This is a list of the characters from the Showtime comedy-drama series Dead Like Me.

Undead

Reapers

George Lass

Georgia L. "George" Lass, portrayed by Ellen Muth, died in 2003 at the age of 18 and became a grim reaper.

George was probably born in the Seattle area, in 1985, the daughter of Clancy Lass, a literature professor and Joy Lass, a secretary at a law firm. No specific birth date was given, but she describes herself as a Taurus. She died in 2003, hit by a falling zero-G toilet seat from de-orbiting Soviet space station Mir. Even though she displayed an above-average intelligence, George had dropped out of college mid-semester. She found a clerical job through Happy Time Temporary Services and died during her lunch break on the first day. In life, she was disaffected with her existence, lived with a family that did not understand her at all, and avoided most life experiences. She is learning more about life in her undead life than she did when she was alive.

She uses her undead name "Millie" (short for full name Mildred Hagen) when working at Happy Time and in some other interactions with the living. During interactions with the living, her physical appearance is very different, and is portrayed by Laura Boddington. George sees this other, "UnGeorge" face's reflection when she looks in a mirror. After using the excuse that she is a member of Alcoholics Anonymous so that she could leave work to complete a reaping assignment, she continues to occasionally use this explanation for her absences.

She likes coffee and waffles (and in the second season, oatmeal with raisins). She owns a frog, the former pet of her first reap, which she later gives to her sister Reggie. She claims old people "freak her out."

After several unsuccessful attempts to communicate with her mother, she is slowly letting her family life go, though she is upset at the start of season two to learn that her parents are divorcing and selling the family home. She occasionally calls home and hangs up, with the intention of simply hearing the voice of her mother or sister. She treats fellow reaper Mason like a brother, and is roommates with Daisy.

She lost her virginity to Thomas "Trip" Hesburgh III, whose father she reaped, but the act leaves her feeling empty and, ultimately, angry when he dumps her. After going on a drinking binge, she is arrested for breaking the display window of a bridal store, claiming that couples everywhere are mocking her. She pushes over the bride mannequin, and repeatedly knees the groom mannequin in the crotch before the police arrive.

In the episode Always, George kills Ray the Graveling by touching him in much the same way she would reap a soul. It is unknown if other reapers also have this ability, however, it is implied that a special relationship exists between George and the Gravelings; when she was a child, she nearly drowned after being pushed into a swimming pool. Not one, but two Gravelings were present, yet, for reasons left unexplained, they allowed her to live. Overall, the series has implied that she has had more than one Graveling sighting as a child. It is also implied that George can see the Gravelings straight-on, while other reapers can only see them for brief instants out of the corners of their eyes.

Rube

Rube John Sofer, played by Mandy Patinkin, was born ~1876 and died ~1926. The manner of death is yet unknown. The date of his death is surmised by the fact that he was present in 1926 for the death of Betty Rhomer. However, in Ghost Story, he recants a tale of a man who perishes in a swamp while attempting to return to his wife after regretting his decision to leave his wife. Whether this is his own death or not was never revealed. He is afraid of heights. Rube is the "foreman" of the group of grim reapers at the center of the series. He gets the list of who is to die, when and where, from an unnamed shadowy individual and then transfers the first initial and last name of the person, where they are to die, and their estimated time of death (ETD) to a Post-it note and assigns them to the reapers. He enjoys eating and cooking. He has been a reaper since or before 1926, is originally from Englewood^[1]New Jersey, and is of Jewish heritage. He refuses to reap children. Although he comes off as gruff and aloof, he actually cares for his team like a father, and is particularly fond of George Lass, the newest "recruit" to his small team of reapers. He calls her "Peanut", and in the episode "Always", it was revealed that was the nickname he had for his daughter, Rosie. He claims to have reaped Amelia Earhart. Rube gets irritated at fellow reaper Mason's antics and frequently calls him a "fuck-up." However, he suspects that Mason is smarter than he seems. A skilled shell game operator, Rube once taught Mason techniques from the game, which he used to sell a line of kitchen appliances. The disappearance of Betty Rhomer, a reaper with whom he worked since her own death in 1926, disturbed him greatly. He hates computers and avoids using them whenever possible.

One of the more mysterious of the reapers featured on Dead Like Me, his full name wasn't revealed until the episode Death Defying^[1]. His date of death was never made explicit, but implied to be the earliest of the known reapers. Mason jokes in "Rites of Passage", "Rube's so fucking old, he reaped Jesus." In "Ghost Story" George thinks Rube probably reaped Houdini.

In a major character arc during the second season, he was greatly upset when he discovered that a package of money that he had sent after his death to his daughter and wife in 1927 was never delivered, and embarked upon a quest to find out why. While he searched public record archives, during which he found the death certificate for his wife, he discovered a wanted poster that indicated he was apparently wanted for a bank robbery. His daughter's birth certificate describes his wife of being of Czechoslovakian origin and 24 years old at the time of his daughter's birth, maiden name being Lucy Sonia Debrowski. Rube's full name is revealed here, as well as his stated occupation of salesman and that he was 49 years old at her birth. His daughter's full name is Rose Anne Sofer. Their address was 243 Georgian Lane.^[1] Lucy's death certificate was discovered but not shown, but her gravestone shows that her year of birth was 1901 and her date of death was 1941^[2], consistent with the age given on her daughter's birth certificate.

His daughter Rosie was born on 19 March 1925^[1], according to her birth certificate in "Death Defying" (but in 1922^[3] according to her gravestone in Haunted) and lived at a nursing home until her death in 2004. Fellow reaper Penny (who died on the Titanic, referred to as a "boating accident") led Rube to Rosie, so Rube could be with her when she died. When Rube sat with her in the garden of the nursing home, Rosie recognized Rube as her father.

As for Rube's possible year of birth, it was stated that Rube was 49 years old at the time of his daughter’s birth. She is said to have been born in 1925 in “Death Defying”, and 1922 in ”Haunted”, which means that, depending on the episode, Rube was born in either 1876 (”Death Defying”) or 1873 (”Haunted”).

Mason

Mason, portrayed by actor Callum Blue, claims he was born at a rock and roll concert behind the amplifiers ^[4] and died drilling a hole in his own head seeking a permanent high.^[5] Mason is originally from London (he reaped Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones in 1969), and was transferred to his present location some time ago. He is the only reaper besides George whose doppelgänger has been depicted. When he appears to fellow reapers, he is portrayed by Callum Blue.

Mason collects money from the dead, deals, smuggles and uses drugs. He has become an alcoholic in response to the pressures of his job.^[6] He is attracted to Daisy,^[7] and is often protective of her. He became jealous when she became attracted to another man called Ray (Eric McCormack), whom Mason felt was dangerous; Mason eventually killed him while trying to protect her.^[8] While he is drawn to attractive females, his feelings for Daisy seem to run much deeper. He has an edgy relationship with Rube; they dislike, but tolerate each other. Rube has on more than one occasion referred to Mason as "a fuck-up".

Roxy

Roxanne "Roxy" Harvey was strangled with leg warmers by a jealous friend after inventing them.^[9] Roxy and George are the only other reapers of the group with a day job. She used to be a meter maid for the city, but entered the police academy at the beginning of the second season.^[6]

She is a no-nonsense woman with respect to both reaping and her day job, and carried a handgun to keep arguments over parking tickets short.^[5] She is the only reaper on the series who used her powers in anger, when she temporarily removed the soul of a particularly rude motorist,^[10] thereby alerting him to the existence of a higher power. The man subsequently started a religion around her, much to Rube's dismay (The man reverted to his usual enraged self when Roxy crushed his testicles). She has confessed to not sleeping because of nightmares. Rube considers Roxy to be his "second in command" and left her in charge when he went away. Assigned to investigate the disappearance of Ray Summers, Roxy knows that Daisy and Mason had something to do with it, but chose to cover for them, claiming that Ray ran off to Portland.

She is the most recent reaper after George, but is more mature than Daisy and Mason, who died before her. Over time, George and Roxy develop a near-friendship as George acquires a greater sense of responsibility, impressing Roxy given her own police duties.

Betty

Betty Rohmer (1899-1926), died by jumping off a cliff into a river without realizing its height. She was a spunky woman who "can't sit still for very long", and disappeared after following a soul into his great beyond,^[11] not long after befriending George. She was known for sometimes using 1920s phrases. She had conversations with George about using aliases in the past. Her trademark was taking a Polaroid photo of the people whose souls she took,^[11] and classifying those people by personality type (of which her own was said by George to be "mysterious and reassuring"). Rube was present when she died and consequently they have been reaping together since her death in 1926.^[11]

Daisy Adair

Daisy Adair, portrayed by Laura Harris in the TV series and by Sarah Wynter in the Direct to Dvd movie, died by asphyxiation and smoke inhalation in Marietta, Georgia on December 13, 1938, although she repeatedly claims to have died in a fire on the set of Gone with the Wind. She claims to be one of the Greenwich "Adairs". ^[9] Daisy was transferred from SoHo in New York City to join the group after Betty disappeared. Later in the episode it is revealed that she was kicked out of New York for swindling the families of the recently deceased after Rube and several members of the Plague Division posed as police officers to break up the con. She is an actress from the 1930s, who frequently tells stories of her alleged sexual escapades with actors and celebrities including Clark Gable, Charlie Chaplin, Cary Grant, Errol Flynn, Bing Crosby and Babe Ruth.

Behind her bravado, however, she is lonely, an insight most clearly revealed in an episode where her final thoughts before death were recorded as being "Why has no one ever loved me?"^[7] It is hinted that she left New York under bad circumstances, possibly involving a con game with the newly dead^[12]. Her loose morals when it comes to her job irk Rube greatly, though he never punishes her for them.

Daisy and George first become enemies when Daisy takes over for Betty, whom George liked immensely. Daisy then forces herself into George's apartment and even kicks her out of her own bed, making George hate her. Slowly, George realizes Daisy's demeanor is just a front, and she warms to her slightly, and in response, Daisy does calm down her arrogant behavior. The two become good friends by the end of the series, especially after Mason gives them his house to stay in.

Daisy and Mason have a rocky relationship, because he is madly in love with her, yet her own insecurities, expressed through her sexuality, keep any type of loving relationship at bay. Mason goes so far as to buy Daisy an engagement ring, and though she refuses the gift, she is secretly touched deeply by it, and wears the ring on a necklace for the remainder of the series. It's clear that she continues to have feelings for Mason, but the extent is never known.

In the episode "Be Still My Heart," Daisy reacts very poorly to the death of a woman at the hands of a man who is tired of having her as a mistress. Visibly shaken by the events, Daisy fingers the murderer and leaves behind the soul at the scene without explanation, infuriating Roxy. Daisy ends the episode and explains her bizarre behavior by telling Mason, "Did I ever tell you I had a sister?"^[13]

Daisy met Ray in the episode "Death Defying", she began dating him, and in the episode "Forget Me Not" Daisy ends their relationship and Ray turns nasty, grabbing her by the throat and slamming her into the wall. Mason kills Ray in Daisy's defense. However, a Graveling emerges from Ray's body because Ray's name was not on a Post-It note, meaning that he wasn't supposed to die that night. Daisy then remarks that she has seen it happen before. The Ray Graveling hangs around Daisy and George's house, tormenting Daisy and driving her into depression and drinking. George kills said graveling in the episode "Always", and the police search for Ray, while Roxy covers for Mason and Daisy as she understands something is wrong.^{[14][8][14][15]}

Charlie

Charlie, the pet reaper (Spencer Achtymichuk) b. ~1988, d. ~1997, hit by a drunk driver. Charlie, a young boy, has appeared three times to reap pets, one of which was George's family's dog. He has encountered both George and Reggie. Reggie has attempted to befriend him. From the 14'th episode in the first series, Millie asks him where he lives, and he replies with "just here and there". One can also tell from his clothes. IN that episode,he also tried to reap Delores's cat, but fails and instead reaps a nearby rabbit. Charlie is one of the few Reapers who regularly refers to George as "Toilet Seat Girl."

Penny

Penny (Yeardley Smith) d. 1912 in the Titanic disaster, after which she developed a dislike of ice (even in beverages). Penny used to be a member of Rube's group in "external influences", and now works for "natural causes," based upon how reapers are assigned to their division (see The Lawn Bowlers), it is logical to assume she either drowned or died from hypothermia (though hypothermia is more likely). She first appeared in "Forget Me Not" when George had a reap at the hospital. In "Always", she showed Rube the Post-it for his daughter Rosie, and allowed him to accompany her to the nursing home where Rosie stayed, giving him a few minutes to visit his daughter before her death. She seems to get on well with Kiffany (who does not seem to comment on the fact she hasn't aged) and also seems well liked by Roxy and Mason. She had not previously met Daisy or George. Her usual drink is iced tea without the ice.

Plague division

Pete and Company. Pete and two other unnamed male reapers were seen in the episode "Unfinished Business". Pete is a police detective and the other two are beat cops. According to Pete, they have nothing but time on their hands as they work in the "plague division" (Pete hopes for a swarm of locusts so they'll have something to do). Pete and his friends give Rube a hand to break up Daisy's seance scam in the aforementioned episode, getting shot several times by Rube. A humorous conversation about what sort of bullets hurt the most follows.

The Lawn Bowlers. On the deleted scenes section of the First Season DVD (and later shown on Scifi Channel during their run), Mason and George are in a park, and notice several members of the Plague Division involved in a game of lawn bowling. During this scene, Mason explains how reapers are assigned to their division, since the lawn bowlers died of the Plague, they are assigned to the Plague division. However, they've been out of work for the last 600 years, since no one dies from the Plague anymore. George suggests that some other disease may come up, such as Ebola, when the bowlers notice a squirrel approach a pair of picnickers. Mason tells George they're expressing interest because squirrels were carriers of the Plague and thought if one of the picnicers was bit, there could be a new outbreak.

Ray the graveling

Ray, the graveling. A graveling apparently created when Mason killed Ray Summers. This graveling appears to be stalking Daisy (who refers to the creature as Ray) and apparently had vengeful feelings for Mason. He was also particularly malevolent, and in "Always" he caused the premature death of one man for whom no Post-it note was assigned. In the same episode, he was destroyed by George when she simply touched him the same way she would touch a reap. (See the entry for Ray Summers, below, for more information about Ray in life.)

The unnamed person

This nameless, silent individual, seen only as the opening and closing of Rube's elevator door, delivers to him the names of those about to die. The names are slid under Rube's door in an unmarked manila folder. This person's identity and rank in the organization have never been revealed. Rube has attempted to coax this person into revealing him/her/itself by cooking it a traditional Italian meal. When Betty Rohmer jumped after a soul into the after life, Rube left a post-it on the door asking the person, "What happened to her?"

George's family

Joy Lass

Joy Lass (Cynthia Stevenson) b. ~1962. Joy is George's mother. Described by George as a Virgo and a career legal secretary who enjoys ice skating and John Grisham novels. She is organized, neurotic, and a bit foul-mouthed. Hates the word "moist" because she thinks it sounds pornographic and is afraid of balloons. Her name is an ironic misnomer, as her life is "joyless". George's death threw her into a deep depression made worse by her husband's infidelity and her inability to communicate with her remaining daughter. She is profoundly unsatisfied and frustrated with her life. She has recently started dating Angelo, but reacted strangely upon learning that Clancy's lover dumped him, and has started to make subtle overtures at reconciling. She is very disturbed by Reggie's fixation over George's death, and is starting to worry about Reggie's sanity. In "Forget Me Not", she applied for job placement through Happy Time, where her résumé states that she was a history major at college with a business minor, worked for two law firms, and knows Gregg shorthand and medical shorthand.

Clancy Lass

Clancy Lass (Greg Kean) b. ~1960. Clancy is George's father and a Cancer. He is a tenured professor of English at the University of Washington. Even though he appears emotionally strong, he may be even more depressed about his daughter's death than Joy. In "Pilot", George notes that he hugs another man for a long time, which may have been part of a scrapped plot-line to make him homosexual, or may have been seeking for reassurance in a life gone wrong. Charlotte dumped him before "Be Still My Heart". He has vaguely implied wanting to come back to Joy.

Reggie Lass

Reggie Lass (Britt McKillip) is George's younger sister, largely ignored by George before her death. After George's death, Reggie developed a fixation with the way her sister died (hit by a zero-g toilet seat from a deorbiting Mir). She's intelligent and well-read but rather difficult and emotionally complex. She collected toilet seats and put them in a tree. Now past this stage, she is fast growing away from her mother, and is in danger of becoming even more disaffected with life than her late sister.

Reggie is opposed to Joy's decision to sell the family home: she told prospective buyers, "George visits me here" — which is, in fact, true as she has spotted George (as Millie) spying on the house from time to time. Despite her stressed relationship with her mother, she is very protective of her and scared away one potential suitor by claiming that George was murdered in her own home. In "Ashes To Ashes", she experimented with the Goth lifestyle, adopting the nickname "Spider"^[16]. When J.F. the frog was left on her doorstep following the death of her dog J.D.^[14], she became convinced (correctly) that George was responsible. She used to believe that George was a ghost, but has abandoned that notion (or pretends to have). Even though she is unsure of George's whereabouts, she (correctly) believes George is still "living" somehow, and in "Haunted", her beliefs were apparently confirmed when she saw George face-to-face. At the end of season 2, she appears to have been gradually warming up to her mother, Joy.

In the trailer for the film, Reggie is shown meeting George and wanting to move in with her, even though she's dead. This appears to cause friction between Reggie and Joy, as the latter believes George is dead and gone, which is only half right.

Phyllis

Phyllis (Barbara Barrie). "Grandma Phyl", Joy's mother, is constantly at odds with Joy. Whereas Joy is a compulsive, constantly worrying neat-freak, Phyllis is laid-back, worry-free and seems to live day-to-day. She practices Buddhism. It is implied that she participated in the various progressive movements during the '60s. Reggie appears to be fascinated by her, and Phyllis was apparently very close to George. Phyllis and Joy have a confrontational relationship.

Happy Time

Delores Herbig

Delores Herbig (Christine Willes) "as in 'her big brown eyes'" (or as George once said "as in 'her big fat ass'"). Delores is George's boss at Happy Time. She disliked George, but she displays a high appreciation for "Millie", both professionally and emotionally. She occasionally mentions things from her past, such as having a cocaine habit in the 1980s, having tattoos removed^[17], and having restraining orders against her. She runs a webcam show from her apartment called "Getting Things Done with Delores". She seems very happy and positive but is in fact quite sad and lonely, and is looking for a long-term relationship.

Crystal

Crystal Smith (Crystal Dahl). Crystal is the receptionist at Happy Time, also known as Jane Smith. She can be very strange, and George initially finds her intimidating, though the two eventually establish a rapport. She has a lookalike boyfriend at Happy Time (also played by Crystal Dahl). After seeing Millie and possibly recognizing her as George (due to it being Halloween) she looked up files regarding Georgia, after Mason and "Millie" had left, but those files were unavailable. There is some evidence to suggest that Crystal may be a reaper; she has a closet full of Post-its which she steals from work, and in the episode "Business Unfinished" she seemed to notice the soul that Daisy brought into the office. In "Vacation", she actually helped the reapers complete some long overdue reaper-related paperwork, giving no indication whether she understood exactly what it was all about. Her Happy Time file shows that she speaks Spanish, French, Russian and Swahili, and that she served with the Special Forces in Southeast Asia.

It is also possible that Crystal represents an associated branch of reaper-like individuals whose job it is to spread pestilence. This concept would correlate with one in On a Pale Horse, the book on which the series is based. In several episodes Crystal is seen sneezing on people's phones and keyboards, and George states that perhaps Crystal's cosmic purpose is to "spread disease."

Misty

Misty Favreaux (Meghan Black), who also played a teller in the series pilot). Misty is a co-worker of George's (Millie's) at Happy Time, known for her promiscuity. She said she works 35 hours a week, spends 34 of those hours thinking about sex, and the other hour having it. According to her confidential Happy Time file, she attended the Wheeling School of the Arts where she was voted the most popular student. She has two children, Sassoon and Jordache, and is married in Louisiana and Kansas.

Other living

Kiffany

Kiffany (Patricia Idlette). Kiffany is the reapers' regular waitress at Der Waffle Haus, and meets the odd goings on among the reapers (bizarre conversations; Roxy shooting Mason; Mason committing a "lewd act" with a coconut slice) with extraordinary savoir-faire. She has shown sympathetic interest in the characters, but never pries. She described Rube as a special customer, perhaps because he gives a $2 tip on a $7 breakfast. She seems to like George, as she gave her free oatmeal for her patience ("Hurry"). In the episode "Always", she banned Mason from Der Waffle Haus for stealing tips, relenting after he apologized and giving him money. She has evidently worked there for some time, as she knows Penny. Kiffany claims to have psychic powers (although she doesn't go out of her way to tell people about it). She reads palms, and became visibly upset upon examining George's lifeline, refusing to discuss it with her even after George begged her to. Being the reapers’ server since the first season, she has indicated she knows that Rube's group has unusual secrets.

Trip Hesburgh

Thomas "Trip" Hesburgh III (Robin Dunne). Journalist; George's first serious relationship. George thought that Trip was her reap, when it was Trip's father instead. He seems very unhappy despite being raised in a wealthy family, and seems tired of the social superficialities of his wealthy upbringing. He is often nagged by his older sister Ashley. He became George's first lover and called her his girlfriend, but it is uncertain whether any sort of relationship will actually develop. After spending the night with George, he never called or sought her out again, sending George into a rage. He knows George by her real name (rather than by her Millie alias).

Angelo

Angelo (Peter Williams). Angelo owns a loft apartment that Joy and Reggie looked at in "In Escrow", and one of Joy's love interests. He is smooth-talking, urbane, and artistically talented, but seems very mysterious. Angelo is apparently the only male suitor for Joy of whom Reggie approves. He also knew that the Lass dog was a golden retriever without ever having been told.

Ray Summers

Ray Summers (Eric McCormack) d. 2004. Ray was a reality television producer who struck up a romantic relationship with Daisy when she met him during an assignment in "Death Defying". He came off as extremely obnoxious and overbearing and was disliked by Rube, George, and especially Mason. Ray disliked Mason, identifying him as a rival for Daisy's affections. He was manipulative and abusive towards Daisy. Unknown to Daisy, Ray had a criminal record that included assault and fraud charges. He was killed by Mason when he attacked Daisy. Mason claimed, "The first [hit] was in self defense, but the next three were a bit murderous." Ray's soul becomes a graveling until George reaps his soul and he vanishes.

Charlotte

Charlotte (A. J. Cook). Charlotte is a university student. She and George met in "Sunday Mornings", after Mason saved her from being raped. They became friends, and she took George to her course on the sonnets taught by Clancy. She and Clancy had an affair, which precipitated the Lass divorce, though by "Be Still My Heart", she had broken up with him.

Animals

J.D.

J.D., d. 2004. One of George's reaps left behind J.D., a Golden Retriever in "A Cook". George agreed to take care of the dog and tried to keep him, but soon passed him on to her family. Reggie decided that J.D. stands for "Just Dog". He seemed fond of Clancy. In "Last Call", he was killed by a car, after Charlie had reaped his soul.

J.F.

J.F. formerly known as Mr. Frog and Mr. Blinky by his original owner, is a yellow frog that belonged to George's first reap, a young girl, and which apparently followed George home. Following the death of J.D., George secretly left the frog with Reggie, who dubbed it J.F. for "Just Frog" and is convinced the frog came from George. The frog — along with other frog imagery — has been used from time to time to symbolise the cycle of life and death, a recurring motif responding to George's tale about the origins of death, from the beginning of the pilot episode.

Murray

Murray is Delores Herbig's aging cat. He requires dialysis three times a week, and has bladder problems. Despite these nuisances of him aging, Delores loves him greatly, and is distraught in an episode where he falls ill. This is the episode where George first meets Charlie, realizing what he is from the Post-It in his comic book. She warns Delores not to let him touch Murray, and Charlie reaps a rabbit instead.

References