Carrie Heffernan - Character Profile

Character Profile

Carrie Heffernan (born in Manhattan on June 19, 1970) is the sharp-tongued wife of Doug Heffernan (Kevin James). Her father, Arthur Spooner (Jerry Stiller), lives in the couple's basement after losing his home in a fire. Carrie was born Simone Spooner but when she was a child, Arthur lost her name in a poker game which necessitated a switch of name with her cousin Carrie. Carrie's mother, Sophia, insisted on having "mother to Simone" engraved on her tombstone. Carrie originally had a sister (or probably, and more specifically, a paternal half-sister named) Sara (Lisa Rieffel) who moved in along with Arthur, but after the first season, the character was dropped. Little is known about Carrie's mother Sophia, except that she died during Carrie's teenage years, leaving Carrie in a state of confusion.

After difficult teenage years Carrie met her future husband Doug Heffernan at a bar where she originally meant to spend the night with his friend Richie Ianucci (Larry Romano) but ended up with Doug instead. Carrie's best friend is Kelly Palmer (Merrin Dungey), the wife of Doug's best friend Deacon Palmer (Victor Williams). At the end of the series the couple decide to adopt after struggling to conceive a child, having miscarried earlier in the series. In the season finale "China Syndrome", Doug and Carrie decide to split up but eventually reunite after adopting a Chinese baby girl. The same day, Carrie discovers she is pregnant.

Carrie is a fierce person, even physically abusive, and is frequently deemed as scary by other characters, particularly by Doug and the family dog walker Holly (Nicole Sullivan). She is a legal secretary and works at a variety of firms throughout the show before leaving to pursue a similar line of work at a real estate company. Carrie was accepted to Florida State but her father never told her. She starts to resent him when she found out but when she thought he died after having a heart surgery her heart melted.

Although she is a compassionate person, who does have guilt, she can seem selfish. In the episode "Ice Cubed", Carrie tries to make things right with an employee at a store after she accidentally gives her a free iPod and gets fired. However, in a later episode, she takes advantage to become friends with Doug's ex-girlfriend who he mistreated by tricking her into sleeping with him. She uses his ex-girlfriend (Janeane Garofalo) to get a 40% discount on one of Carries favorite stores, Saks Incorporated