Mrs. Landingham

Mrs. Landingham, played by Kathryn Joosten and Kirsten Nelson, is the fictional Secretary to the President of the United States in the first two seasons of The West Wing. Killed off in the episode "18th and Potomac", Landingham is a much-beloved character whose influence on politicians continued through at least 2021.

Dolores Landingham
The West Wing character
Last appearance
Portrayed by
In-universe information
TitleExecutive Secretary

Character history

On The West Wing, Mrs. Dolores Landingham[2] is the Secretary to the President of the United States, serving Josiah Bartlet (Martin Sheen).[3] Having worked for his father,[4] she has known Bartlet since he was in high school, and has a rare familiarity with the president that few other characters can match. In the second-season episode "18th and Potomac", she dies from a traffic collision with a drunk driver on her way to the White House.[2]

Development
Joosten at the Nokia Theater for the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards (2009)

In The West Wing's present, Mrs. Landingham was played by Kathryn Joosten, while actress Kirsten Nelson appeared in flashbacks.[2]

Conclusion

While at a charity dinner with West Wing cast and crew, Joosten told series creator Aaron Sorkin that she had been approached for a regular role in a TV series that was then shooting its pilot. This inadvertently inspired Sorkin to create serious drama for the Bartlet character by suddenly killing off his lifelong family friend and secretary. The showrunner planned it as a dramatic penultimate twist for the second season, leading the president to rail against his god in "Two Cathedrals" (2001), pacing and smoking throughout Washington National Cathedral—a season finale for which Sheen was "the overwhelming favorite to win an Emmy [Award]."[5] The following summer, Joosten told the Los Angeles Times that "the publicity resulting from Mrs. Landingham’s untimely demise has been good for me personally."[4]

Reception

While The West Wing showed an idealized version of the executive branch, Mrs. Landingham often grounded the other characters, "remind[ing] them who they should be working for." According to the Los Angeles Times, it was this quality that allowed the show's audience to identify themselves—or their mothers—with the sexagenarian presidential secretary.[4] In a 2020 Entertainment Weekly reunion of West Wing cast and crew, special recognition was given to Joosten; Sorkin praised the humanity she brought to Mrs. Landingham, while Rob Lowe and Richard Schiff called her performance in "In Excelsis Deo" the best in the show's seven-season run.[6] That same year, Showbiz Cheat Sheet called Mrs. Landingham "a beloved part of" The West Wing,[2] while the Waco Tribune-Herald described her as "a sentimental favorite" character from the series in 2021.[3]

After the character was killed off, a Democratic member of the California State Assembly called for a moment of silence[4] in honor of "a great American."[7] In 2015, the United States' General Services Administration released a Slack bot named Mrs. Landingham to ease new hires through their onboarding; the many West Wing fans at 18F felt it right to "[bring] back the beloved character Dolores Landingham".[8] In 2021, Lord Chancellor Robert Buckland, the Member of Parliament for South Swindon, adopted a grey tabby cat from Cats Protection and named her Mrs. Landingham.[9]

References
  1. "Series 4 - Episode 5: Debate Camp". Radio Times. ISSN 0033-8060. Archived from the original on January 29, 2021. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  2. Kerr, Mandi (March 22, 2020). "'The West Wing': Why Mrs. Landingham Got Written off the Show". Showbiz Cheat Sheet. Archived from the original on January 28, 2021. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  3. Dewitt, Ellen (January 19, 2021). "25 jobs in the White House and what they do". Waco Tribune-Herald. Archived from the original on January 21, 2021. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  4. Bauder, David (June 13, 2001). "Fans Still Mourning Mrs. Landingham". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. ISSN 0458-3035. OCLC 3638237. Archived from the original on September 9, 2019. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  5. Jicha, Tom (July 26, 2001). "West Wing Aide Did Herself In". Sun-Sentinel. ISSN 0744-8139. Archived from the original on June 5, 2020. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  6. Holub, Christian (August 26, 2020). "Watch The West Wing cast pay tribute to late costars John Spencer and Kathryn Joosten". Entertainment Weekly. ISSN 1049-0434. OCLC 21114137. Archived from the original on January 26, 2021. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  7. Rice, Lynette (June 2, 2012). "Kathryn Joosten, 'Desperate Housewives' and 'West Wing' star, dies at 72". Entertainment Weekly. ISSN 1049-0434. OCLC 21114137. Archived from the original on November 2, 2020. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  8. Young, Jessie (December 15, 2015). "How a bot named Dolores Landingham transformed 18F's onboarding". General Services Administration. Archived from the original on November 8, 2020. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  9. Angelini, Daniel (January 27, 2021). "South Swindon MP Robert Buckland adopts tabby cat Mrs Landingham". Swindon Advertiser. Archived from the original on January 29, 2021. Retrieved January 29, 2021. A FINE feline has a new home thanks to South Swindon MP Robert Buckland.
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