Brenda Chenowith

Infobox SFU character
Title=Brenda Chenowith
bgcolor=#Lavender
fgcolor=#White


Name=Brenda Chenowith
Age=36 (end of series)
81 (age of death)
Birth=July 19, 1969
Death=March, 2051
Place=Venice, California
Profession=Shiatsu therapist/cognitive therapist
Actor=Rachel Griffiths

Brenda Chenowith is a fictional character on the HBO television series "Six Feet Under" played by Rachel Griffiths.

Biography

Brenda Chenowith Fisher (1969–2051) is Nate Fisher's wife (formerly his long-time girlfriend).

Prior to pilot

Brenda was born on July 19, 1969. As a child prodigy, she was under the scrutiny of Dr. Gareth Feinberg and various psychologists who documented her behavior in a book called "Charlotte Light and Dark". Being a genius, however, she would study the symptoms of diseases and feign them, to make "Charlotte Light and Dark" completely inaccurate. Her parents Bernard and Margaret were wealthy but dysfunctional psychologists while her brother Billy was a successful photographer, struggling with bipolar disorder. Brenda spent much of her life taking care of Billy and has struggled to build her own life outside of his illness. Billy had a strong fixation on Brenda's life, and their relationship at times bordered on incest. Brenda's first real love was Trevor (Tuc Watkins), whom she planned on going to Yale with until she chose to stay home and attend UCLA after Billy supposedly attempted suicide.

During the series

Brenda feared commitment and for many years had self-destructive tendencies. She met Nate Fisher while on a flight home to visit her family; they had sex in a supply closet at the airport. They began to date, but Billy became more and more possessive; around this time Brenda's mother confessed to Brenda that Billy had never tried to commit suicide - they had him committed because he was threatening to kill them. When Brenda cut Billy off, he began stalking her and finally cornered her at home, planning to carve a "Nathaniel" tattoo (after books they had read about a brother/sister - he carved off his own "Isabel" tattoo) off her back. She got away and had him committed again.

She got engaged to Nate, but lost interest in him sexually. Through her job as a shiatsu massage therapist, Brenda met a prostitute and began to spend time with her. She began sleeping with Nate again, but Brenda began having sex with strangers; when Nate (who had also cheated on her) found out, he dumped her. Brenda left town and when she returned, Nate was married to the mother of his child, Lisa. Brenda battled a sex addiction and dated Joe (Justin Theroux) until she reunited with Nate. She treated Nate's daughter Maya as her own daughter. She got pregnant, but miscarried the day before the wedding. Brenda studied to be a cognitive therapist and tried to establish a firm family with Nate - something she felt she had never had. Brenda became pregnant again but learned there could be birth defects - Nate wanted her to have an amniocentesis to pin down their knowledge of the fetus's condition, but she refused, due to fears of a second miscarriage.

They also fought over her lifelong atheism, as he wanted her to become more spiritual. Any lingering dream of the "perfect" family with Nate was destroyed when Nate had a brief affair with his ex-stepsister Maggie and subsequently had a near-fatal seizure, leaving him in a coma. He quickly recovered and asked Brenda for a divorce. Devastated, she left his hospital room not knowing that hours later she would be a widowed single mother with his daughter, and their unborn child.

Six weeks after Nate's death, Brenda delivered a baby girl named Willa. As the baby was born two months early, she was still fighting negativity on whether the baby would survive or have special needs. Brenda was later relieved to find that the baby was healthy and that Nate's mother Ruth would be willing to help her. Brenda had always had distant relations with the Fishers, especially Ruth, but after Nate's death she became an important part of their family for the rest of her life. Brenda repaired her relationship with Billy, and once and for all decided she would only love him as a brother.

Brenda's future and death

Brenda will later marry Daniel Nathanson and they have a child named Forrest Nathanson. She will later earn her Masters Degree in Social Work at California State University, Los Angeles and a PhD in Theories of Human Behavior at University of Southern California and will write several books about the role of the gifted child in family development. Brenda will become one of the most distinguished scholars in that field of study, adding several courses to the Social Work curriculum at USC. She also will develop research methodologies to conclusively prove the link between deviant human behavior and fetal alcohol exposure. After raising her new family and dedicating a career to scholarship and research, Brenda dies of natural causes in 2051, at the age of 81 while talking to Billy at home.