House M.D. Characters

The senior doctors

  • Dr. Gregory House (Hugh Laurie) – Department Head: Department of Diagnostic Medicine. The show’s protagonist, Dr. Gregory House is a maverick diagnostician with a double specialty in infectious disease and nephrology. Dr. House is seemingly lacking in bedside manner and prefers to avoid direct contact with his patients whenever possible. Due to an infarction in his right thigh, House lost a substantial portion of the muscle in his upper leg and must use a cane to assist with walking. As a result, House is also forced to deal with constant physical pain, which he manages through a dependency on the prescription pain medication Vicodin. Although his behavior can border on antisocial or misanthropic, House is viewed as a maverick physician whose unconventional thinking and excellent instincts have afforded him a great deal of respect and an unusual level of tolerance from his colleagues and the medical world.
  • Dr. Lisa Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein) – Administration: Dean of Medicine, endocrinologist. Though commonly seen as a thorn in Dr. House’s side, Dr. Cuddy is an ally and frequently acquiesces to House’s often outlandish medical requests. Additionally, Dr. Cuddy has the distinction of being one of the few characters on the show (Dr. Wilson being the other) who can match wits with the fast-talking Dr. House in conversation (and arguments) and be considered one of his “friends”. She usually gets left to pick up the pieces of House’s questionable medical practices. She is also one of the few people who can stand House’s rude manner, strange requests, and his many obnoxious (sometimes nosy) habits. Although she frequently criticises House’s methods, she does trust his decisions to be in the best interest of his patients. Over the course of the show, it is seen that she is one of the only people who would hire House at all, due to widespread disapproval of House’s results-oriented methods and constant insubordination.
  • Dr. James Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard) – Department Head: Oncology. Dr. Wilson is Dr. House’s best friend. Dr. Wilson is very well-respected and well-liked by both his colleagues and his patients, making his close friendship with the antisocial House especially puzzling to the other hospital employees. Wilson claims that his job and his “stupid, screwed up friendship” with House are the two most important things to him. He, along with Dr. Cuddy, usually aids and abets House’s Vicodin addiction.

Diagnostic team

Seasons 1-3

The original diagnostic team consisted of Dr. Cameron, Dr. Chase and Dr. Foreman. Cameron first resigned in the Season One episode “Role Model“, however returned two episodes later in “Love Hurts“. Foreman resigned in the Season Three episode “Family“, and officially left in the finale. Chase was fired by House in the same episode, and Cameron also resigned for a second time. Currently, all three characters are still in the show, though at different positions in the hospital, except for Foreman who returned to the team in “Mirror Mirror“.

  • Dr. Allison Cameron (Jennifer Morrison) – Department: Emergency Medicine, immunologist. Cameron was written as an earnest and sincere character and the most empathetic of the team. Her character history reveals an early marriage to a victim of thyroid cancer, whose subsequent death had a lasting impact on her. In the first season, she has a flirtatious relationship with House, but eventually embarks upon a tenuous affair with Robert Chase. Cameron resigned at the end of Season 3, but returned in Season 4 as a member of the Princeton Plainsboro Emergency Room staff.
  • Dr. Robert Chase (Jesse Spencer) – Department: Surgery, intensivist. Dr. Chase’s demeanor appears to have been either influenced or amplified by House, as he has previously displayed a penchant for insulting patients behind their backs, takes clear and vicarious joy in watching House tear into others, finds House’s antics more amusing than others do, and repeats House’s mantra of “everybody lies” whenever a patient’s full disclosure of any required medical history is called into question. Moreover, when suggesting treatments to diagnoses, Chase is arguably the most creative member of House’s staff, often proposing unconventional treatments that had not previously been considered, but whose perceived effectiveness is generally agreed upon. Chase was fired by House at the end of Season 3, but he returned in Season 4 as a member of Princeton Plainsboro’s surgical staff.

Seasons 1-4

  • Dr. Eric Foreman (Omar Epps) – Department: Diagnostic Medicine, neurologist; attended Johns Hopkins Medical School. Of all the members of House’s staff, it is strongly implied that Foreman performed best academically throughout college and medical school. However, during the pilot, Dr. House tells Foreman that a major factor in his hiring was the fact that he was a former juvenile delinquent who once broke into houses and had ’street smarts’. As a result, he frequently voices his disapproval of House’s maverick methods and daring decisions. Foreman resigned at the end of Season 3, feeling that the more time he spent with House, the more he became like him. Foreman then took a position as Head of Diagnostic Medicine at New York Mercy Hospital. During that time, he saved a patient’s life by going against their protocols, something that House frequently does. Foreman is then told that while he may have saved the patient’s life, he cannot be there if he cannot be trusted to obey his senior medical officers. Foreman is then fired. Although he applied at other medical facilities, no one would hire him because of the incident, attributing it to his past association with House. He later returned to Princeton Plainsboro because Cuddy was the only person willing to hire him after his actions.

Season 4

Following the events of the season three finale a new diagnostic team was introduced. This new diagnostic team consists of Dr. Foreman, Dr. Taub, Dr. Kutner and “Thirteen”. During the first half of Season 4, House started a long-running competition which would involve him eliminating “contestants”. This story arc ran from episodes 4-02 to 4-09.

  • Dr. Chris Taub (Peter Jacobson) is a plastic surgeon who has proved adept at, like House, working around the “rules” that Cuddy imposes. Ironically Cuddy suggested Taub become a member of House’s new diagnostic team because his knowledge and combative nature would be able to keep House focused. Though married he has already cheated on his wife and has made comments that suggest he would be willing to do so again.
  • Dr. Lawrence Kutner (Kal Penn) is a sports medicine specialist. Out of all the fellows, Kutner is the most enthusiastic and the one most likely to go along with House in taking risks.
  • “Thirteen”/Dr. Rena Hadley (Olivia Wilde) is an internist. Her nickname originates in the numbers that House assigned to each of his fellowship applications in “The Right Stuff,” with hers being #13. She is noted for the many mysteries surrounding her character.

Source: Wikipedia