Karen Walker

Karen Walker
Full Name	Karen Walker
Birthdate	January 12, 1959
Aliases	Anastasia Beaverhausen Carol Texas Ranger Count Drunkula Cruella Gypsy Rose Lush K Kare Kare Bear (by Jack) Kiki Lopita Medea Pilar Palabunda Sister Frances-Beaverhausen Zany Delaney
Family	Unnamed first husband Unnamed second husband Stanley Walker (husband) Lyle Finster (ex-husband) Olivia (stepdaughter) Mason (stepson) Lorraine Finster (ex-stepdaughter) Sylvia Walker (mother-in-law) Lois Whitley (mother) Gin (sister) Sumner Davis (nephew)
Occupation	Chairman, CEO, and Board Member of Walker, Inc. Office Assistant at Grace Adler Designs Commercial model (formerly)
Alma mater	Sarah Lawrence College
Appearance
First appearance	Love and Marriage
Portrayed by	Megan Mullally Alexa Nisenson (young)

Karen Walker (née Delaney, formerly St. Croix, Popeil, and Finster) is Grace's rich assistant and the wife of unseen character Stanley Walker.

Biography

Karen was born on January 12. Although she tries to keep her age secret, Jack reveals that she is at least 42 in 2001, meaning she was in fact born around 1959. She has a sister named Virginia whom she calls Gin. She inherited her squeaky voice from her father. Karen recalls that their father used to take Gin to singing and dancing lessons while she had to stay at home with their mother to learn bartending, causing Karen to resent her sister. Karen's mother affectionately calls her "Kiki".

Karen in the 80s.

Karen's family moved around frequently, so she never got close to anyone, but her sister says that she was always easygoing and popular with boys. Karen was jealous that Virginia was their father's favorite. During high school, Karen won the student-body presidency against Scott Woolley by exposing her chest during the debates. She says her breasts grew because she drank horse vitamins that transformed her from a "mousy flat-chested wallflower".

Karen mentions that she lost her virginity to a professor, Mr. Tyler, who gave her an A+ and an exemption to write a term paper.

Early childhood and family

Karen's childhood was rocky because she had an unstable relationship with her mother, Lois Whitley, a con artist who incorporated her daughter into her schemes, including one where Karen became a notary public. On her 8th birthday, her mother changed her name and moved them to Vancouver. After she became successful on her own, Karen began to send her mother a monthly check to keep her from disrupting her new life and until the fourth season, she has been telling people that she had her mother committed to a mental facility against her will. She has also mentioned that the only person she has apologized to was her mother, as ordered by the court.

The Ginny Incident

In 1963, Karen purposely injured her sister Virginia during a game of Twister on "a rickety old sawmill that juts out over the falls". Virginia's injury resulted in her legs becoming uneven; Karen has been supporting her ever since. Years later, Virginia admits that she had planned to injure Karen that same day, but she was unsuccessful (a plot reference to Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?). Eventually, both realize that they were jealous of each other, and they decide to move past it.

Career

It's implied that Karen was an actress in her younger years. She played a bank teller in an episode of Mama's Family (where her scenes were cut out) and was in a two-episode arc of soap opera Dynasty alongside Diahann Carroll. At some point after college, she appeared in a fetish film, "Next to Godliness", as a dominatrix wearing a rubber dress.

Between her first and second marriages, she backpacked through Japan, Vietnam, and Bhutan. While worshipping at the Golden Temple in Kyoto, she was discovered by a commercial director and became the face of energy drink Atooshi Kodki, appearing in billboards and ads across Japan, becoming a popular Japanese icon even decades later.

Some time before the series began, Karen started working as assistant at Grace Adler Designs in New York. However, Grace states that she doesn't actually work there and rather calls it the "sleep-it-off" place where she goes to get away from her family. Nevertheless, Grace keeps her around because Karen pays for her health insurance and bonuses, and uses her social contacts to keep the business afloat. Will mentions that Karen's worth is 740 million dollars.

Personality

Karen is noted for her high-pitched voice which she got from her father, and her addiction to drugs and alcohol. Grace has described her as "a spoiled, shrill, gold-digging socialite who would sooner chew off her own foot than do an honest day's work".

She is also portrayed as cruel and tactless in dealing with people, especially those not belonging to her social status. It has been implied that she has made waiters cry in several occasions and that she has had people fired for senseless reasons. One recurring joke about Karen is how wicked she is to her staff at home, especially to her personal maid Rosario. Will mentions that some of her servants hand him "HELP ME" cards when he goes to the mansion. Except for some occasions, she does not let her staff see her as shown in the episode Crouching Father, Hidden Husband; while entering the room she announces "I'm approaching" or "I can see you", and the maids cower away quickly.

On at least one occasion, Karen has displayed advanced understanding of economics and computers, although Grace mentions in earlier episodes that she doesn't even know how to use the fax machine. It is implied that she gains these skills through drugs.

Other Identities

Throughout the series Karen often goes under the alias "Anastasia Beaverhausen" usually when she is in poor areas and doesn't want to be noticed or recognized. She also stated using the alias Pilar Palabundo to "beat up businessmen for cash in Chinatown". In fact, it's possible that her real name isn't even Karen; she says she changes her name from time to time to throw off the Feds. Her mother refers to her as "Kiki", although where it came from is never mentioned.

Marriages and affairs

She has been married four times. Her first husband's surname was St. Croix, and her second husband's surname was Popeil, a reference to American businessman Ron Popeil.

Karen met and fell in love with Stanley Walker even before her first marriage. After she found out that he was already married, she did not pursue him until he got divorced. They finally wed in 1995 and he died while their divorce was being finalized. Karen was then married to Lyle Finster in May 2004, but divorced him after 20 minutes, once she realized how much she had changed her personality for him. Karen later finds out that Stan faked his death to hide from the mob. After she confides to Will how betrayed she feels, she forgives Stan and they continue their marriage. Karen has two stepchildren, Olivia and Mason, whom she refers to as "the girl" and "the fat one", from Stan's previous marriage to Cathy.

On Thanksgiving 2001, Stan, who is jailed for tax evasion, gives Karen permission to have an affair while he is in prison. Karen however refuses, saying that the only man she wants is her husband. She almost sleeps with rich bachelor Lionel Banks just as Stan unexpectedly comes home from prison.

She has intimated an illicit relationship with former President Ronald Reagan, claiming that no one said anything to her at his funeral because she was his mistress. She also implies to have been a lover of Jon Voight, Steven Tyler, and Goldie Hawn, none of whom wanted to leave their daughters for her. Will says Karen also became "Husband #8" to Elizabeth Taylor due to her own "carelessness". She also had a relationship with a sultan named Habibi Shoshani Padush Al-Kabir, a man named Clayton, and Olympian Martina Navratilova (who was apparently straight before they met).

Sexuality

It has been a recurring humor throughout the series that Karen has bisexual tendencies, mostly implied through semi-sexual encounters with Grace. She has stated that her idea of a girls' night includes getting tops off and "lady lovin'", and has occasionally referred to time in Sarah Lawrence College where most of her early lesbian experiences took place. Karen tends to be flirty to certain characters, male or female, and often mentions doing outrageous sexual acts off-screen, although she consistently chastises Grace whenever she has slept with someone.

Her one-time roommate Liz mentions her having a "weird bisexual vibe". She enjoys flirty banters with her maid Rosario, and implies that she's attracted to her husband's mistress Lorraine Finster. Karen also hints that she might be transgender or intersex, as she sometimes refers to herself as a "boy" and mentions taking hormone pills to "prevent things from growing back".

Many female celebrities have also been implied to have sexual encounters with Karen, including Candice Bergen and Vanessa Williams. She also implies that she had an affair with lesbian realtor Deirdre. She also makes passes at Leo's ex-girlfriend Diane, Elliot's cheerleader crush Melanie, and Grace's neighbor Julie. In the final episode, Grace has a fantasy dream in which Karen and Rosario are married.

Friends and Rivals

Living in high society, Karen has had connections to rich people with whom she has love/hate relationships, some of whom actually appear on the show. Frequently, she describes them as rivals, including her "dearest white friend" Beverley Leslie; Stan's mistress Lorraine Finster; her " archenemy-slash-best-friend" Candice Bergen; Scott Woolley who secretly loves her; Candace Pruitt; and interior designer Helena Barnes.

Things Karen Implied

In conversation and offhand remarks, Karen has either directly stated or implied some unusual and highly improbable things about herself in the past incorporated in popular culture and events in history, although these may have been caused by the drugs she constantly takes.

• She made a deal with the devil that keeps her immortal.
• She was involved in the kidnapping of Patty Hearst.
• She was roommates with either Konstantin Stanislavski (1863–1938) or Uta Hagen (1919–2004) or Claire Danes (born 1979).
• She is close friends with New York high society people and politicians, including Connie Chung and Maury Povich, and Marlo Thomas and Phil Donahue, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, and Sunny von Bülow, although she is also implied to be involved in Sunny becoming comatose.
• She was part of the Texan defense at the Battle of the Alamo in 1836.
• She was alive during the Great Depression (1929-1939).
• Before the invention of Botox (circa 1980s), Karen had to go down to Chinatown, where she would inject her frown lines with mayonnaise that had been left out in the sun for a week.
• She had an affair with Martina Navratilova in the 1980s and was apparently responsible for turning her gay. She also had relationships with celebrities Jon Voight, Steven Tyler, and Goldie Hawn, as well as former President Ronald Reagan.
• Anti-gay politician Anita Bryant fell in love with her.
• She set up the closeted governor of New Jersey with his boyfriend, or rather loaned them her apartment.
• She claims to still collecting money from Linda Hussein (fictional wife to Saddam Hussein) after winning a bet about who had the worse husband.
• She's in a gang, listens to gangster rap, and is a fan of Aerosmith.
• She smoked weed with Blondie frontwoman Debbie Harry.
• She and frenemy Candice Bergen set up Martha Stewart and caused her to go to jail. She also implied that she had a sexual encounter with Candice.
• She was the woman who posed nude with Vanessa Williams in the 1984 Miss America controversy.
• Artist Pablo Picasso once offered to paint her but he wanted to put both breasts on one side of her body.
• She was cloned, but none of them survived.

Media

Karen during the pilot.

Karen during season 6

Karen in 2016.

Relationships

Will Truman

Will and Karen put on a show in A Chorus Lie.

Karen has been vocal about her disdain for Will's strait-laced personality and constant discipline at least in the earlier seasons. She has described Will as sullen, morose, and humorless and admitted that she barely cares about him.

Their relationship however, takes a turn later on after Karen hires Will as legal representation for Walker, Inc. Although she claims she just pretends to like him for Grace, Karen admits that Will was the only man she could trust ever since her husband went to prison.

Grace Adler

Though Karen relentlessly makes fun of Grace (typically concerning her wardrobe choices), she remains one of her closest friends and most reliable confidants when it comes to relationships. The two prove their closeness when Karen is able to correctly guess details about Grace's sexual encounters on several occasions. Every now and then, Grace and Karen would also share sincere moments, especially after Stanley's death.

Jack McFarland

Karen comforts Jack in Blanket Apology

Ever since they first met, Karen made a special connection with Jack. They have been shown to share the same enthusiasm for a lot of things, including shopping, money, jewelry, childish make-out sessions, and especially honesty when it comes to making fun of their friends or other people in general. For this reason, they thoroughly enjoy each other's company. They’ve always got each other’s backs and they love each other very much. They are the sillier or more “risqué” two within the core four. They mostly bond over their crazy adventures and antics. The pair is known for their wisecracks and one-liners during serious moments and situations. Although, whenever one of them is having an emotional moment, you can bet the other one will be there for them right by their side. Eric McCormack has referred to Jack and Karen as the "fun house mirror reflection of Will and Grace".

Rosario Salazar

Rosario was Karen's personal maid. Their relationship was always a strong and special one. Through their constant arguments and yelling, there was always laughs and love between the two of them. When Rosario died, it was one of the few moment where Karen showed emotion as she said goodbye to her “maid, sparring partner, best friend”. Karen placed her mother’s ring into Rosario’s coffin as a final display of her love for her.

Stanley Walker

Stanley "Stan" Walker is Karen's rich husband. Stanley is never seen on camera which is one of the show’s running gags. Stan was known to have died towards the end of the fifth season when a funeral was held for him and the crew took a yacht into the sea to scatter his ashes, but at the end of the seventh season it was revealed that Stan had to fake his own death since he was in trouble, throwing Karen through the loop.

Other romantic relationships

Main article: List of Karen's romantic partners

Staff

Main article: List of Karen's staff

Notes

• In the pilot episode, Karen did not speak with her usual high and squeaky voice. Her voice did not change until subsequent episodes as Megan Mullally was scared she’d be fired if she messed with the character too early on.
• Originally conceived as a supporting character role, Karen became a more prominent part of the show based on positive viewer reaction.
• According to series creator Max Mutchnick, Karen was named after a wealthy friend who used to work simply because that is "what people do". Her last name Walker came from the fact that his friend was always driven by a chauffer, and would never walk to work.
• Jack and Karen weren’t supposed to become the “other duo”, but Megan Mullally and Sean Hayes were seen by show creators and writers David Kohan and Max Mutchnick playing together offstage so they wrote an introduction for the characters in the second episode due to their chemistry.
• Karen's bra size is 34C. Her left boob is smaller than her right. She says it gets smaller when it’s scared.
• One of her big toes is webbed together with the one next to it, and implies her mother had the same affliction. She had it surgically corrected in 2005.
• Her drag name is Shu Shu Fontana (named after her first pet and the street she grew up in) and All Beef Patty. During the revival, Karen has a puppy named “Shu Shu Fontana”.
• She is often out of touch with reality and tells stories from her past that are actually plots of famous books or movies, including Heidi, Speed and Norma Rae.
• She has a dream of amassing the world's largest copper wire collection in order to make it into the Guinness Book of World Records.
• She had named her vagina Jan.

Outside of the show

Due to Karen's popularity, Mullally has appeared in several occasions as Karen, becoming the only character portrayed outside of the show.

The Megan Mullally Show

Walker's persona has appeared in advertisements for The Megan Mullally Show, which aired from 2006 to 2007. Mullally also donned a Walker persona in an episode of the show which featured Andy Dick where in Karen's voice, she said "I hurt his feelings, that was fun!"

57th Primetime Emmy Awards

Mullally appeared during the Emmy Awards in September 18, 2005 singing the theme song to Green Acres alongside future President Donald Trump. Mullally later describes a photo of this performance as her "suicide note".

Quotes

Honey what's going on with your hair? It looks like you've got mousse and squirrel in there. — Big Brother is Coming (Part II)

Well, well, well. Look what the cat cleaned up, showered, exfoliated, powdered, lipsticked, Gucci'd and dragged in. — Husbands and Trophy Wives

They're trying to make gay people straight! Good Lord! Don't they know what that'll do to the fall line? — Girls, Interrupted

Nobody matters but me. Good night! — life at the Walker mansion, He's Come Undone

Honey, that's just a saying, like, "Ooh, that sounds like fun," or, "I love you." — Crazy in Love

There's a penis and a vagina in a tent. And it's on fire. Which do you save? — the gay test, Fagmalion Part One: Gay It Forward

It's only acting, for God's sake. I mean, how hard can it be? Kate Beckinsale can do it. — Blanket Apology

Lord. You are just as simple as that blouse you're wearing. — Oh Dad, Poor Dad, He's Kept Me in the Closet and I'm So Sad

Grace, that blouse hurts like a hangover. — Brothers, a Love Story

We're all lesbians when the right guy isn't around. — Fagmalion Part Three: Bye Bye Beardy

You know, for a scheming, husband-stealing, skanky whore, you're good people. — To Lorraine Finster, 24

Honey, I've always said, if your genitals are on the outside, you're hiding something on the inside. — If men can be trusted, Lows in the Mid-Eighties