List of Deadwood characters

This article contains character biographies from the HBO original series, Deadwood. Template:Spoiler

Major characters

Seth Bullock

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Timothy Olyphant as Seth Bullock

Seth Bullock (Timothy Olyphant) left his Ontario, Canada home at 16 and wound up in Montana. Soon he heard stories of gold in Deadwood. Rather than searching for gold, he wanted to open a hardware store with best friend and longtime partner, Sol Star. At the camp, he met Wild Bill Hickok. When Hickok was murdered, Bullock pursued the killer into the Black Hills and took the law into his own hands. After his return, he became sheriff of Deadwood. Bullock, one of the few honest men in the camp, was enlisted to look after a gold claim for Alma Garret, an upper class east coast woman whose husband was killed by Swearengen's men over that claim. Eventually, they became romantically involved despite the fact that Bullock is married to his brother's widow and is the stepfather of their son. Although his honest character is instinctively revulsed by Swearengen (and vice versa) the two have formed an uneasy alliance to defend the camp against outside interests (e.g. the Hearst mining interests, the territoral government, Alma Garret's in-laws) who have begun to appear in the camp, now that Deadwood shows the potential of some degree of wealth.

Al Swearengen

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Ian McShane as Al Swearengen

Ellis Alfred Swearengen (Ian McShane) is the proprietor of the Gem Saloon, (based on the real-life Swearengen's Gem Theater), the most popular place for drinking, gambling, and prostitution in Deadwood. As the "smartest man in town", according to actor Ian McShane quoted in TV Guide, and the most cynically amoral with no hesitation in resorting to violence and murder when it is to his advantage, he was able to establish himself as unofficially running the town in the six months headstart he had arriving before his competition, equally ruthless businessman Cy Tolliver, arrived and opened a more upscale establishment, the Bella Union. Ian McShane won a Golden Globe in 2005 for his performance.

The second season showcases his acting skills as he becomes ill and nearly dies, but is saved by Doc Cochran only after humiliating and excruciating treatment; nevertheless he shows no weakness and maintains his position on top of the Deadwood pecking order. Afterwards, however, he begins having lengthy conversations with a cardboard box purportedly containing the severed head of an Indian, going so far as to take the box out onto the balcony to watch the spectacle of a bicycle negotiating Deadwood's street. He is fully aware of the eccentricity this represents, wryly ascribing it to advancing age. However, his mental facilities are in no way hampered, as he is able to negotiate with Commissioner Hugo Jarry to secure his power with Yankton in the developing camp, deal with George Hearst to control the town's Chinese population and keep Seth Bullock as an ally.

Alma Garret

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Molly Parker as Alma Garret

Alma Russell Garret Ellsworth (Molly Parker), a beautiful 30-year-old New Yorker, moved to Deadwood with her new husband Brom Garret, who left the high society of New York to experience frontier life by buying a claim in the gold rich territory; bringing his new wife with him. It is not long until Brom Garret falls foul of Al Swearengen after the gold claim he purchases in a deal brokered by Swearengen appears worthless - threatening the saloon owner with Pinkerton involvement should his money not be returned to him. He is promptly murdered on Swearengen’s orders - only for the claim to turn out a rich one. Now stranded in Deadwood and dealing with attempts by Swearengen to buy the claim back, she decides to try her luck on the new frontier than sell the claim and return back East. She hires Will Bill Hickock to investigate both the claim and Swearengen’s interest. He soon nominates Bullock to assay her gold claim prior to his murder; an event that places Bullock as the sole guardian of her interests. Eventually, the two began an affair which is cut short by the arrival of Bullock's wife and stepson and their mutual revulsion at the prospect of marital infidelity. Alma is, however, broken-hearted and jealous, as well as furious with both Seth and Martha, although she knows that feeling is irrational. Her mood is not aided by her being pregnant by Bullock. In the meantime, she has had to fend off not only her own father, who has heard of the newfound wealth and come seeking a share, but also a surreptitious plan by her husband's family to frame her for her husband's murder and therefore take the claim over for themselves. The additional intense interest of the Hearst mining empire in her claim also poses future problems. To ensure she is not ridiculed during her pregnancy, Trixie tells Ellsworth that he will propose to Alma. After a period of hesitation, Alma accepts Ellsworth's proposal and marries him the following week in front of several Deadwood citizens and friends. In the initial episodes she had an addiction to laudanum, which she overcame with the assistance of Trixie. She has also taken Sofia Metz, an orphan whose family was murdered, under her wing as a foster daughter.

The Hearst interest in the Garret Claim may be partly inspired by the real interest in the Homestake Claim of the era.

Cy Tolliver

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Power Boothe as Cy Tolliver with a Bella Union girl

Cyrus Tolliver (Powers Boothe) is the owner of the upscale Bella Union saloon and Al Swearengen’s main rival. Cy has an 18-year relationship with former prostitute and madam Joanie Stubbs, who later left the Bella Union to form her own cathouse, leaving a mix of friendship and anger between them. Ruthless and with a veneer of class and polish, Cy soon proves that while he may lack his rival’s skill in cunning duplicity he makes it up in ambition; becoming temporarily allied with the Hearst combine in Season Two. He also becomes partners with Mr. Lee, the newly arrived Tong leader from San Francisco, in “Celestial’s Alley”; a low priced house of gambling and Chinese prostitution that sees women placed in unspeakably horrid conditions, a fact Cy dismisses as a mere “cultural difference”. However he does accept the offer of Doc Cochran to treat them for free, as a condition of Cochran's continuing to treat Tolliver's Caucasian prostitutes. As Season Two climaxes Swearengen ends out on top, leaving Cy Tolliver in a weakened position; with both Francis Wolcott and Mr. Lee dead and Cy receiving a knife to the stomach courtesy of Andy Cramed.

Secondary characters

Sol Star

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Bullock & Star.

Sol Star ( John Hawkes) is Seth Bullock's best friend and partner in the hardware business and the only Jew in camp. He had a relationship with Trixie after she helped nurse him back to health from a gunshot wound sustained as a bystander to the fight between Swearengen and Bullock, however she retained a fondness for Swearengen and loyalty to him.

Trixie

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Trixie.

Trixie (Paula Malcomson) is Al Swearengen's favorite girl at the Gem. Swearengen often abuses her, but she always returns to him. She is attracted to Sol Star whom she nurses back to health after he is shot and with whom she eventually finds employment and romance, but remains devoted to Swearengen and reports back to him on Star's and Bullock's activities.

Although the character is not based on a single real-life person, the scene of her putting a bullet through the skull of a violent client who astounded all by clinging to life for another half hour, is based on an actual report by John S. McClintock of such an occurrence involving a prostitute at the Gem Theater named "Tricksie", including the doctor's inserting a probe through the hole in the man's skull.

E. B. Farnum

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E.B. Farnum.

Eustace Bailey Farnum (William Sanderson) is the proprietor of the Grand Central Hotel and self-appointed mayor of the town, a role he inhabits with comic opera buffoonish seriousness. He is totally controlled by Swearengen, although he harbors delusions of potential grandeur for himself. He delivers a line which perhaps summarizes the series best: "One hopes for the best. One perseveres. One reevaluates constantly. One is an asshole if one doesn't." He is incredibly greedy - costing Al the chance to buy Alma Garret's claim due to low offers - and continually asks prying questions to people around town, leading to numerous abuses and threats directed towards him. He was the agent in helping establish the Bella Union in town, although Al chose to let him live as an informant. He is possibly mentally unstable, saying "my hotel is my hospital. I am my own warden." George Hearst eventually buys the Grand Central from Farnum, offering him $100,000 and position as manager.

Joanie Stubbs

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Joanie Stubbs.

Joanie Stubbs (Kim Dickens) is Cy Tolliver's former hostess at the Bella Union. Joanie seems to be more independent than Trixie, however she is still abused. At one point, she was forced to kill a young woman who had been trying to rob the Bella Union. She kiiled the young woman and then pointed the gun at herself. She did not kill herself, but soon after this she left the Bella Union to form her own cathouse, the Chez Amis, even more upscale than the Bella Union, importing high-class and experienced prostitutes from back East. Unfortunately, one of her patrons is Francis Wolcott, who slips into his prior habit of murdering prostitutes, and intends to murder the rest to cover his tracks. Joanie arranges for the rest to be spirited to safety by Charlie Utter, but remains sitting alone in her now shuttered place of business with her dreams of independence destroyed. Her spirits are restored by smashing a bourbon bottle on Wolcott's head when he returns to the camp, as well as her growing friendship with Calamity Jane.

Francis Wolcott

Francis Wolcott (Garrett Dillahunt), the chief geologist of wealthy San Francisco mining magnate George Hearst, has arrived in camp in order to ascertain whether any of the claims might be of value to the Hearst empire, and if so, to set about acquiring them by any means necessary. Wolcott has an unfortunate habit of murdering prostitutes, however. (Wolcott and McCall, arguably the two members of the cast with the most degraded character, are played by the same actor, a source of some discussion and speculation among fans of the series over whether the producers are communicating a philosophical message there). Wolcott committed suicide shortly after Hearst's arrival into Deadwood.

Calamity Jane

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Calimity Jane and Charlie Utter.

Jane Cannary (Robin Weigert) idolized Hickok, is still friends with Charlie Utter, and has forged a grudging friendship with Doc Cochran, after their joint efforts in protecting Sofia Metz and the doctor's enlistment of her aid in fighting an epidemic. Known for her hard drinking and swearing, truculent and abrasive upon first impression, her character has a loopy humor and an upright moral center that grows on people. After Hickok's murder, she sinks even deeper into depression and alcoholism; Utter is seen voicing "grave doubts" about Jane's future to Hickok's grave. She has recovered somewhat due to her friendship with Joanie Stubbs, who is even able to coax her into a bath and a dress.

Charlie Utter

Charlie Utter (Dayton Callie) is the good friend of Hickok and Jane, and Hickok's sometime business partner. He runs a mail and freight business in the camp and is also one of Bullock's deputies. An honest person, he is approached by Joanie in desperation upon the murders of three of her prostitutes by Wolcott, and smuggles the rest out of town to safety. Sworn to secrecy about the matter, Utter nevertheless takes the opportunity to administer a terrible beating to Wolcott on the pretext of Wolcott's having stepped on Utter's toe.

Doc Cochran

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Doc Cochran and Dan Dority.

Dr. Amos Cochran (Brad Dourif) is the only doctor in the camp of Deadwood and for this reason is respected and revered, although apparently having a problem with substance abuse in the initial episodes, and having had some very serious problems in his professional past which are occasionally elliptically referred to. He is relatively invulnerable to the risk of violence in Deadwood, as he is so valuable to Swearengen and Tolliver for his medical maintenace of the prostitutes, but resents the relationship because of Swearengen's and Tolliver's character. He maintains an interest in medical research which would put him more in sympathy with modern physicians than his contemporaries. When Chinese prostitutes appear in town, he is shocked by the inhuman conditions in which they are kept and begins to treat them for free, but much to his distress he is unable to save them from their ultimate fate.

Martha Bullock

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Seth and Martha Bullock.

Martha Eccles Bullock (Anna Gunn) is Seth Bullock's wife and former sister-in-law. Seth's brother John had been murdered and Bullock felt obliged to marry and take care of the widow and orphan, although he is not actually romantically involved with her. She feels a confusing mix of gratitude towards Bullock, perhaps even romantic love for him, but a wish that he not sacrifice his own happiness any more than necessary to provide for her and her son; yet also a great deal of jealousy towards her husband's feelings for Alma Garret, although the two are endeavoring to end the romantic relationship due to Martha's presence.

The real-life Martha Bullock was not the widow of Seth Bullock's brother, but was Bullock's childhood sweetheart.

A. W. Merrick

A. Walter Merrick (Jeffrey Jones) is the proprietor of the local newspaper, the Black Hills Pioneer. Somewhat pretentious in his bearing, he prides himself as a newspaperman with a duty to print the truth, but must navigate a twisty path of remaining friends with all the major players in town and being privy to their plans and confidences.

Ellsworth

Whitney Conway Ellsworth (Jim Beaver) is a prospector of long experience who has managed to eke out a comfortable living in this profession. As such, he knows enough to keep his witnessing of Brom Garret's murder to himself. Nevertheless, after being hired by Bullock to manage Alma's claim, he finds in himself a loyalty towards her, which he expresses by chasing Wolcott off the claim when he comes to spy out the territory, and later by proposing marriage to Alma, knowing she is pregnant. She demurs for the nonce. Soon however, Alma accepts his proposal and marries him the following week.

Dan Dority

Dan Dority (W. Earl Brown), probably based on the real-life Dan Doherty, is Al Swearengen's right-hand man. A former bushwhacker, he has been with Al for years and serves him as bodyguard and enforcer. Dan helps manage the Gem and will kill most anyone Swearengen asks, and while violent and short-tempered he is not a heartless killer. In the first season he defies Al with the help of Doc Cochran, helping spirit Sofia Metz out of town instead of killing her. Dan is jealous of Silas Adams' recent favor with Al, leading Adams to comment 'Any chance you and me don't end in blood?' The two have an uneasy alliance, however, and Adams saves Dan from a throat-cutting in the second season finale.

Silas Adams

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Silas Adams and E. B. Farnum

Silas Adams (Titus Welliver), also known as "the bagman from Yankton", who comes to camp to bring bribe money to Magistrate Clagget. Swearengen hires Adams to join his operation, paying him to slice Clagget's throat for extorting money from Swearengen. Adams serves Swearengen as his contact in Yankton to bring him news of the territorial changes, as well as relying on his legal counsel when dealing with Commissioner Jarry and his election proposals. He is a rival of Dan Dority for Swearengen's favor, although he saves his life from a Chinese knife-wielder in the season finale and the two have formed a tentative alliance.

Johnny Burns

Johnny Burns (Sean Bridgers) is a worker at the Gem Saloon and one of Al's lackeys. His main jobs are as bartender, cleaner and hauling corpses to Wu's pig sty. Young and ambitious, Johnny is also not too bright, leading Al to continually abuse him verbally and physically. He shoots Charlie Utter and Sol Star in the second season but does not kill them and expresses severe remorse - unlike Adams and Dority, Johnny has not killed anyone so far.

Leon

Leon (Larry Cedar) Cy Tolliver's general informant and lackey, he is also addicted to opium. Formerly employed as a double agent to give Swearengen false information, he and the dope fiend Jimmy Irons robbed and murdered Mr. Wu's opium courier, leading to Jimmy being fed to Wu's pigs. Leon worked to incite anti-Chinese sentiment in the camp following this event, and now serves as Tolliver's eyes around town.

Con Stapleton

Con Stapleton (Peter Jason) A dimwitted card shark who frequented the Number 10 saloon, Stapleton secured a position as sheriff thanks to Tom Nuttall's support. However, he quickly let himself be bribed by Tolliver to stir up anti-Chinese sentiment and was stripped of his badge by an enraged Bullock. He remained in Tolliver's employ, working odd jobs such as security at the Bella Union and trashing Merrick's printing press.

Jewel

Jewel (Geri Jewell) is the cleaning woman at the Gem, Al Swearengen's saloon and brothel. Suffering a severe physical handicap (Ms. Jewell, the actress, suffers from cerebral palsy), she is barely tolerated by Al, at least in public. She is often referred to as, "The Gimp". In private, Al has enough consideration (complaining loudly all the while) to pay the town doctor to fit Jewel with a leg brace. Trixie, defending Swearengen to Calamity Jane, cites Jewel as an example of Al's kindness, which he publicly downplays.

Mr. Wu

Mister Wu (Keone Young) is the official or unofficial leader of Deadwood's substantial but mostly unseen Chinese ("Celestials") population, the Asian-American counterpart to Swearengen. He routinely interacts with Swearengen and other Caucasians over a few matters of business, such as the opium trade, and the seemingly daily efficient disposal of numerous human remains, through the route of his pigs. He knows apparently no English beyond the single word "Cocksucka!" but communicates effectively with Swearengen (to whom he refers as "Swengen!"). Of late he has become highly anxious over the arrival in town of the much more polished Mr. Lee from San Francisco, who appears to be the local representative of a large and shadowy organization (possibly allied with the Hearst organization, also newly arrived in town) which will henceforward be supplying Deadwood with opium and low priced Chinese prostitutes, from a new establishment to be called "Celestials' Alley", in partnership with Tolliver.

In the final episode of the second season, Wu strikes back with the blessing of Hearst and Swearengen, slitting Lee's throat and leading Swearengen's crew to kill Lee's men. Swearengen strikes a deal for Wu to take over Lee's position of finding laborers for Hearst's mining operation, easily supplanting Tolliver in running Chinese affairs. In a symbol of loyalty to Swearengen, Wu slices off his braid and declares he will remain in America forever.

Tom Nuttall

Thomas Nuttall (Leon Rippy) is proprietor of the No. 10 saloon which was the sight of Wild Bill Hickock's murder. He owns the first bicycle in camp, which he defends against ridicule by accepting a challenge to ride through the town over difficult terrain. One of the first settlers to arrive in Deadwood, arriving before even Swearengen, he has grown increasingly disillusioned with the camp and its future and has gone as far as to consider selling his saloon and leaving the camp. As of Season Two he still remains in Deadwood.

Sofia Metz

Sofia Metz (Bree Seanna Wall) is the sole survivor of an attack on her family on the way home to her native Minnesota, a robbery by Swearengen's men disguised as an attack by hostile "Indians". Tramautized and unresponsive, possibly not even speaking English, her parents and two siblings murdered, she was nevertheless targeted for murder by Swearengen to eliminate the possibility of her identifying her family's killers; however, with the help and protection of Calamity Jane and Doc Cochran, she regained her health and became the ward of Alma Garret.

Minor characters

Wild Bill Hickok

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Wild Bill Hickok and Seth Bullock

James Butler Hickok (Keith Carradine) has a reputation as one of the fastest gunslingers around. During a card game in 1876, he was shot in the back by Jack McCall. Hickok had promised to help Alma Garret defend her late husband's claim from Swearengen; after his sudden death shortly thereafter, the duty fell to Bullock, with whom Hickok had become friends. Hickok's friends and partners Charley Utter and Calamity Jane also remain in town, to some degree carrying on his civilizing influence.

Jack McCall

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Garrett Dillahunt as Jack McCall

Jack McCall (Garrett Dillahunt) was a drunkard who shot Hickok in the back as he played poker. McCall was found not guilty by a hurried and impromptu court of locals on the grounds that he was merely avenging the prior murder of his (probably nonexistent) brother by Hickok; but due to Hickok's high regard and the presence of many of Hickok's good friends in town, thought it best to leave. He is later tracked down and brought to Yankton, South Dakota for prosecution, by Seth Bullock and Charlie Utter.

William Bullock

William Bullock (Josh Eriksson) is Seth Bullock's nephew turned stepson. He is very polite and is respectful towards those with authority but on his arrival to Deadwood could not help but goggle at the prostitutes' dangling breasts, for which his mother scolded him. He shows much respect towards his step-father and admires his accomplishments. His introduction to Deadwood was a truly memorable scene; the stagecoach rolling to a stop next to the sight of his stepfather and Swearengen in a deadly serious brawl which had just propelled them off the second floor balcony onto the street, punctuated by partisan onlookers taking shots at each other, and Swearengen about to stab Bullock with a knife which he had produced from hiding, but pausing to raise his bloody head to grin demonically at the passengers and bellow "Welcome to fucking Deadwood!" One day while helping Tom Nutall with his new bicycle, young William was trampled and killed by Samuel Fields' horse after it escaped an attempted neutering.

Miss Isringhausen

Alice Isringhausen (Sarah Paulson) was hired from back East by Alma Garret to tutor Sofia. While Isringhausen remains unobtrusively in the background with Sofia throughout most of the drama betwen Alma and Seth, after Seth's family suddenly arrive, in Alma's newly upset state Alma and Isinghausen have an argument over Alma's perception of Isringhausen's lack of warmth towards the girl, and she is fired (albeit with a substantial severance package in view of the pronounced lack of job opportunities for tutors in this part of the world). Isringhausen does not leave town, however, and instead begins to spread tales of Alma's having been behind Swearengen's murder of Mr. Garret; Swearengen quickly realizes that she is not what she seems to be, and she confirms that she was indeed sent by Mr. Garret's family to wrest control of what promises to be a lucrative claim away from Alma, by any means necessary. Swearengen appears to go along with the plan to frame Alma, but correctly identifies Isringhausen as a Pinkerton, whom he despises as inferior to even his own admittedly low moral standards, and, more importantly, he calculates that the entrance of large and powerful interests from outside the camp would be inimical to his own interests. Therefore, he makes plans with Bullock to double cross Isringhausen by getting her to document her scheme then exposing it.

Samuel Fields (aka The Nigger General)

Samuel Fields (Franklyn Ajaye) The Nigger General, loosely based on Samuel Fields, is befriended by Calamity Jane. He is nearly lynched during mob violence as an opportunistic diversion to the actions of Cy Tolliver. A wild horse he and Hostetler are attempting to neuter escapes the operation and tramples William Bullock, the adopted son of Seth Bullock.

Reverend Henry Weston Smith

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Ray McKinnon as Reverend Smith

Reverend Henry Weston Smith (Ray McKinnon) Reverend Smith is a minister who, among other tasks, leads the funerals of many of the individuals who die in the course of the first season. All the while suffering from a leison in his brain that gradually causes a mental and physical collapse. He is eventually euthanized by Al Swearengen in an act of mercy.

The real Reverend Smith was killed on the road to a neighboring town, however Father Mackin, a later religious figure in the camp, did die of "softening of the brain" after a series of seizures.

Maddie

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Alice Krige as Maddie

Maddie (Alice Krige) is hired by Joanie Stubbs to be the Madame of the Ches Amis. She knows Wolcott kills prostitutes and sets him up for extortion, and is slaughtered by him during the extortion negotiation.

Andy Cramed

Reverend Andy Cramed (Zach Grenier) was a conman who often worked with Cy Tolliver and was set to do so again until he arrived in Deadwood suffering of plague. He is taken to the woods and left to die on Tolliver's orders, but is discovered by Jane. After his convalescence in the plague tent and aiding in the distribution of the vaccine, he leaves.

He eventually returns as an ordained minister in the second season, conducting the funeral service of William Bullock and the marriage of Alma and Ellsworth. In the season finale he attacks Tolliver for mocking God and his new found faith in front of him, stabbing him in the gut and walking away.

Commissioner Hugo Jarry

Hugh Jarry (Stephen Tobolowsky) is the representative of Yankton in the camp. Bullock must protect him from an engraged mob of prospectors who fear their gold claims will be invalidated when the camp is incorporated into Dakota. Swearengen, with the assistance of Bullock, Star, and Adams, forces Jarry to make concessions to Deadwood in order to outbid Montana on annexation.

George Hearst

George Hearst (Gerald McRaney) does not make his appearance on screen until the finale of season two, but his name is in the minds and on the lips of many as his geologist, Wolcott, attempts to buy up and otherwise acquire gold claims for him throughout the second season. He is known as "Boy-The-Earth-Talks-To" due to his skill and obsession with finding gold ("the color" as he calls it).

In Boy the Earth Talks To (Season 2 Finale), Hearst makes several arrangements with figures in the camp, including purchasing the Grand Central from Farnum. He shows decency by firing Wolcott for cutting the throats of three prostitutes, however, Tolliver attempts to blackmail Hearst for a 5% commission by claiming he possesses a letter that contains Wolcott's admission to the murders. Hearst also allows Wu to take over Chinese arrangements from Lee when he learns Lee is burning the bodies of dead whores.