnate her mother Carol, but when Veronica later finds out that she's pregnant with triplets, and Kevin reveals that the bar is losing money, Carol refuses her request to abort her own baby. During a check-up, the doctor reveals to Veronica that one of the triplets has been absorbed by the other remaining babies. Not long after this, Veronica goes into labor and gives birth to two daughters. In season 5, Veronica gets annoyed at Kevin for focusing more on the babies than herself, not having any sex and imposes a de facto separation. Veronica tracks down "Eddie Murphy from high school" for a date, but walks away immediately after meeting him.
Kev Ball
Kevin "Kev" Ball (Steve Howey) is the bartender and owner of the Alibi Room (the one bar from which Frank has not been banned) and the Gallaghers' neighbor and friend. Though frequently exasperated by Frank's lifestyle, he gives Frank drinks on credit and cashes his disability checks for him. He and Veronica have a successful relationship, though he is technically married to another woman who previously left him. He is dyslexic and grew up in foster care, living with several families. When Kev and Veronica take in a foster daughter, Kev takes it upon himself to make her feel as comfortable as possible. This does not stop her from eventually running away, which prevents Kev and Veronica from ever being allowed to get a foster child again. In season 4, The Alibi Room's owner Stan passes away leaving Kevin as the owner in his will (episode 2). It is revealed that Stan's daughter is actually an effeminately homosexual man, hated by homophobic Stan and that Stan thought of Kev as his son. To keep his bar from going bankrupt, Kev becomes business partners with Mickey. The Alibi Room is robbed due to Kev not having and not even knowing how to fire a gun. Getting one from Mickey but using it to rob Mickey to get his money back compulsively taken by Mickey in order to "go to Walmart to buy diapers and rash cream". After accidentally firing off a shotgun, Veronica orders Kevin to get rid of the guns. Kev is later seen sucking up to Mickey at his son's christening/dad's welcome home party. In Season 5, Kev spends more time with his kids and goes onto "Mommy and Me" chatrooms to learn how to be a better parent. He watches Svetlana breastfeeding and asks for her help in nursing. He even shaves off all of his hair after his babies keep pulling on it. Veronica comes home and is appalled by Kevin's methods. Kevin tries to calm Veronica down but to no avail. Kevin sleeps in a dorm room doing weed runs with Lip, doing a "RapeWalker" service, which he later quits, and enjoyed regular one night stands with coeds, although he claims that they didn't mean anything to Veronica. He attempts to reconcile with Veronica but is taken to clinic for std testing, admitting that he slept with 23, 5 or 6 more or less, coeds. It is not revealed if Kev has any stds. Veronica tries to cater to Kev's "coed fantasy" only to be annoyed that Kev likes her as just her.
Sheila Jackson
Sheila Jackson (Joan Cusack) is an agoraphobic germaphobe, Karen's mother and Eddie's widow. Sheila developed her conditions when Karen was young and has tried to overcome them for years. Frank seduces her in order to live in her home, taking advantage of her cooking, disability checks and bedroom hospitality. Sheila is a kind and caring person, if a bit empty-headed. Sheila eventually overcomes her condition and continues to spend a great deal of her time with Frank. She later starts a relationship with Jody and they appear to have a loving, healthy relationship. However after Karen has an accident, Sheila breaks things off with Jody and encourages him to take care of Karen. In season 4, Sheila starts internet dating, meeting a Native American and meeting his five little nieces and nephews. She wants to adopt the children and is required to be married, so she marries Frank while unconscious in the hospital. Her request for adoption is denied and when she expresses her contempt to Sammi that she is unwelcome in her house and a then enraged Sammi engages her in a full-on fight in the hospital hallway. While the fight is happening, Carl sneaks away with Frank and the two share a drink at the lake together. At the end of the season, Sammi and Sheila apologize to one another with Sammi's trailer parked right next to Sheila's house. Nevertheless, in s5e3, she drives off in an RV, heading for Burning Man, when Frank destroys her house when his home beer brewing lab blows up.
Karen Jackson
Karen Jackson (Laura Slade Wiggins; regular season 1–2, recurring season 3) is Lip's tutoring student and the neighborhood bad girl. She begins a casual relationship with Lip, but due to her promiscuous nature she refuses to make any real commitment, leading to a complicated relationship between the two. Her mother, Sheila, is a doting agoraphobe and her father, Eddie, is a straitlaced bus driver and devout Christian who left their family in the pilot episode. He later tries to reconnect with Karen by having her attend his church's purity ball in exchange for receiving a car. After an honest recollection of her past sexual escapades at the purity ball, Karen feels humiliated after Eddie calls her a whore in front of everyone else at the purity ball. She then dyes her hair black, gets tattooed with "Whore" on her arm, and eventually coerces Frank into having sex with her on a webcam session shown to her father. At the end of Season 2, Karen gives birth to a baby with Down syndrome. Karen runs away from home when her mother elects to take the baby; midway through Season 3, she returns and Mandy runs her over with a car. Though Karen doesn't die from the incident, she sustains frontal-lobe brain damage resulting in a short-term memory lapse, and Jody takes Karen and her baby to Arizona to be with faith healers. While Karen and Jody don't appear in Season 5 they are at least briefly mentioned by Sheila.
Mickey Milkovich
Mickey Milkovich (Noel Fisher; recurring season 1–2, regular season 3-5) is Mandy's older brother, often aggressively antisocial and sometimes to the point of psychopathic and carries firearms illegally and has a very long prison record, like his father Terry. He and Ian begin their relationship when Ian goes to Mickey's house to settle his repeated open acts of shoplifting at the Kash and Grab. In Season 3, Terry, catches him having sex with Ian, brutally beats them, and forces Svetlana, a Russian prostitute to "fuck the gay out of Mickey". When Svetlana becomes pregnant, Terry forces Mickey to marry her, and Ian leaves to join the army, leaving Mickey heartbroken. In Season 4, Mickey takes over a prostitution racket with Russian prostitutes, he persuades Kevin to let him run it in the upper floors of The Alibi Room. Later in the season, Mickey sets out to find Ian and brings him home to his family. He subsequently does his official "coming out" at his son Yevgeny's christening party at The Alibi Room as he wished to salvage his relationship with Ian. This caused a brutal fight with Terry and his friend against him and Ian, with the arrest of all of them. Mickey and Ian were released because according to the arresting officer, he wanted to get back to his husband and Terry was out only four hours after prison, although unknown what for. At the end of season 4, Mickey notices Ian's depression and asks Debbie and Carl for help. Debbie tries to talk to Ian and quickly identifies the symptoms. Fiona realizes what's going on and suggests he be hospitalized. Upon hearing this, Mickey strongly disagrees and says he will take care of Ian himself. In s5, he somewhat breaks up with Ian when he won't take his meds and steals Yevgeny for a roadtrip. When they reunite by brawling at a baseball field, it is shortlived when Sammi calls Army MPs on Ian, having him taken away. Mickey gets revenge by "roofie"-ing Sammi, thought to have killed her, puts her body in her moving crate. In the finale, Mickey tries to discuss breaking up with Ian for good but has to run away from Sammi shooting at him.
Mandy Milkovich
Mandy Milkovich (Jane Levy; recurring season 1, and Emma Greenwell; recurring season 2 and 5, regular season 3-4) is Mickey's sister, and the bad girl of Ian's class, although she has a sweeter side. Initially offended with Ian when he rejects her advances, she becomes a good friend, offering to act as his girlfriend to keep his homosexuality secret. Mandy is promiscuous and proud of it: in Season 2 she seduces Lip and agrees to seduce Jody to help him and Karen break up. She has no idea that while she's pretending to be Ian's girlfriend, he is having sex with her brother Mickey. She was once raped by her intoxicated father (who had mistaken her for her dead mother); she got pregnant but had an abortion. Like her brothers, she has suffered heavily at the hands of her father and formed a tough, occasionally violent exterior. Mandy loves Lip and does most of the work of applying him to colleges without his knowledge, recognizing that he is the only one with a potentially bright future. They have casual sex frequently. When Karen returns, Mandy is infuriated with her blatant selfish attempts to seduce Lip back into a relationship when Karen doesn't care about him and Mandy does. Mandy eventually lures Karen out and hits her with her car, causing her massive head trauma and permanent short-term memory loss. Initially afraid that Mandy has become psychotic, Lip eventually confronts her and they have a vicious breakup. But before he departs for college, Lip thanks Mandy for everything she has done for him. In Season 4, Mandy is apparently with Kenyatta, who lives with her and punches her in the face but claims she "fell down" after he tracked down Lip at his college, chasing Lip and getting himself tased at a time when he couldn't contact Mandy. Ian tries to get Mandy somewhere safe but she refuses and Kenyatta goes after Ian but Ian threatens Kenyatta with a knife, holding it to his throat. At the end of season 4, Mandy is serving Lip as a waitress at the Waffle Cottage. Lip notices Mandy and suspects something's wrong but Mandy tries to avoid Lip and is reluctant to talk to him. In s5, Mandy is dressed wholesomely and is good natured, unexplaining her previously moody behavior, and helps Ian and Mickey lure a pastor obviously based on Westboro Baptist church for an Internet blackmail video. In e.4, Mandy leaves with Kenyatta to Indiana to "clean port-a-potties", setting Lip up by promising to meet him but having left an hour early, according to Ian.
Jody Silverman
Jody Silverman (Zach McGowan; recurring season 2, regular season 3) is a man Karen meets at Sex Addicts Anonymous and later marries. Jody is a keen tattoo artist, often looking for work and helping around the house. He becomes extremely attached to Sheila and calls her 'Mom', unaware that Karen is cheating on him with Lip. He is good-natured, if somewhat absent-minded.
Mike Pratt
Mike Pratt (Jake McDorman; recurring season 3, regular season 4) is Fiona's corporate boss and boyfriend in Season 4. Their relationship developed when Fiona started her internship at World Wide Cup, and had a brief affair during a camping trip, which Fiona declined in concern for her relationship with Steve/Jimmy. They began dating shortly after Jimmy's disappearance. He is good-natured, responsible, and desires trust and honesty, which Fiona enjoys but finds a little tedious overtime. He bails out Fiona when she's imprisoned. At the end of the season, Mike's sister furiously rants at Fiona at the company office claiming that Fiona "ruined all of us", likely implying that Fiona has been fired.
Sammi Slott
Samantha "Sammi" Slott (Emily Bergl; recurring season 4, regular season 5) is Frank's eldest daughter. Her existence is revealed when she is sought out by Frank when he needs a liver transplant corroded by his alcoholism. She lives in a trailer in a rundown neighborhood with just her son, Charles (Kellen Michael) also simply called, Chuckie. Unaware that he's her father upon meeting him, she is sexually attracted to him, but only corrected when she is not a match for Frank's organ donor, from a hospital report and Frank's careless ranting. Although intensely enraged at her unintentional supposed moral crime, she quickly accepts him back and becomes his somewhat caretaker/enabler. This illustrates Sammi's extreme contradicting morality, she will claim to be reliable and nurturing, but can be extremely violent and impulsive and according to Frank, "I've seen you put out after one drink". Frank explains that his estrangement from her stems from his youthful immaturity when he became a father, his initial desire to abort her, and his uncertainty about how he impregnated her mother. It is not revealed who Sammi's mother is nor who fathered Sammi's son, Chuck. Chuck becomes Carl's partner in crime in pranks and thefts, e.g., stealing sapling trees from a Chicago police station. At the end of the season, Sammi parks her trailer next to Sheila's house, only to get it confiscated in s5 and moves in with the Gallagher's, being their pseudo homemaker and guardian, and annoyed at Frank for not keeping his promise of buying her a new trailer, which she shoots him in the arm for (e7), which gets infected, and Frank gets revenge by getting Carl to use Chuckie as a heroin drug mule and tip off the police, and Sammi in return, points out Carl to the police, leading to Carl's chase and arrest. Sammi later beats up Carl in police custody for threatening to set Chuckie on fire but is strangely not charged. At the end of the season, she is "roofied" by Mickey and is helped by Debbie in dumping in her moving crate and makes her way back to the Gallagher house to chase Mickey, firing multiple rounds with a Glock, strange when she just had a revolver.
Charles Nevins Slott
Charles "Chuck(ie)" Nevins Slott (Kellen Michael; recurring season 4, regular season 5) Chuckie is Sammi's son who Frank uses to introduce himself to Sammi by paying a boy to punch him in the face. It was not clear why Chuckie is very mute and unresponsive albeit a randomly abrasive outburst interrogation concerning Frank's pills in e.1, until (e.9), a state IQ test in police custody revealed that Chuckie has an IQ of 71. Sammi tattoos a swastika on Chuckie's forehead before he goes to prison, and he sits with Neo Nazi skinheads on the bus. He appears to be interested in video games and will play games with anyone, oblivious to anyone's intentions.
Recurring cast
Jasmine Hollander
Jasmine Hollander (Amy Smart) is Fiona's friend, the married mother of three kids. She is more free-spirited than Fiona and is less conventional with her parental responsibilities despite the fact that the children in her care are her own, not younger siblings. She often tries to bring Fiona out of her shell by inviting her to parties and setting her up with different men. Eventually Jasmine's husband discovers her multiple infidelities and kicks her out, leaving Jasmine with no place to go.
Kash
Kash (Pej Vahdat) is the owner of the grocery store Kash and Grab, where Ian works. He has an affair with Ian despite being a married, putatively devout Muslim with children. When his wife discovers Kash's sexuality, she allows it, so long as he gives her another child. However, Kash soon grows sick of Linda's behavior and, feeling trapped in his marriage and now without Ian beside him, he leaves, thrusting the responsibility upon Ian to tell his family.
Tony Markovich
Tony Markovich (Tyler Jacob Moore) is the Gallaghers' neighbor and a local police officer who bore a liking for Fiona for some time. He initially lives with his overbearing mother, whom he's desperate to impress. The Gallaghers attempt to keep Tony sweet in order to keep out of trouble; however, as Tony gets more involved in their lives when he begins dating Fiona, he grows more cautious of Steve's illegal activity, resulting in a vendetta that lands Lip and Ian under arrest. In Season 2, Tony is redoing his house, having found a new girlfriend (whom he may or may not have purchased from the internet, as stated by Steve).
Eddie Jackson
Eddie Jackson (Joel Murray; season 1) is Karen's overbearing father and Sheila's husband. It appears he's stuck in an unhappy marriage, with a wife constantly on edge, and a rebellious daughter. He appears to be quite religious, which causes his breakdown when he learns of Karen's true sexual nature, and he eventually commits suicide (at the end of Season 1).
Ethel
Ethel (Madison Davenport) is a 13-year-old girl removed from a polygamist colony and taken in by Veronica and Kevin as a foster child after the police arrested her elderly husband Clyde for molestation charges. She has four "sister-wives" from the marriage and is later discovered to have had a child in the marriage, Jonah, whom Kevin and Veronica also take care of. Initially Ethel struggles to fit in with her new surroundings but soon warms up to Kevin and Veronica as well as the Gallaghers. Through the middle of season 2, Ethel meets a black boy named Malik who has a daughter the same age as Jonah. They run away together when Ethel finds the two bags of marijuana hidden in a hole in Kev's backyard. Malik sells the pot to some friends to finance their living together and they both leave on a bus with their infants. Kev finds out about Ethel leaving with Jonah and starts to worry, but Ethel writes a thank you note and tells them not to worry. They eventually get a rabbit to replace her and Veronica says she doesn't care. It's not until they almost lose the rabbit of the same name that V says she lied.
Linda
Linda (Marguerite Moreau) is Kash's wife, a business-minded busybody. She is a Muslim convert and proud mother but treats everything like a business, including her marriage. When she discovers her husband and Ian have been having an affair, she accepts it, but only on the basis he gives her another child and he not touch the "forbidden fruit" (Ian) until she is pregnant. She gets pregnant, but Kash leaves several months later. In a deleted scene, Linda finds out about Kash leaving and cries.
Monica Gallagher
Monica Gallagher (Chloe Webb) is Frank's ex-wife and the mother of the Gallagher brood; she has bipolar disorder. She feels terrible for abandoning her children but can never sustain her love and concern for them for very long before succumbing to drugs, selfishness, and depression. The older Gallagher children resent and distrust her, but she is sometimes able to coax Debbie or Carl into spending time with her. In season 1, Frank tricks Monica into coming back so he can get some settlement money. It turns out she is a lesbian and has been with a huge black woman named, "Bob". The two announce they're going to get married and try to take Liam. After finding out that Liam is Frank's Bob holds a grudge and swears revenge. Fiona asks Monica to leave and Monica gives Liam back. Frank is denied the settlement money when he tries to pass off a Chinese hooker as Monica. In season 2, Frank goes to Monica when he finds out his mother died. The next morning, they both show up at the house cooking breakfast. Monica says she's back to stay but Fiona believes otherwise. Fiona tries to talk to Bob and Bob says she left. Nearing the end of the second season, Monica finds the "Squirrel fund" and coerces Frank into spending it with her. Monica later slits her wrists and nearly kills herself in front of her own family. After having a long discussion with Fiona, Frank takes Debbie and helps Monica escape the clinic with her new girlfriend. (Played by Jenna Elfman.). Monica is last seen, speeding away in a car, telling Debbie she loves her. She reappears in s5e11, visiting Ian in prison, telling him to be comfortable with who he is, that she would like a dog, but can't because she has a boyfriend named Walter (Ryan Dorsey) and she and Ian are seen hitchhiking out of the city (without Walter), by chance, the samaritan truck has a St. Bernard. Monica takes Ian to Walter, who is Ian's age and lives at his "grandma's old place", unstated where, presumably somewhere south, who is a walking caricature of trailer trash, who strangely has a dog and Ian discovers that Walter makes meth, which Monica used to pay for their breakfast diner feast.
Peg Gallagher
Peg Gallagher (Louise Fletcher), also known as "Grammy", is Frank's formidable mother and the Gallagher family matriarch. She is sent home from prison on a medical furlough after lying about her health and immediately goes after a retired meth dealer who profited from her arrest and demands money from him, a plan which Frank ends up ruining. Despite her extremely hostile nature, she tries her best to reach out to the Gallagher children, giving Fiona money and showering Carl and Debbie with gifts. She dies at the end of Season 2 after revealing that she has terminal cancer.
Tommy
Tommy (Michael Patrick McGill) is a heavyset, cheery regular at The Alibi Room. He works as a construction crew manager and takes Lip on as a summer temp when all other jobs were taken. He is generally the show's comic relief and voice of optimism. Tommy nicknames Lip "college" in s5.
Kate
Kate (Kerry O'Malley) is the fiery, redheaded manager of The Alibi Room who works with Kevin, manages the accounting, etc. After Kevin becomes owner of the bar, Kate is the one to tell him that the bar is actually not making money. Kate also overhears one of Frank's worst moments, saying to him, "That is a whole new low even for you, Frank." Frank often reminds her that they've slept together in his comebacks.
Professor Hearst
Professor Hearst (Dennis Boutsikaris) is a college professor who catches Lip attempting to take someone else's exam. Since then he has tried to channel Lip's intelligence into numerous projects in return for drugs and knowledge about youth and popular culture in order to bed his female students.
Jess
Jess (Missy Doty) is the lesbian bartender at the Alibi Room. Jess is witty and has a dry sense of humor; she takes charge of the books at the Alibi Room, unaware that it's because the dyslexic Kevin can't read. The two often clash over Stan, the business owner, who is slowly losing his mental faculties. She pushes for Kevin to phone Stan's daughter and have Stan put in a home, yet Kevin is reluctant.
Little Hank
Little Hank (Nicky Korba) is Carl's socially awkward and slightly twisted friend. He tries to woo numerous girls and often leads the way on pranks and stunts that land him and Carl in trouble, such as taking advantage of his house-sitting duties. Despite all this Debbie takes a shine to him, although at the time he seems more interested in other girls. He later gives Debbie a bunch of flowers, although he is drunk at the time.
Adam
Adam (James Wolk) is a banker who tries to woo Fiona while she is working at a bar. Veronica tells Fiona that he is just a second rate version of Steve, but she takes no notice. He encourages her to try and break her track record, which she never got to do at school, and the two later begin dating. However, when Steve arrives back in town and the two double date (alongside Steve's new wife, Estefania), he notices the signs between Fiona and Steve and is left heartbroken and humiliated, and tells Fiona to stay away.
Terry Milkovich
Terry Milkovich (Dennis Cockrum) is Mandy and Mickey's father. He has escaped arrest numerous times, which causes Frank to turn to him when he needs a watertight alibi to stop the police from questioning him about the death of Eddie Jackson. A fanatical homophobe, but very oblivious to Mickey being with Ian until he catches them together and beats them both. He then hires a Russian girl to "fuck the gay" out of Mickey and then forces him to marry her after she becomes pregnant. In season 4, Mickey throws a "welcome home" party for him during his son's christening. After not wanting Ian to leave him, Mickey announces his homosexuality to everyone. This causes Terry and his brothers to get into a brutal fight with Ian and Mickey, Terry's arresting officer reveals that Terry was released from prison just 4 hours ago and this violates probation, although Mickey taunts him riding away with the Police, Terry doesn't say if he had disowned Mickey.
Kermit
Kermit (Jim Hoffmaster) is one of Frank's cohorts at the Alibi Room, and he often listens to Frank's rants and stories. He is quick to defend his name when people liken it to that of Kermit the Frog, and also has an extensive collection of firearms. His motto is, "Prepare and prevent, not repair and repent." He was also a friend to Dorothy, a.k.a. Butterface.
Carol Fisher
Carol Fisher (Vanessa Bell Calloway) is Veronica's loud and proud mother, she is the owner of a beauty salon and always speaks her mind. She becomes pregnant with Kev's baby as a surrogate, but after giving birth, Veronica decides to let Carol keep the baby.
Estefânia
Estefânia (Stephanie Fantauzzi) is Jimmy's wife and a drug lord's daughter. She was married to Jimmy yet had a flame (in "Marco"), but at the end of Season 2 he has abused her and she has taken up residence at the Gallaghers'. In Season 3, everything appears to be normal between Estefania and Marco because they are living together when Estefania's father, Nando, comes to the States and quickly puts a bullet through Marco's head.[1]
Nando
Nando (Pêpê Rapazote) is a Brazilian drug lord and Estefania's father. He tells Steve/Jimmy that he can see Fiona as much as he wants and says that he wants his daughter to become a legal citizen. He assigns Beto to watch over him and follow him wherever he goes. He tells Jimmy to get a job, stay out of trouble and stop stealing cars. Near the end of the third season, he finds out Estefania being deported and takes Jimmy on his boat. It is mostly implied that Nando was going to murder Jimmy. What happened to Nando remains ambiguous
Lloyd Lishman
Lloyd "Ned" Lishman (Harry Hamlin) is Jimmy's father, a surgeon, who has a brief sexual relationship with Ian. Mickey gets jealous when he finds out he and Ian are dating. So much so as to where he even follows them on a date once. When Dr. Lishman recognizes him, he calls him Ian's boyfriend. Upon hearing this, Mickey beats him senseless and runs off with Ian following.
Svetlana
Svetlana (Isidora Goreshter) is a Russian prostitute hired by Terry to have sex with Mickey after catching Ian and Mickey together. Although given her line of work, she claims her pregnancy is Mickey's. In season 4 she is living in the Milkovich house along with her other colleagues. When Ian returns, she confronts him while he's in the shower with a hammer threatening his life to get him to leave, believing he is a distraction to Mickey in raising their child. After her son's birth, she blackmails Mickey for money, threatening to call Terry and expose his relationship with Ian. During her first appearance Terry refers to Svetlana as "Suka". In s5, she has a surrogate pregnancy (unstated who for) and moves in with the Fisher/Ball's, performing sexual favors for both of them.
Robbie Pratt
Robbie Pratt (Nick Gehlfuss; season 4) is Mike's brother with whom Fiona starts an affair while dating Mike. He is irresponsible and lives life carelessly, even after being released from rehab, which he went to for alcoholism. He fuels his lifestyle by leeching off Mike and his parents, but justifies his manipulative actions by saying that he cannot live a "normal, boring" life with a desk job like his brother. Mike finds out about the affair at a family occasion and punches him in the face. After a rebuffed attempt to reconcile with Fiona, he leaves a bag of cocaine at her house which soon causes her arrest. When he finds out about Fiona's arrest, he shows up at her doorstep, asking her if she told anyone about the cocaine. Fiona says she couldn't because of her conscience and slams the door in his face. Due to not being able to get a job because of her crime, she goes over to Robbie's house, crying and telling him he ruined her life. Soon after, a party starts and Fiona gets unbelievably drunk, starts getting high and violates the terms of her probation. The next morning, after taking ecstasy, Fiona goes for a joy ride with a few of Robbie's friends and gets left behind at a gas station. Suffering from a hangover, Robbie tells Debbie and Ian he doesn't know where she is. Furious, Debbie tells Robbie to stay away from Fiona.
Ron Kuzner
Ron (Adam Cagley; regular season 4, cameo season 5) is the roommate of Lip when he is at college in Season 4. He is sympathetic to Lip and goes out of his way to provide for him with his basic livings and with his academics. But nevertheless, Lip steals from Ron and goes behind his back with Amanda, although Ron claims he's fine with it. He is seen briefly in s5e1, fixated on his PC game, semi-oblivious to Lip and with an unknown girl.
Amanda
Amanda (Nichole Bloom; regular season 4, regular season 5) was initially thought by Lip to be the girlfriend of Ron but she reveals that she is just a friend with benefits and that she is "saving myself" by "taking it in the backdoor". Amanda becomes attached to Lip when Fiona is imprisoned and Lip brings Liam with him to the room, and this attracts Amanda to Lip, imagining herself as Liam's mother. At the end of the Season, it is revealed that her parents are Jason and Sheryl, a white and affluent couple who offers Lip $10,000 to stay away from Amanda believing she is just rebellious and that Amanda was adopted from a "Subic Bay Whorehouse" and it is not clear what her ethnicity is. Although Lip takes the money, but this only turns Amanda even more onto Lip. Having Lip as her date in a Sorority ritual, and eating out at Waffle Cottage, Lip discovers Mandy works there, being their server by chance. Amanda splits her time between college in Chicago and her parents' house in Miami. In s5, She had invited Lip to move in with her in an off-campus apartment during their sophomore year, and he declined - leading her to invite a roommate she found on Craigslist, Muff, to move in with her. Her relationship with Lip is not exclusive, but they do have frequent casual sex despite their sexual activities with other people. Muff turns out to be a violent sociopathic lesbian who stalks Amanda, so she hides in Lip's room. Annoyed that Lip is enjoying Helene, she punches Lip in the face at the college library, a bloodied Lip is humiliated by applause from bystanders.
Bonnie
Bonnie (Morgan Lily; recurring season 4) meets Carl when he was in detention for assaulting many students, who shares with him a passion for deleterious behavior and forms a Bonnie and Clyde-esque partnership with him hence her name, who lives with her 7 siblings in a van in a grocery store parking lot. Bonnie sometimes slept with Carl to Lip's hypocritical chagrin. At the end of the season, when Carl goes to find Bonnie, he discovers the van gone with clothes and toys scattered around, with the fate of Bonnie and siblings unknown.
Sean Pierce
Sean Pierce (Dermot Mulroney; season 5) is Fiona's rehab supervisor, diner manager and short-lived summer fling in s5. Although, Fiona is somewhat affectionate for Sean, she is somewhat pushed away because Sean used to be a hardcore heroin addict and that "women like (Fiona)" is his other addiction. Sean has a son with an ex who moves to Pittsburgh which deeply upsets him.
Gus Pfender
Gus Pfender (Steve Kazee; recurring season 5) is a bass guitarist for an indie rock band that Fiona meets at her diner job in s5. Starting a passionate affair with him, on impulse, Fiona marries him immediately after getting licenses, on his own suggestion, being inspired by his parents, with his father marrying his mother immediately after meeting before shipping out to Vietnam. Gus goes on tour without Fiona, declining Fiona's offer to go with him since she had slept with Jimmy after getting married.
Derek
Derek (Lucas Oriel; recurring season 5) is an aspiring mixed martial artist who fosters Debbie's fighting passion. It is not clear why he started fighting either to defend his mother from an abusive father or he was beaten up in juvie. Derek claims he came third in a city championship.
Jackie Scabello
Jackie Scabello (Alessandra Balazs; cameo season 4, occurring season 5) is one of Fiona's co-workers at Pasty's Pies, where they are both waitresses. Jackie, similar to many of the other employees, is a recovering addict and is trying to make positive strides in her life in order to gain custody back of her daughter. After her appeal for custody is denied, Fiona and Sean find her in her apartment unconscious after a heroin overdose. She recovered shortly after, but Sean tells Fiona that he had no choice but to terminate her employment.
Bianca
Bianca (Bojana Novakovic; recurring season 5) is a hospital staff that examines Frank's gunshot in s9 who is suddenly apathetic, explaining that she has terminal pancreatic cancer and realises her whole medical career is all for nothing. She starts a freewheeling relationship with Frank, although she rejects Frank after a night out, he comes back around and although Bianca's sister turns him away, Bianca continues to be with Frank, buying him a $10,100 bottle of Macallan whiskey '39, which gets destroyed while they make love on train tracks. Frank becomes attached to her and texts Bianca's family for her intervention in getting treatment. She flees to Costa Rica with Frank and walks off into the ocean naked in a final suicide attempt.
Helene Runyon Robinson
Helene (Sasha Alexander; recurring season 5) is a professor of "Critical Theory" at Lip's college who starts an affair with Lip, with her husband Theo (Michael Reilly Burke), a doctor of Theology fully aware of Lip's relations. Although she can seem very stuck up, her morals concerning student relations is extremely relaxed.
References
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