List of The Wonder Years characters

Last updated

This is a list of characters of the television series The Wonder Years .

Contents

Main characters

Kevin Arnold

Kevin Arnold (Fred Savage) is the main character. Born on March 18, 1956, Kevin grew up in the turbulent late 1960s and early 1970s. Right after he graduated from high school in 1974, he went off to college, got married and has a son born in 1981. [1] The voice of the present-day adult Kevin (the show's voice-over narrator) is supplied by Daniel Stern.

Jack Arnold

John "Jack" Arnold (Dan Lauria) is Kevin's father; a gruff, laconic man and a Korean War veteran; he grew up during the Great Depression, served in the US Marine Corps right after he graduated from college, and is seen in photographs wearing the uniform of a First Lieutenant. He works as a product distribution manager at NORCOM, a large military defense company. Later, he starts his own business, building and selling handcrafted furniture. He was born on November 5, 1927, and the series finale reveals that he dies in 1975 near the end of Kevin's freshman year of college - two years after the time of the show's finale.

Norma Arnold

Norma Arnold (née Gustafson) (Alley Mills) is Kevin's homemaker mother who was born on March 22, 1930. Unlike her husband, Norma is friendly, upbeat, and optimistic. She met Jack as a college freshman. When he graduated, she moved across the country with him and did not finish college. She eventually gets her degree late in the series and begins work at a software startup called Micro Electronics. She worked her way up in the future as board chairwoman at the end of the series.

Karen Arnold

Karen Arnold (Olivia d'Abo) is Kevin's older, rebellious, hippie sister who was born in 1952. Her free-spirited lifestyle clashes with her overbearing father's conservatism, and she depends upon her mother as a mediator. When Karen moves in with her boyfriend Michael (David Schwimmer) during her freshman year of college, she has a falling-out with her father. The pair marry one year later and move to Alaska, where Michael has secured a good job working on the Alaska Pipeline. Karen ultimately accepts some of her parents' viewpoints and has a baby, while her husband learns to support his wife and child.

Wayne Arnold

Wayne Arnold (Jason Hervey) is Kevin's older brother who was born in 1954. Wayne enjoys physically tormenting Kevin and Paul, calling Kevin "butthead" or "scrote". Wayne is usually portrayed as a loser in romantic relationships. For a time he dated a girl named Dolores, which was more casual than serious. In later seasons, Wayne matures. In the final season, he begins a serious relationship with a divorcee named Bonnie but is left heartbroken when she reconciles with her ex-husband. In the series finale, it is revealed that he takes over the family furniture business after Jack dies in 1975.

Paul Pfeiffer

Paul Joshua Pfeiffer (Josh Saviano): is Kevin's long time best friend, a bright and excellent student and allergy sufferer. He is also Jewish and in one episode celebrates his Bar Mitzvah. Although Kevin and Paul are best friends in the series's early seasons, their relationship becomes somewhat strained later. Kevin begins to spend more time with Chuck and Jeff, causing tension with Paul. Paul also attends a private prep school for one season, leaving Kevin alone to start public high school. In another episode Kevin tattles on Paul after Paul loses his virginity. In the final episode it is revealed that Paul eventually attends Harvard and studied law and become a lawyer. He was born on March 14, 1956.

Winnie Cooper

Gwendolyn "Winnie" Cooper (Danica McKellar) is Kevin's main love interest and neighbor for the first three seasons (she and her family move across town at the end of Season 3). Their first kiss, and her older brother's death in Vietnam, play an important part in the pilot. In another episode, Winnie's parents separate in grief over the death of their son. In the epilogue of the final episode, it is revealed that Winnie travels overseas to study art history in Paris. Kevin and Winnie write to each other every week for these eight years until she returns; in the concluding moments of the finale, Kevin says that when Winnie returned to the States, Kevin met her accompanied by his wife and first child—despite the hope among Wonder Years fans that Kevin and Winnie would themselves marry, as they seemed destined to do so throughout the series's run. "Like I said," says Kevin at the end, "things never turn out exactly the way you plan them." As suggested in an episode entitled "The Accident" and in the final episode of the series, every important event in Kevin's life has somehow involved Winnie. She was born in either September or October.

Recurring characters

Introduced in Season 1

Introduced in Season 2

Introduced in Season 3

Introduced in Season 4

Introduced in Season 5

Introduced in Season 6

Related Research Articles

<i>The Wonder Years</i> American comedy-drama television series (1988–1993)

The Wonder Years is an American coming-of-age comedy television series created by Neal Marlens and Carol Black. It ran on ABC from January 31, 1988, until May 12, 1993. The series premiered immediately after ABC's coverage of Super Bowl XXII. The series stars Fred Savage as Kevin Arnold, a teenager growing up in a suburban middle class family in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It co-stars Dan Lauria as his father Jack, Alley Mills as his mother Norma, Jason Hervey as his brother Wayne, Olivia d'Abo as his sister Karen, Josh Saviano as his best friend Paul Pfeiffer, and Danica McKellar as his girlfriend Winnie Cooper, with narration by Daniel Stern as an adult version of Kevin.

<i>Unhappily Ever After</i> American television sitcom (1995–1999)

Unhappily Ever After is an American television sitcom that aired for 100 episodes on The WB from January 11, 1995, to May 23, 1999, for a total of five seasons. The series was produced by Touchstone Television.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack McFarland</span> Fictional character from Will and Grace

John Philip "Jack" McFarland is a fictional character on the American television sitcom Will & Grace, played by Sean Hayes.

Steve McDonald (<i>Coronation Street</i>) Fictional character from Coronation Street

Steve McDonald is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, played by Simon Gregson. The character first appeared on-screen during the episode airing on 6 December 1989. He arrived as part of the McDonald family introduced by producer Mervyn Watson along with his twin brother Andy and parents Liz and Jim McDonald. For the first year on the Street, the character was credited by the actor's real surname Gregory, before changing to Gregson from early 1991 onwards. Steve is Coronation Street's most married character, having been married seven times to five women Vicky Arden, Karen Phillips (twice), Becky Granger, Michelle Connor, and Tracy Barlow (twice). In September 2015, Gregson announced a break for personal reasons and Steve was off-screen from November 2015 to 22 April 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chuck Bass</span> Fictional character

Charles Bartholomew Joseph Bass is a fictional character in the novel and television series Gossip Girl. In the TV series, he is portrayed by British actor Ed Westwick. Although he is a secondary antagonist in the original book series, the TV series elevates him to an antiheroic main character, and the male lead of the show, where he is noted for his financial ambition, hedonism and personal style.

<i>The Killian Curse</i> 2006 New Zealand TV series or program

The Killian Curse is a New Zealand kidult horror-fantasy television show, directed by Thomas Robins and Wayne Vinton. Starring Nick Blake and local New Zealand children, The Killian Curse tells the 21 stories of the students from Room 21, who must each face an evil curse placed on them by the sinister Charles Killian. Killian wants to get revenge on the people who caused his death shortly after founding the school in 1906. He needs to capture eleven souls to rise from the dead. There are two series which first aired in 2006 and 2008.

<i>Olive Kitteridge</i> 2008 novel by Elizabeth Strout

Olive Kitteridge is a 2008 novel or short story cycle by American author Elizabeth Strout. Set in Maine in the fictional coastal town of Crosby, it comprises 13 stories that are interrelated but narratively discontinuous and non-chronological. Olive Kitteridge is a main character in some stories and has a lesser or cameo role in others. Six of the stories had been published in periodicals between 1992 and 2007.

<i>The League</i> American television sitcom (2009–2015)

The League is an American television sitcom that aired on FX and later FXX from October 29, 2009, to December 9, 2015, for a total of seven seasons. The series, set in Chicago, is a semi-improvised comedy show about a fantasy football league, its members, and their everyday lives.

"Good-bye" is the twentieth episode of the third season of The Wonder Years and the forty-third episode overall. "Good-bye" aired on April 24, 1990 on the ABC network. The episode revolves around the relationship between Kevin Arnold and his math teacher, Mr. Collins, who pushes him to succeed in math. Kevin becomes antagonistic towards Mr. Collins, only to become regretful when tragedy befalls the teacher.

<i>Free Rein</i> British television series

Free Rein is a British drama television series created and written by Vicki Lutas and Anna McCleery. It stars Jaylen Barron, Navia Robinson and Freddy Carter. Produced in the UK by Lime Pictures, the ten-part Series 1 premiered on Netflix on 23 June 2017. Although the island where the series is set is fictional and unnamed, it is based on Anglesey, Wales and is referred to as "an island off the coast of England" throughout the programme. The second series premiered on 6 July 2018. Shortly afterwards, Free Rein was renewed for a third series, as well as two feature-length special episodes. Free Rein: The 12 Neighs of Christmas, premiered on 7 December 2018. The second special, Free Rein: Valentine’s Day, premiered on 1 February 2019. The third series, consisting of 10 episodes, premiered on 6 July 2019. In January 2021, cast member Céline Buckens confirmed that the series had concluded.

References

  1. Lee, Felicia R. (January 19, 2006). "A Sitcom 70's Child Grows Up to Be an Alter Ego". New York Times. Retrieved August 11, 2010.