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 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 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.

Karen in the 80s.

Due to her family moving around a lot, she never got close to any one. However her sister says that she remained easy-going, and popular among boys. Karen in turn was also jealous of Virginia being their father's favorite.

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 due to her 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 Vancouver. After becoming successful on her own, Karen sends her mother a check once a month to keep her from bothering 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 saw mill that juts out over the falls". Karen has been supporting her ever since the incident. Years later, Virginia admits that she also planned on injuring Karen that same day though unsuccessfully. They eventually realize they were both jealous of each other and decide to move past it.

Career

Karen is implied to have been 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 worshiping 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.

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 Stan and the kids. 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 where whilst entering the room she announces "I'm approaching" or "I can see you", and the maids cower away quickly.

In at least one occasion, Karen has displayed an 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 while in poor areas she does not want to be associated with. She also stated using the alias Pilar Palabundo to "beat up businessmen for cash in Chinatown". Her real name may not, in fact, be Karen, as she says she changes her name from time to time to throw off the Feds. Her mother refers to her as "Kiki", although it was never mentioned where it came from.

Marriages and affairs

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

Karen met and fell in love with Stanley Walker even before her first marriage. After she found out that he is already married, she did not pursue him until he got divorced. They finally wed in 1995 until his untimely death while their divorce is still being finalized. Karen was then married to Lyle Finster in May 2004, but divorced him after 20 minutes after realizing how much she has 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 felt, 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", respectively from Stan's previous marriage to Cathy.

In Thanksgiving of 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. As Stan unexpectedly comes home from prison, she almost sleeps with rich bachelor Lionel Banks.

She has intimated an illicit relationship with former President Ronald Reagan, claiming 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 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 is 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 to be attracted to her husband's mistress Lorraine Finster. Karen also hints that she may 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 having an affair with lesbian realtor Deirdre. Karen 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 were married.

Friends and Rivals

Living in the high society, Karen has had connections to rich people, whom she has love-hate relationships with, 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 " arch-enemy-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 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, 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's comatose.
• She was part of the Texian 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), they had to go down to Chinatown, where they'd 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.
• Homophobic 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 Karen won a bet concerning who had the worst 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.

1/3

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

Jack McFarland

Ever since they first met, Karen has made a special connection with Jack. They have been shown to share the same enthusiasm for a lot of things, including making fun of Will, Grace, and Rosario and other people in general. For this reason, they thoroughly enjoy each other's company. Eric McCormack has referred to Jack and Karen as the "fun house mirror reflection of Will and Grace".

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.
• Originally conceived as a supporting character role, Karen became a more prominent part of the show based on positive viewer reaction.
• Karen's bra size is 34C. One of her boobs is smaller than the other. She says it gets smaller when 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 and All Beef Patty.
• Karen calls every waiter who serves her in bars "Smitty".
• 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

References