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Carrie Heffernan
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Leah Remini as Carrie
Vital statistics
Occupation/
Career:
Legal Secretary (Seasons 1-7)
Family and Personal
Spouse(s): Doug Heffernan
Related to: Arthur Spooner (father)
Sophia Spooner (mother, deceased)
Lily Spooner (stepmother; formerly)
Tessie Spooner (stepmother; formerly)
Sara Spooner (half-sister)

Ming-Mei Heffernan (adopted daughter)
Bobby Heffernan (biological son)
Veronica Olchin (stepmother; formerly)
Spence Olchin (stepbrother; formerly)

Character information
Appeared on: The King of Queens
Episodes appeared in: Seasons 1-9
Character played by: Leah Remini
Madison Lanc (young)
Rhiannon Leigh Wynn (young)

Carrie Heffernan is one of the three central characters of the series King of Queens.

Personality[]

Carrie is often referred to as shrill by the other characters on the show, particularly Doug, however in earlier seasons she is often portrayed as being loving, supportive, compassionate and thoughtful. She is ambitious, and frequently attempts to persuade Doug that he should be equally motivated in pursuit of professional success.

Carrie has a self-confessed sadistic side, enjoying the misery of others and likes arguing, especially with her father Arthur Spooner.

Confident and strong, Carrie shows herself as being insecure about never having been to college. She is also prone to jealousy, for example when Holly gets engaged to a successful businessman and moves to a penthouse in Manhattan, and when Deacon and Kelly purchase a holiday home.

Carrie dresses well, often perfectly toeing the line between glamorous and professional when at work. She uses 'working in the city' as an excuse to buy designer clothes, and her addiction to shopping contributes to Doug and Carrie having limited savings.

About Carrie[]

In high school, Carrie often misbehaved, having once threatened a teacher, stealing his car and then removing the plates and pushing it into a lake. She is also said to have been promiscuous. She had to work through high school, to help Arthur, who bounced around between jobs. Growing up, she imagined herself living in Manhattan, working as a fashion designer for Sergio Valente.

Carrie first met Doug when Richie brought her back to his and Doug's apartment as his date. Carrie's friend was meant to be Doug's date, but when Richie realised he preferred Carrie's friend, Carrie and Doug were stuck making unpleasant small talk for the evening.

Carrie had a half-sister, Sara, who was an aspiring actress. In the first episode, her and Arthur move in with Doug and Carrie after Arthur burns their house down. Sara was written out of the show in the first season leaving just Arthur living with the couple.

From Seasons 1-6, Carrie works as a legal secretary at the law firm Kaplan, Hornstein & Steckler in the Chrysler Building, for one of the junior partners, Doug Pruzan. She takes pride in her work, and is represented as someone who uses her street smarts to her advantage. Despite having a good working relationship with her boss, Doug, she holds him in little esteem and finds him creepy. When Doug is forcefully moved on, there is no longer a position at the firm for Carrie, and she is fired. She later gets a job at a real estate firm which encourages her to persuade Doug to buy a house for sale on their street with the intention of 'flipping' it for a profit.

In earlier episodes, Carrie was portrayed as someone who was open to having children at an undefined point in the future, this soon changed to her not wanting to have children. At the end of Season 3, she and Doug have a miscarriage after an unexpected pregnancy. After the disappointment of this, the couple try to conceive but are unable. In the finale, they adopt Ming-May from China, but before taking her home, in a Beijing hotel room, Carrie discovers that she has fallen pregnant with Bobby.

Carrie's best friend is Kelly Palmer, the wife of Doug's best friend Deacon Palmer. In the Season 1 episode "Best Man" it is said that Carrie and Kelly went to college together, but later references explicitly point to Carrie not having been to college and the audience is left to assume that Kelly and Carrie met through their husbands. Despite their close friendship, the couples sometimes find themselves pulled apart as a result of Doug and Carrie not having kids while Deacon and Kelly have two. Carrie is godmother to Kirby and Major.

Carrie frequently forgives Doug for attempting to deceive her, as she accepts his lies are a result of his stupidity rather than any sort of callousness. In fact, she knows that Doug is 'good guy' and does not even suspect him of cheating on her when she hears another woman leaving a message for him in which she discusses them having spent the prior weekend together.

Doug's friends find Carrie scary, and she is frequently seen verbally abusing them. She is however as kind and loyal to them as she is her own friends. She encourages Doug to help Danny by throwing him a bachelor party when he is getting married, and getting him a job at IPS when he is unemployed. She goes out of her own way to help Danny promote his landscaping business. During Season 1, she introduces Spence to a colleague of hers after becoming concerned about him being single for a long time. She dislikes Richie's wife Marie because she knows that she is unfaithful to him. When Kelly leaves Deacon, she tries to be emotionally supportive and at Doug's suggestion, even moves in with him for a week to help with kids and cook a Thanksgiving dinner for his extended family.

Carrie is seen on several occasions to be taking advantage of Holly's sweet and kind nature. On one occasion she allows Holly to cook for her and Doug while she is sick, but pressures her into continuing to do so even after she has recovered and Holly is the one who is sick. She also uses Holly for her van when she needs to buy supplies to redecorate her office, telling her that she needs her for her great taste, but then ignoring her advice. She acknowledges not having been as nice to Holly as she could have been.

Relationship with Arthur[]

Carrie has a complicated relationship with her father. Throughout her life, she has frequently been frustrated by him, and his inability to provide financial security for himself and his family. It is cited as a reason that she did not go to college after high school. It later transpired that Carrie got into Florida State University, however Arthur hid the acceptance letter after creating a pros vs. cons list; this would suggest that she would have gone had she been accepted by the other institutions, or seen the letter from Florida State.

Despite their frequent arguments, Carrie is a very loving daughter, allowing Arthur to live in their home despite his destructive antics (e.g. selling Doug and Carrie's house without their knowled o.o 0099hb job bge). She also forgives Arthur for hiding the acceptance letter from Florida State after she believes he is dying (it turned out the heart monitor just needed resetting).

Family History[]

  • Her father, Arthur Spooner, lives in her basement after losing his home in a fire.
  • Carrie originally had a sister named Sara (portrayed by Lisa Rieffel) who moved in along with Arthur, but she was written out at the end of first season.
  • Carrie has two children with Douglas in the series finale. They have an adopted daughter, Ming-May and biological son Bobby.
  • Carrie is usually a minor antagonist and anti-hero of the series.

Career[]

  • Carrie was working for a Manhattan law firm, Kaplan, Hornstein & Steckler, for 6.5 seasons.

Fun Facts[]

  • Her original name was Simone, but Arthur lost the name in a poker game with Uncle Chester.
  • Carrie learned how to play ping pong from her father and is able to beat her husband, Doug Heffernan, in the game.

References[]

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