List of Boston Public minor characters

This site includes only the list of all minor cast members that appeared on FOX drama series "Boston Public". For the list of all contracted cast members, please see the main article.

Minor characters

Other teachers

In the third season, three new teachers were hired. The first two were Zach Fischer (Jon Abrahams) and Colin Flynn (Joey McIntyre). Zach seemed to be a replacement for Harry, except with no mysterious personal demons. He didn't deal with the same on-edge kids, but was very liked by students who dubbed him "Fish". He soon began to date Ronnie. Colin had a brief affair with Patricia Emerson, the mother of Becky Emerson, who had a crush on him herself, but broke it off when a jealous Becky threatened to reveal the affair in a poem she was going to read in public. The third character was Kimberly Woods (Michelle Monaghan), a young and somewhat naive woman in a "Teach for America" program whose class discussion on affirmative action results in racial violence that ended up putting Steven on trial for murder. Kimberly was later forced to leave Winslow High after an obsessed lesbian student stalked and threatened to kill her. Zach and Colin disappeared from the show after the third season with no explanation as to what happened to them.

In the fourth and final season, three new characters came onto the show. The first was Carmen Torres (Natalia Baron), the 21-year-old Spanish fluent physics teacher who would clash with Steven over his insistence that she not speak and teach Spanish in the classroom. Interestingly, the storyline never brought up the controversial reality that Massachusetts schools have a state-mandated English-only policy. Carmen started a brief relationship with Jake (Milo Ventimiglia), an undercover cop who was posing as a "bad boy" teenager in order to bring down a student who was selling drugs; Jake was murdered when the drug bust went wrong. In the meantime, she helped a student who also liked the late cop and who also had a drinking problem. She revealed her own drinking problem, but little was made of it. She also revealed her mom committed suicide. Carmen disappears in the middle of the final season. No explanation is provided.

Other faculty members

There were some minor faculty members that served to comment on the current administration and teacher techniques and status.

Louisa Fenn (Rashida Jones) was the wisecracking, sassy high school secretary who briefly dated Milton Buttle until he broke up with her after meeting Lisa. Louisa learned of Milton's affair with Lisa and pondered ratting on him, but didn't; she did, however, gain a spiteful attitude towards Lisa. In the second season, she was discovered to be secretly writing "Dear Helen", a sex column for the school paper, which eventually led to her dismissal. Louisa came from a biracial family, as her father was African-American while her mother was Caucasian. Before departing from the series, she started up an unofficial girl band with Marla and Marilyn.

Milton Buttle (Joey Slotnick) was the nerdy, mild-mannered English teacher who was often on the receiving end of Sheryl Holt's online parodies. He met Lisa Greer at a Starbucks one day and started a relationship with her, only to find that she was a student at Winslow High. Despite this, he reluctantly continued his relationship with Lisa but was discovered and fired, though he continued dating Lisa. Eventually, he and Lisa broke up.

Kevin Riley (Thomas McCarthy) was the football coach who was fired when he told Scott that he knew that about the secret affair between Milton and Lisa in an attempt to get Scott and Steven to go easy on Milton. Kevin sued to get his job back in an episode that crossed over with the television series "The Practice", but he lost his case and angrily snubbed Steven when he attempted to make peace with Kevin. The coach that replaced Kevin was a minor character who was rarely seen.

Dr. Benjamin Harris (Leslie Jordan) was an effeminate Southern chemistry teacher who originated in the "Ally McBeal" episode "The Wedding (4x23)." He first appeared when he helped Jeremy Peters dissect his mother Meredith's severed hand in the second-season premier, then got into trouble when he organized a school production of Susan Miller's "It's Our Town Too" that centered around homosexuality. He later resigned after he was discovered having had cybersex with two 18-year-old female Winslow students who had posed as college students in an Internet chatroom.

Superintendent Marsha Shinn (Debbi Morgan) was the judgmental and overly critical superintendent who once visited the school to complain about the unorthodox teaching methods of the faculty in an attempt to get Steven fired after he physically assaulted a school bully. Marla called her "The Dragon Lady". She apparently quit her job since a new superintendent showed up at the school in later episodes.

Mr. Bob 'Big Boy' Lick (Dwight "Heavy D" Myers) was the school's heavyset but compassionate counselor whom most students did not seem to like or trust, but both Steven and Scott often referred students over to him. He took a sabbatical during the final season without advising the administration and never returned.

Superintendent Elizabeth Vasquez (Elizabeth Pena) (presumably) replaced Marsha Shinn as the superintendent of schools. Unlike Shinn, she was less judgmental and was persuaded by Steven to not suspend or fire Scott for his role in the student riot; she even half-jokingly told Steven to keep Scott from talking to the athletes. However, she was fired in the middle of the third season.

Minor characters and students

Minor characters in the series were primarily (but not always) students who were introduced to make a comment on society in general.

Dana Poole (Sarah Thompson) was a popular student who kissed Harry, then tried to blackmail him. Despite this, Harry reached out to her and tried to help her when she became a stripper. As a college student, Dana returned to interview the high school faculty and staff about the low teacher salaries and began to date Harry, only to later break up with him at his birthday party because he lied to his co-workers about how long their relationship had been going on.

Susan Potter (Joanna Garcia) was a popular student who was caught giving oral sex in the school hallway to sway a student election.

Sheryl Holt (Lamya Jezek) was the editor of the student newspaper and webmaster of an online website, Holt 45. The website was a frequent problem for the faculty, as it often spoofed them and their private lives with graphic innuendos. Though usually a source of stress and conflict for the staff, she was sometimes sought out for information. The school eventually took her to court for the humiliating publishings on her website but lost the case. She was eventually set straight by Scott when he continually forced her to hire a lawyer for violating her rights of free speech, which was costing her family considerable amounts of money. She graduated along with the rest of her class in the Season 1 finale and presented Scott with a faculty award.

Christine Banks (Lindsay Hollister) was an unpopular, overweight girl who was often bullied and got into trouble when she responded to the harassment with violence. Kevin persuaded her to earn respect from the students by being on the wrestling team, and it worked. However, Christine suffered a heart attack after playing a match, and later died.

Brooke Harper (China Shavers) was Steven's headstrong daughter who was transferred to her father's high school after being kicked out of a private school for kidnapping the school's mascot as part of an animal rights protest. She continued her political activism, including organizing the students to stage a walkout over toxic chemicals and overcrowded classrooms in the school that ended up sparking a riot as the school athletes feared that these problems will be fixed by cutting the sports budget. Brooke once dated a 27-year-old man named Roland McClane as well as Jeremy Peters, but neither relationship lasted long. She always hoped for her parents to get back together, but had accepted that it was not going to happen. At the end of the third season, Brooke had graduated and had been accepted to Harvard University.

Meredith Peters (Kathy Baker) was Scott's girlfriend in Season 2 who was given a teaching position at Winslow High. She was always a little questionable - Kelley apparently wanted the fans to always wonder if she was lying or not. She was originally a recurring character in the later part of Season 1 and was suspected by Marilyn of abusing her son, Jeremy. It was later discovered that Meredith would often lock Jeremy in the basement as a form of punishment. She mysteriously disappeared for a few episodes, during which time Jeremy's behavior was noticeably different. It was eventually revealed that Jeremy had locked "her" in the basement as retaliation against her punishments. She returned in the first episode of Season 2 but without her left hand, which she'd accidentally severed in an attempt to escape her locks in the basement. After helping around Winslow High she was given a teaching position and began her relationship with Scott shortly thereafter. A hook eventually took her left hand's place, which earned her the nickname of "The Hook Lady." The hook was later replaced by a prosthetic given to her by Scott as a gift. She was eventually fired by Scott for hitting Marcie Kendall, which subsequently ended their increasingly shaky relationship. She makes her final appearance at Ronnie's disastrous surprise birthday party for Harry in Chapter 41.

Jeremy Peters (Kaj-Erik Eriksen) was Meredith's son. In Season 1 he was the student with the highest grades in his class and a student of Marilyn's. Marilyn consistently tried to help him when she suspected that his mother abused him. Jeremy eventually admitted to her that his mother would lock him in the basement as punishment. Near the end of Season 1 Jeremy's behavior significantly changed. He shifted from a reserved and timid student to a sociable and rebellious one. When Marilyn couldn't get in touch with Meredith, she suspected that maybe Jeremy had done something to her. In the first episode of Season 2, Jeremy brought a severed hand into school to dissect with Mr. Harris. When Marilyn found out that the hand had belonged to a middle-aged woman she began to theorize that the hand belonged to Meredith. She soon learned that Meredith was alive and well, but was indeed missing her left hand. It was later revealed that during her mysterious disappearance and Jeremy's dramatic change in behavior that he had actually locked her in the basement out of retaliation. After she lost the missing hand in an attempt to escape, they patched up their relationship with the help of family therapy. When Scott and Meredith began their relationship, Jeremy was jealous of the love his mother gave to Scott but never gave to him as a child. Scott likened their mother-son relationship to that of Norman Bates and his mother. At some point Scott discovered Jeremy kissing another boy backstage during a theater rehearsal, and it was assumed that he was gay. It was revealed that Jeremy was actually bisexual when Scott later discovered him kissing Brooke Harper. Jeremy's relationship with Brooke was sabotaged by Meredith due to her unusually accepting attitude towards the couple. Jeremy's last appearance is in the school hallway, when he's blown off by Scott after Meredith's departure from the show. It's presumed that he graduated with the rest of his class since he did not return in Season 3.

Marcie Kendall (Cara DeLizia) was a student whom Meredith slapped with her prosthesis during an argument, leading to Meredith being fired. In the third season, Marcie began Scott's assistant and was involved in the student walkout. Later on, she became pregnant by Brian Harrower, her boyfriend; overwhelmed by her impending responsibilities of being a mother, she decided to give up her baby for adoption.

Robin Chambers (L.B. Fisher) was a transgender student who caused an uproar and some gay-bashing when he chose to become a candidate for prom queen. He won the contest and ended up wining a dance with the prom king, who subtly came out as being gay to Robin; the two danced the night away. Neither student is seen again.

Patricia Emerson (Anne Archer) was the sultry, middle-aged mother of Becky Emerson who claimed to be the descendant of poet Ralph Waldo Emerson and even kept her maiden name when she married her husband, an arms dealer. She complained to Colin about his grade on Becky's assignment and, unhappy with her marriage, flirted with him, leading to an affair with the young teacher. Ultimately, she reconciled with her husband and ended the affair.

Rebecca 'Becky' Emerson (Courtney Peldon) was the beautiful but nutty daughter of Patricia Emerson who developed a crush on Colin and was devastated when she learned that he was sleeping with her mother. As a result, she threatened to expose Colin's affair at a poetry until she saw her parents together again and decided not to. Later, she became the anchorwoman of the student television station and was about to air footage of a married teacher having sex with another woman in a classroom, but was persuaded from doing so by Danny. In the series' fourth and final season, Becky became Scott's assistant and once gave him surprisingly insightful advice.

Devon Rick (Matt Lutz) was a gay teenager on the swim team who watched as his boyfriend was beaten up by their homophobic teammates. The incident prompted Scott to start up a Gay-Straight Alliance and lecture the school on the evils of homophobia. Eventually, Scott persuaded Devon to come out and identify the students who beat up his boyfriend.

Dave Fields (David Conrad) was liaison to the Mayor pushing for standardized testing and budget cuts. He persuaded Ronnie to act as his eyes and ears in the school and even offered her a possible political career, but Ronnie eventually rejected his offer of romance and politics.

Riley Ellis (Andrea Bowen) was a 12-year-old prodigy looking for a normal friendship while attending Winslow High. Steven persuaded Brooke to be her friend, but Riley rejected the friendship when she realized that Brooke was only doing it to try and get close to a male student that she had a crush on. She later became Becky's friend and worked with her in the student television station.

Taylor Prentice (Verne Troyer) was a little person (or dwarf) ex-professor who helped underachieving students ace exams and later dated Marla. They eventually broke up.

Eccentric art teacher Henry Preston (Phil Buckman) came on towards the end of the series and had to deal with the frustration of budget cuts. Later, he persuaded a student to focus his talents on mathematics and use art as a secondary hobby. In the final episode of the series, which was left unaired in the United States until showed Henry slept with Ronnie Cooke, who had previously been acting as a therapist of sorts to Henry, and was suspended from the school after hugging a sobbing female student. The suspension caused the students to stage a sit-in in his favor.

Charlie Bixby (Dennis Miller), a smart-alecky, arrogant investment banker who was forced to teach math at Winslow High as part of his community service for being convicted of securities fraud. He was able to reach his students by devising math problems with references to illicit drugs and prostitution, and volunteered at the school's suicide hotline where he befriended a teenager whom he persuaded to not kill himself. He disappeared in the middle of the final season without explantion. Bixby had a habit of repeating his name for seemingly no reason -- a characteristic shared by Denny Crane, another character later created by David E. Kelley.

Peter Feldman (Miko Hughes) was a student who, after being electrocuted in Danny's class, came to believe that he was Jesus Christ reborn. As such, he began to come to school dressed in ceremonial robes, offering advice to Danny and even using student fees to help a homeless man. Eventually, it was discovered that the reason behind his assuming the identity of Jesus was that he witnessed a young boy get hit by a bus one afternoon.

Julien (Thomas Dekker) was a student who came out to his father, who beat him and his mother. Julien ran away from home, prompting Danny and Claire to track him down and get him to live with his mother who had finally left her bigoted and abusive husband.

Ms. Parks (Cleo King) was a parent who, whenever she had a complaint about something at the school, would put her shoe in the principal's face. She would say, "Smell that shoe!", and launch into a 60 second rant on the social and moral ills at the school.