List of St. Elsewhere characters
This is a list of characters from the medical drama St. Elsewhere.
Staff and doctors of St. Eligius
Introduced in Season 1
Stayed entire series
Dr. Donald Westphall
Portrayed by Ed FlandersKindly Dr. Donald Westphall was Director of Medicine at St. Eligius, the hospital where St. Elsewhere was set, and was one of the two principal characters of the series. He was the person other characters went to for a kindly word and a pat on the back -- although he also displayed flashes of anger, and was fully capable of dressing down anyone who he thought was not performing up to their best level. Dr. Westphall started his association with the hospital as a troubled youth under the influence of hospital founder Fr. Joseph McCabe. Raising two children alone after the death of his wife Maureen from a car crash, which occurred seven years before the series began, Westphall struggled to keep up with the demands his colleagues, staff and residents placed on him, while still trying to be a good father. He initially resigned in 1985 and travelled to Africa to do some volunteer work. However, upon his return from Africa, he was brought back as Director of Medicine. During his second stint, Westphall became noticeably more demanding on the residents and the hospital board. He pushed for residents to complete community service and asked for funds to open a new hospital ward that would feed the hungry. Once again feeling burnt out and pressured by the new hospital owners, Westphall quit his job and left the hospital three episodes into Season 6. His delivery of his resignation is one of the most famous and controversial scenes in American television, as it shows Westphall with his pants down and his rump exposed. The scene was preserved by NBC censors as it was not considered erotic. Westphall made recurring appearances during that 6th and final season, including the series finale in which he was asked to take charge of St. Eligius again; he also appeared in that episode's famous final scene, which suggested that the entire world of St. Elsewhere was, in fact, just the product of his autistic son Tommy's imagination.
Dr. Mark Craig
Portrayed by William DanielsIrritable and irascible, Dr. Mark Craig was the hospital's lone superstar, who was also another principal character of the series. An arrogant but brilliant heart surgeon, Craig's tenure with the hospital went back to the 1950s when he was an intern under the similarly intolerant Dr. David Domedion. Feeling he was too good for St. Eligius, he initially took a position at rival Boston General. However, he was lured back to St. Eligius in the mid-1960s with the promise of high-tech equipment and a higher salary. While he could have left at any time after that, he chose not to and stayed on to act as mentor to and tormentor of the hospital's young doctors, especially to his protege Dr. Victor Ehrlich. Dr. Craig did not hesitate to toss a bullying and sarcastic barb at any doctor, nurse, administrator or patient who happened to pass his way -- although it must be noted that when it came to his professional duties, he was undeniably excellent, and just as demanding of himself as he was of everyone else. Craig's celebrity status and exposure should have been boosted when he performed a heart transplant on Eve Leighton. Though the transplant was initially successful, Leighton died from complications of the surgery. A few years later, Dr. Craig developed an artificial heart, which he eventually tested on a human subject. The failure of the heart brought a fleeting moment of self-reflection to the otherwise supremely confident doctor. In one of St. Elsewhere's most compelling moments, Dr. Craig witnessed the autopsy of his only son, Steven, from whom he had been estranged due to his own autocratic ways and his son's drug abuse. Holding his son's heart, Dr. Craig spoke tenderly of the times when he used to read Green Eggs and Ham to his son. Together, he says, the two would read the final lines of the book. Mark Craig was #41 in TV Guide's 1999 ranking of the "50 Greatest TV Characters of All Time." Daniels appeared in 129 of the series' 137 episodes, more than anyone else.
Dr. Daniel Auschlander
Portrayed by Norman Lloyd ; James Stephens as young Daniel in "Time Heals" episode, 1985Dr. Daniel Auschlander was the Chief of Services at St. Eligius, and had ties to the hospital from its very beginning. Fair and kind, he was well thought of by nearly everyone at St. Eligius. He was the most approachable of the three administrators because he was not uptight and serious like Dr. Westphall and not abrasive or intolerant like Dr. Craig. He had been diagnosed with metastatic liver cancer shortly before the series began, and his long-term survival was not expected. However, he underwent an intensive course of chemotherapy during season 2 and into season 3, which sent his cancer into remission. He often served as a confidant and mentor to Westphall as well as, occasionally, to Craig. In a flashback episode, it was revealed that during his early years at the hospital, he had faced serious prejudice for being Jewish. He had also first met his wife, Katherine, while working at the hospital. Their marriage was portrayed as a very strong one throughout the series. During season 5, it was revealed that, before meeting Katherine, Dr. Auschlander had a child with a former flame, Margaret, who gave it up for adoption and never told him. In season 6, Auschlander finally met his son who decided it would be best not to stay in contact. Auschlander was on the verge of facilitating a deal in which the Boston diocese would buy back the hospital and bring Dr. Westphall back as administrator. However, a severe stroke finally claimed his life in the final episode.
Nurse Helen Rosenthal
Portrayed by Christina PicklesA head nurse on a ward, Helen was caring and extremely competent, and was one of the most senior nurses at St. Eligius. She always kept things running smoothly, despite staffing shortages, general chaos, and a computer system which seemed to be always malfunctioning. Helen developed breast cancer during the first season and underwent a mastectomy. Helen had been married four times, but during a nurses' strike during season 3, began an affair with the union mediator, Richard Clarendon, which ultimately led to the end of her fourth marriage. She briefly transferred to the ER during the latter part of season 3, but ultimately decided she preferred the ward, and returned, despite the fact that Lucy Papandreo had taken over the head nurse position. Rosenthal and Papandreo battled bitterly for the better part of two seasons, before Rosenthal was promoted to Director of Nurses in Training. A prescription pill addiction during the final season nearly ended her nursing career, but after receiving treatment in St. Eligius' Chemical Dependency Unit, she was reinstated to her position. She was especially close friends with Westphall; indeed, she was the only non-physician at the hospital on a first-name basis with Drs. Westphall, Craig, and Auschlander.
Dr. Victor Ehrlich
Portrayed by Ed Begley, Jr.Gangly and flippant, with a penchant for wearing aloha shirts with ties, Ehrlich was regarded as a talented physician but an annoying individual who frequently boasted to his colleagues that he was a Californian who had studied medicine at Berkeley. Ehrlich was self-absorbed, insensitive and a brown-noser He was disliked by most because of his incessant misplaced wisecracks. Though his mentor and idol, Dr. Craig, secretly thought Ehrlich to be a promising and gifted young surgeon, the very conservative Craig disliked Ehrlich's loud clothes and flip personality and vilified Ehrlich in the OR and around the hospital; Ehrlich, in turn, became especially clumsy and awkward whenever Craig was nearby. Bad luck seemed to follow Ehrlich around, including during his first solo surgery, when an armed, pregnant woman took the surgical team hostage. Ehrlich and Wayne Fiscus were close friends, though their friendship was tested when they attempted to become roommates; they also competed to win over nurse Shirley Daniels, whom Ehrlich asked out, but who ended up dating Fiscus instead. Ehrlich was briefly married during season two to a young and equally neurotic candystriper named Roberta, a marriage that ended within weeks. In one of the show's occasionally comedic moments, Roberta, oblivious to the fact that the hospital Public Address system was still on, confided to a colleague about her sex life and marital problems with Ehrlich. He matured as the series went on, and during season 5, he agreed to accompany Lucy Papandreo to a family gathering as her date; Victor and Lucy began dating, and eventually married toward the end of season 5. Lucy became pregnant in season 6 but ultimately miscarried. Ehrlich originally believed that he was an orphan. His parents died in an auto accident when he was 5 years old and he was raised by his aunt. However, during season 5, Ehrlich found out that his parents were still alive. At the Oliver Twist banquet awards, he was visited by his long-lost parents who were actually government spies. Later in life, Dr. Ehrlich moved to Baltimore, where he was seen trying to save the life of mayoral candidate Al Giardello in the 2000 finale to the television series Homicide: Life on the Street.
Dr. Jack "Boomer" Morrison
Portrayed by David Morse.Tall and blond, soft-voiced and often too compassionate, Jack Morrison was occasionally accused of becoming so involved in his patients' cases that he could not objectively treat them. Jack had a difficult time early on, juggling his home life with the demands of being a first-year resident. His troubles were exacerbated by the sudden death of his wife Nina early in season 2, leaving Morrison alone to care for his infant son Pete while trying to keep up with his residency. By the end of his first year of residency, Morrison was cut. However, Dr. Armstrong's death had freed up a spot and Dr. Westphall decided to bring him back. He subsequently dated an independent young woman, Clancy Williams, though their relationship eventually ended. He also had to endure a number of professional setbacks, particularly when he was forced to acknowledge that the presumed "accelerated" track he took at a Mexican medical school was not entirely legal, effectively disqualifying him from being a physician; he was forced to complete all the course work he had not done in medical school, while still keeping up with his residency. During season 4, Morrison was assigned to work in a prison's medical office as part of Westphall's community outreach program, only to be raped by a male prisoner in the midst of a riot. The incident so traumatized Morrison that he was sent home to Seattle and did not reappear for the rest of that season. Jack married again during season 5, though he contemplated a fling with Carol Novino during the series' final few episodes. During the ceremony it is revealed that Jack's full name is John Steinbeck Morrison, a nod to the author. He ultimately decided in the finale to instead leave Boston and move back to Seattle to be with Joanne, who had moved back there earlier in the final season.