Magnum Mania!
Major Recurring Characters |
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| Image | Character | Actor | # Episodes (Seasons) |
Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Agatha Chumley | Gillian Dobb | 28 (3-8) | Affable English socialite who is very good friends with Higgins (since 1975). Although not particularly wealthy herself, she is an entrenched member of Oahu's high society. Harbored romantic feelings for Higgins, which were not reciprocated. They have remained very close friends, however. She is a very good bridge player and a skillful chess player. She has a particular fondness for classic works of literature, meditation, tea, gardening, and musical theatre. |
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Lt. Tanaka | Kwan Hi Lim | 27 (2-8) | Sharp Honolulu police lieutenant characterized by his casual dress and ironic sense of humor. He developed a close relationship with Magnum over the years. He is an avid baseball fan, and, like Magnum, his favorite team is the Detroit Tigers. He served 20 years on the force and was a Korean War veteran. He was surprisingly unceremoniously killed-off in Season Eight's "Tigers Fan" (8.4) during an undercover drug sting. He is survived by a sister named Barbara and a nephew named Biff. His first name is "Yoshi" (only mentioned once, after his death). |
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Carol Baldwin | Kathleen Lloyd & Patty McCormack (1 episode) |
17 (3-8) | Good-natured, hardworking, Honolulu deputy prosecuting attorney. She is good friends with Magnum and often calls on him for some "dirty work" in her cases. In exchange for his services, Magnum is often able to get important insider information from her to assist in his cases. Despite the obvious attraction the two had for each other, nothing ever became of it (although Carol did try). Born and raised in Oahu, her mom still lives in the Baldwin house (her father passed away when she was young). In Season Eight's "The Love That Lies" (8.6), Carol finds out that a lady named Brenda Babcock (Eileen Brennan) is actually her biological mother (the result of a liason with her father). |
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Lt. "Mac" MacReynolds | Jeff MacKay | 12 (1–8) | Doughnut-munching ONI Lieutenant who was close friends with Magnum. Often reluctantly provided sensitive, unclassified information to Magnum. He was killed by a car bomb that was meant for Magnum in "Did You See the Sunrise? (1)" (3.1). He "reappeared" years later as a ghost. |
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Doc Ibold | Glenn Cannon | 12 (2–8) | The gangs favorite medical doctor. Whenever the script called for a doctor, Doc Ibold was on the scene! Former Peace Corps member (Nigeria, 1963). He's known to offer unsolicited pysch advice. |
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Col. Buck Greene | Lance LeGault | 10 (2–8) | Hardbitten U.S. Marine Corps Colonel specializing in intelligence operations. He's known Magnum since the Vietnam War days. He's deeply enmeshed in espionage missions and has no qualms about entangling Thomas as well. Although Buck dislikes Magnum's style and contempt for authority, and they clashed often, he has a healthy amount of respect for him. |
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Icepick | Elisha Cook Jr. & Walter Chotzen (1 episode) |
10 (3–8) | Chicago-born, Hawaiian-based crime boss and loan shark. His tentacles reach far and wide on the islands. Whenever Magnum needs some important, hard to find, information, he calls on Rick to call on Icepick. His real name is Francis Hofstetler. He is Rick's stepfather (although this is not revealed until late in the series' run). He enjoys spending time in the sauna. |
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Lt. Maggie Poole | Jean Bruce Scott | 10 (3–8) | Hardworking ONI Lieutenant. She was the successor of the deceased Lt. Mac MacReynolds. Owner of a finely tuned moral compass, she provides Magnum with valuable, unclassified information, often at the risk of losing her job, simply for the increased chance of ridding the world of one less bad guy. In Season Six she becomes a Lieutenant Commander. Maggie is rarely seen with her hair down. |
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Jim "Mac" Bonnick | Jeff MacKay | 8 (5–8) | Con man and former U.S. Navy pilot who looks exactly like the deceased Lt. Mac MacReynolds (sans the mustache), but with a completely different personality. He often finds ways to involve (con) Magnum in his schemes. He uses many different aliases, but Magnum simply refers to him "Mac". He seemingly always owes someone money. |
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Michelle | Marta DuBois | 5 (2–8) | Beautiful French-Asian woman who was briefly married to Magnum in South Vietnam during the war. She was presumed dead in a Saigon bombing, but reappeared ten years later as the wife of a North Vietnamese Major General, Gen. Hue. They were both, apparently, anti-communist spies, working as double agents. Michelle was married to Gen. Hue before she met Magnum, but like her, he was incorrectly assumed to be dead. When she found out he was still alive, she faked her own death (for a variety of reasons) and returned to him. She briefly reunited with Magnum in 1981 ["Memories Are Forever"], became pregnant, and gave birth to his and her only child, a daughter name Lily Catherine. In 1986, fearing for Lily's safety, she was again briefly reunited with Magnum ["Little Girl Who"]. Magnum did not know of Lily's existance until this point in time, when she was five years old. Two years later, Michelle was tragically killed by a car bomb in 1988. ["Unfinished Business"] |
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Luther Gillis | Eugene Roche | 5 (3–7) | Mock-film noir Private Dick from St. Louis and narrator of the episodes in which he appeared. He's sort of a cross between Philip Marlowe and Ben Jardinn. His investigative techniques are pretty much the exact opposite of Magnum's. He is the author of a P.I. "How-To" book called So You Want To Be A Private Eye. He closed his office when Blanche, his secretary (and on again, off again girlfriend), married an encyclopedia salesman. Has a habit of landing himself in jail. |
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Katherine Peterson | Gwen Verdon | 5 (6-8) | Magnum's beloved mother. Married Frank Peterson after her first husband, Thomas Magnum Sr., died in Korean combat. Her second son, Joey Peterson (Magnum's half brother), was killed in Vietnam. |
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Robin Masters | Orson Welles (4 episodes) & Red Crandell (1 episode) |
6 (1-6) | Mysterious celebrity author/multi-millionaire, and owner of Robin's Nest, whose face is never seen in the show. He also owns a castle in England (Robin's Keep), a luxury apartment in Manhatten, a villa in Andros, and a chalet in Innsbruck. When writing his novels, he doesn't use a typewriter or computer. He dictates into a tape recorder. |