Northern Exposure - Cast and Characters

Cast and Characters

• Rob Morrow starred for most of the series as Joel Fleischman, leaving halfway through the final season. Joel is a Jewish physician and the proverbial fish out of water from New York City; fresh out of family medicine residency, he arrives in the remote Alaskan town of Cicely, contractually bound to practice for four years to repay a student loan from the state of Alaska.
• Barry Corbin as Maurice Minnifield, a successful businessman and celebrated former astronaut. Maurice owns the local newspaper and radio station, KBHR 570 AM, and 15,000 acres (61 km2) of land he hopes to develop. Determined to make tiny Cicely the "Alaskan Riviera", Maurice arranges to bring Joel to the town.
• Janine Turner as Maggie O'Connell, a tomboyish Grosse Pointe debutante turned Alaska bush pilot who develops a love-hate relationship with Joel. The sexual tension between the two and their opposed views on most subjects are sources of frequent conflict. The character of Maggie O'Connell was inspired by the real-life aviatrix Kitty Banner who founded K2 Aviation in Talkeetna, Alaska.
• John Cullum as Holling Vincoeur, the Canadian born sexagenarian owner of the Brick, a bar and restaurant. He and Maurice are best friends, though their relationship was strained at one time by their mutual romantic interest in the much younger Shelly Tambo.
• Cynthia Geary as Shelly Tambo, a waitress at the Brick, where she lives with Holling. She was brought to Cicely by Maurice, who had hoped to marry her. The character was to be of Native American descent until Geary auditioned for the role.
• John Corbett as Chris Stevens, a philosophical ex-convict who works as the disc jockey at KBHR 570 AM. Between songs, Chris offers comments on events in Cicely and more intellectual subjects and occasionally functions as a non-denominational pastor at weddings.
• Darren E. Burrows as Ed Chigliak, a mild-mannered, half-native Alaskan foundling raised by local Tlingits. Ed does odd jobs for Maurice and works part-time at the local general store. He is a film buff and would-be movie director.
• Peg Phillips as Ruth-Anne Miller, the level-headed owner of the general store and 30-year resident of Cicely. A widow, Ruth-Anne lives alone until late in the series, when she becomes involved with Walt Kupfer, ( portrayed by Moultrie Patten ), a fur trapper and retired stockbroker.
• Elaine Miles as Marilyn Whirlwind, Joel's undemonstrative native-Alaskan receptionist. Her few words and calm demeanor are a strong contrast with her employer's talkativeness and high-strung temperament.

In the show's last season, two new characters were introduced in an attempt to fill the void left by Morrow's departure:

• Paul Provenza as Phil Capra, recruited as town physician after Joel takes to the wilderness.
• Teri Polo as Michelle Schowdowski Capra, Phil's wife. She also works as a reporter for a newspaper owned by Maurice.

Major recurring characters include Apesanahkwat as Lester Haines (a native millionaire), Anthony Edwards as Mike Monroe (allergy sufferer and ecological watchdog), Richard Cummings Jr. as Bernard Stevens (Chris's half-brother and "spiritual doppelgänger"), James L. Dunn as Hayden Keyes (ex-con on the fence), William J. White as Dave the Cook (an employee fixture at The Brick), Graham Greene as Leonard (the official local shaman), Diane Delano as Officer Barbara Semanski (and Maurice's love interest), Adam Arkin as foodie and master chef Adam, and Valerie Mahaffey as his chronically hypochondriacal wife Eve; Mahaffey was the only actor from the series to win an Emmy Award.