Holling Vincoeur

Holling Vincoeur is a fictional character in the television show "Northern Exposure", played by John Cullum.

Fictional biography

Holling is a naturalized citizen of the United States. He was born in the Yukon, but also sometimes spoke of childhood trips to visit relatives in Quebec. He owns and manages "The Brick", a restaurant which is a center of social life in the (fictional) town of Cicely, Alaska, and is arguably the most rational of the town's quirky denizens.

Aged 62 years as the series opens, Holling is romantically involved with Shelly Tambo, a woman young enough to be his granddaughter. Shelly was brought to Cicely by Maurice Minnifield, until then Holling's best friend, who hoped to marry her; but she soon fell in love with Holling.

Holling is, or was, an expert hunter. A few years before meeting Shelly, he was nearly killed by a bear known as Jesse. In a dream, Jesse confronted Holling with all the animals he had shot, and he swore off hunting because of the uneven nature of the confrontation. Thereafter he continues to go into the wilderness and stalk animals, but he now "shoots" them only with a Nikon camera.

Notable for his calm and forthright manner, Holling holds the office of mayor during most of the series, though in a town so small his duties are so light that it is rarely mentioned. He later narrowly lost the office to a former acquaintance turned enemy.

Holling is descended from Louis XIV of France, and despises his ancestors as "aristocratic scum of the worst kind"; he left Canada to escape the shame of their memory and shortened his surname from "de Vincœur". Later he mentions that his ancestors were Huguenots.

Holling describes his father, grandfather and other male relatives as "despicable human beings" (one of his ancestors was so hated the anniversary of his death is still celebrated as a holiday in France) and this is referred to often throughout the series. A century-old diary reveals that Holling's grandfather, when stranded in a blizzard, cannibalized Ruth-Anne Miller's grandfather. In another episode we learn from Holling's dreams that he was compelled to chauffeur his abusive father from early childhood.

Also referenced are the Vincoeur males' extreme lifespans. Holling's father and grandfather were centenarians, who never remarried after their wives died young. With this history, Holling hesitates to marry because, despite being more than forty years older than Shelley, it is possible for him to outlive her by decades with a broken heart.

In the first seasons Holling believes that he is incapable of fathering children due to a low sperm count, but this assumption is corrected when he learns of the existence of a middle-aged daughter. During the daughter's visit it is learned that she has the dishonorable character of her Vincoeur ancestors, which concerns Holling when Shelley becomes pregnant. Shelley convinces him that because he is not a bad person and she is a good person their child will be okay. Their child is a daughter, Miranda, and in a surreal episode during Shelley's last days of pregnancy it is implied she and Holling will later have a son, Jared, though he is not yet conceived by the end of the series.