The 100 Grooviest LGBT Characters on Television

From:  Deep Dish

88

Dr. Kerry Weaver 

(Laura Innes)

ER 

(1995-07)

Dr. Kerry Weaver, portrayed by Laura Innes, was a fictional character on the NBC television series ER; she first appeared as a recurring character actor in season 2, and became a regular cast member in season 3. In January 2007, Innes left the show after 12 years and the character of Kerry Weaver was written out of the show as having moved to Florida.

Very little of Weaver's background was revealed to the audience early on. Audiences only saw an accomplished doctor, fueled by ambition and dedicated to administrative policies. As for her personal background, the only things initially revealed were that she was physically disabled as evidenced by a limp in her gait which was aided by the use of a forearm crutch, later revealed to be caused by Congenital Hip Dysplasia in episode 14 of season 11, and that she had lived for a period in Africa, which was revealed when a former African boyfriend visited her at the hospital.

Weaver arrived at County General as Chief Resident and later became an attending physician, then rose to Chief of Emergency Medicine and finally Hospital Chief of Staff. Through it all, Weaver remained unfazed by her physical disability until much later in the show's life, which required her to move about the crowded and chaotic ER with a crutch, and by her controversial standing among colleagues, several of whom regard her as abrasive, cold and officious. Having had some heterosexual relationships, Weaver is eventually revealed to be a lesbian. Her sexual orientation was a key point in some of the episodes, particularly when she fights in court to keep her son, Henry.

Weaver is, just after John Carter, the character to have appeared in the most episodes. She was included in AfterEllen.com's Top 50 Lesbian and Bisexual Characters.