This article contains descriptions and biographies of fictional characters appearing in the HBO original television series Deadwood and in 2019's Deadwood: The Movie.
Cast Main cast
Actor Character Seasons Film 1 2 3 Timothy Olyphant Seth Bullock colspan="3" Ian McShane Al Swearengen colspan="3" Molly Parker Alma Garret Ellsworth colspan="3" Jim Beaver Whitney Ellsworth colspan="3" Brad Dourif Doc Cochran colspan="3" John Hawkes Sol Star colspan="3" Paula Malcomson Trixie colspan="3" Leon Rippy Tom Nuttall colspan="3" William Sanderson E. B. Farnum colspan="3" Robin Weigert Calamity Jane colspan="3" W. Earl Brown Dan Dority colspan="3" Dayton Callie Charlie Utter colspan="3" Keith Carradine Wild Bill Hickok colspan="3" Powers Boothe Cy Tolliver colspan="3" Kim Dickens Joanie Stubbs colspan="2" Anna Gunn Martha Bullock colspan="2" Jeffrey Jones A. W. Merrick colspan="2" Sean Bridgers Johnny Burns colspan="2" Titus Welliver Silas Adams colspan="2" Bree Seanna Wall Sofia Metz colspan="2" Lily Keene colspan="3" Josh Eriksson William Bullock colspan="2" Garret Dillahunt Jack McCall colspan="3" Francis Wolcott colspan="2" Drunk colspan="3" Brent Sexton Harry Manning
Recurring cast Actor Character Seasons Film 1 2 3 Geri Jewell Jewel colspan="3" Keone Young Mr. Wu colspan="3" Timothy Omundson Brom Garret colspan="3" Ray McKinnon Reverend Smith colspan="3" Ashleigh Kizer Dolly colspan="3" Ricky Jay Eddie Sawyer colspan="3" Larry Cedar Leon colspan="3" Peter Jason Con Stapleton colspan="3" Zach Grenier Andy Cramed colspan="2" Ralph Richeson Richardson colspan="3" Dan Hildebrand Tim Driscoll colspan="3" Shaughnessy colspan="2" Franklyn Ajaye Samuel Fields colspan="2" Alice Krige Maddie colspan="2" Sarah Paulson Miss Isringhausen colspan="2" Meghan Glennon Lila Monty "Hawkeye" Henson Hawkeye Stephen Tobolowsky Commissioner Jarry colspan="2" Richard Gant Hostetler Michael Harney Steve colspan="2" Pruitt Taylor Vince Mose Manuel colspan="2" Pasha D. Lychnikoff Blazanov colspan="2" Gerald McRaney George Hearst Allan Graf Captain Joe Turner Cleo King "Aunt" Lou Marchbanks colspan="2" Cynthia Ettinger Claudia colspan="2" Brian Cox Jack Langrishe colspan="2" Jennifer Lutheran Jen Jade Pettyjohn Caroline Woolgarden colspan="3"
Main characters Seth Bullock
Seth Bullock (Timothy Olyphant) leaves Etobicoke, Ontario, and becomes a marshal in Montana. Soon he hears stories of gold in Deadwood. Rather than searching for gold, Bullock opens a hardware store with his best friend and longtime business partner, Sol Star. At the camp, he meets Wild Bill Hickok. When Hickok is murdered, Bullock pursues the killer into the Black Hills and captures him, taking him back to South Dakota for trial. After his return, he becomes sheriff of Deadwood. Bullock, one of the few honest men in the camp, is soon enlisted to look after a gold claim for Alma Garret, an upper-class woman from the East Coast whose husband was murdered by Al Swearengen's men over the claim. Eventually, the two become sexually involved, despite the fact that Bullock is married to his brother's widow and is the stepfather of their son, his biological nephew.
He decides ultimately to end his relationship with Alma when his wife, Martha, and stepson William come to Deadwood. Later he learns Alma is pregnant with his child, but the pregnancy ends in miscarriage after she is married to Whitney Ellsworth. The relationship between Bullock and Martha continues to be rocky in the aftermath of her arrival until they are struck by tragedy, when William is killed by a wild horse. Though William's death is devastating, it brings the two closer together. Martha chooses to stay with him in Deadwood.
Bullock's honest character is instinctively repulsed by Swearengen (and vice versa), but the two form an uneasy alliance and slowly seem to develop a fondness for each other. Together they try to defend the camp against outside interests (e.g., the Hearst mining interests, the territorial government, and Alma Garret's in-laws) who have begun to appear in Deadwood when it begins to show the potential for some degree of wealth. Bullock's fiery temper, however, often clouds his judgment, distancing him from those closest to him. He makes a dangerous enemy of George Hearst because of his determination to stand against Hearst's criminal conduct. This puts him in considerable danger, as Hearst does at one point try to create circumstances in which Bullock might be lured into a lethal ambush.
In Deadwood: The Movie, Bullock has become a U.S. Marshal. Though he has had three children with Martha and seems to possess a calmer temperament, he is furious when George Hearst returns to town and orders the murder of Bullock's friend Charlie Utter. When Hearst is set upon by a mob furious about Utter's murder, Bullock's dedication to the law nearly falters as he almost allows them to kill Hearst; however, he catches sight of his family and has a change of heart, breaking up the mob and dragging Hearst into a jail cell. Afterwards, he returns home and embraces his wife.
There are several discrepancies between the historical Seth Bullock and the character in the show. In particular, the historical Bullock's wife, Martha, was not his brother's widow but his childhood sweetheart. In the pilot episode he states he came from Etobicoke, whereas the historical Bullock was born in Amherstburg.
Al Swearengen
Albert "Al" Swearengen (Ian McShane) is the proprietor of the Gem Saloon. Born in England (unlike the real Al Swearengen, who was born in Iowa Territory of Dutch descent), he lived two years in Australia before being raised in a Chicago orphanage under an abusive figure known as Mrs. Anderson, whom he mentions on occasion ran a brothel behind the girls' orphanage before running the boys' orphanage. Swearengen was among the first settlers of Deadwood, earning him several land claims and a position of considerable power and influence. The Gem Saloon offers alcohol, prostitution, and faro, and also acts as Swearengen's base of operations. He is presumably the most wealthy and influential person in the camp, relied upon to oversee many local affairs and to appoint officials, and he is greatly feared and respected.
Cunning and manipulative, Swearengen initially appears to be the most cynically amoral of all the characters, showing no hesitation in resorting to violence and murder when it serves his business interests. When former Montana marshal Seth Bullock comes to camp to sell hardware, his upright, law-abiding manner and strong sense of justice serves as an unintended yet upending threat to Swearengen. They initially butt heads until Swearengen decides to make Bullock the "face" of Deadwood and encourages him to pick up the badge again, turning Bullock's respectability to his advantage in securing the future of the camp.
Swearengen's central goal is to retain his own business interests in Deadwood and keep the camp stable and secure in order to get the territory annexed by the United States. As the camp is set upon, first by political interests and then by big capital, Swearengen comes to the realization that the preservation of his own interests depends on collaboration with others in the camp. While his alliances are often pragmatic and self-serving, Swearengen does show great loyalty to allies such as Mr. Wu. He displays an almost paternalistic (though often abusive) affection for his three main henchmen, Dan Dority, Johnny Burns, and Silas Adams. He is also affectionate toward Trixie, one of the prostitutes of the Gem, and is initially deeply offended when she begins a relationship with Sol Star.
Though he is portrayed as a cutthroat criminal, his character is shown to be more complex, motivated by a peculiar type of morality and justice as well as a need to protect the vulnerable even while seeming to disparage them. For example, though he professes to keep the crippled Jewel around in case someone with only nine cents wants a prostitute, Trixie relates that his employment of Jewel is really his "sick way" of protecting her. In the Season 1 finale, Swearengen smothers the Reverend Smith, but this was to end his suffering rather than out of ill intent. In Season 3, he murders an agent of George Hearst for shooting at Alma Garret, beating A.W. Merrick, and humiliating Wu. His opposition to both the Pinkertons and Hearst's machinations also demonstrate a character motivated by some degree of morality and the desire to protect the powerless. This is strongly contrasted with his rival Cy Tolliver, who shows little compassion or motivation beyond pure self-interest. Al is thus portrayed as a more heroic character as the series progresses, while Cy remains a villain.
In Deadwood: The Movie, Swearengen is ailing from liver failure after years of heavy drinking. He gives Trixie away at her wedding to Sol Star and announces his intention to leave Trixie the Gem upon his death. The film ends with his fate left ambiguous; when Trixie returns to the Gem to care for him, she begins to recite the Lord's Prayer — "Our Father, which art in Heaven" — to which Swearengen weakly replies, "Let Him fucking stay there."
The character is based on the real-life Al Swearengen, who owned the Gem Theater in Deadwood. Unlike the character (portrayed by British actor Ian McShane), the historical Al Swearengen was not English and was in fact born in Iowa. McShane won a Golden Globe in 2005 for his portrayal of Swearengen.
Alma Garret Ellsworth
Alma Russell Garret (Molly Parker), later Ellsworth, moved to Deadwood with her new husband Brom Garret, who left the high society of New York to experience frontier life and while in Deadwood buys a claim in the gold-rich territory. It is not long before Garret falls afoul of Al Swearengen: after Garret perceives the gold claim he purchased in a deal brokered by Swearengen to be worthless, he threatens the saloon owner with Pinkerton involvement should his money not be returned to him. Garret is promptly murdered on Swearengen's orders, only for the claim to turn out a very rich one. Now, stranded in Deadwood and dealing with attempts by Swearengen to buy the claim back, the 30-year-old widow Garret decides to try her luck on the new frontier rather than sell the claim and return East. She hires Wild Bill Hickok to investigate both the claim and Swearengen's interest. Hickok soon nominates Seth Bullock to assay her gold claim shortly before Hickok is murdered, which event renders Bullock the sole guardian of Alma's interests. Eventually, Bullock and Alma begin an affair which is cut short by the arrival of Bullock's wife and stepson, and his and Alma's mutual revulsion at the prospect of marital infidelity. Alma is, however, brokenhearted, jealous, and furious with both Bullock and his wife Martha, although she knows that feeling is irrational. Her mood is not aided by the revelation that she has become pregnant by Bullock.
In the meantime, Alma fends off not only her own father, who has heard of her newfound wealth and come seeking a share, but also a surreptitious plan by her husband's family to frame her for his murder and thereby take over the claim for themselves. The intense interest of George Hearst's mining empire in her claim also poses future problems. To ensure she is not ridiculed during her pregnancy, Trixie tells Whitney Ellsworth he should propose to Alma. After a period of hesitation, Alma accepts Ellsworth's proposal and marries him the following week in front of several Deadwood citizens and friends. In the early episodes, Alma struggles with an addiction to laudanum, an opiate used widely in the 19th century, which she overcomes with Trixie's assistance. She also takes Sofia Metz, an orphan girl whose family was murdered, under her wing as a foster daughter.