Debbie Fiderer

Did You Know?

• Lily Tomlin told the Chicago Tribune she was a fan of The West Wing and had sent word through her agent that she was interested in appearing on the show.
• Tomlin said she invented her own back story for the character, including grown children, a failed second marriage, and a mother who is ill.
• Tomlin was nominated three times for a Screen Actors Guild Award for her role as Fiderer, including two nominations in 2003.

Storylines

The character first appears as Debbie DiLaguardia, later taking the name Debbie Fiderer after a divorce. Her name is spoken in the first season episode "A Proportional Response," where she works in the White House personnel office. She recommends Charlie for the job of the President's personal assistant, even though he had only applied to be a messenger. Her judgment carries so much weight that Josh Lyman interviews Charlie right away and gives him the position. After President Bartlet's private secretary, Dolores Landingham, dies, Bartlet is very hesitant to find a permanent replacement. His staff eventually convinces him to try, but he tells Charlie Young that he expects most candidates will not be good enough. Charlie understands that the right person must have both strong character and a sense of humor. Fiderer is opinionated, strong-willed, eccentric, and independent. Before her interview with Bartlet, she takes anti-anxiety medication. When it does not seem to work, she takes another dose, and by the time she meets the President, she is intoxicated. She tells him she has been an alpaca farmer and a professional gambler. Before that, she worked in the White House personnel office. When Bartlet asks what happened, she says she was "screwed with her pants on." It later comes out that she was fired for recommending Charlie instead of the son of a powerful Democratic Party donor. She refuses to tell Bartlet this, even when he orders her to, which impresses him as he figures it out on his own. In response to the administration's policy on water supplies in the Third World, she had written a letter suggesting that arsenic be put in Bartlet's water. Bartlet is impressed by her respect for the office, noting that she wrote to President Bartlet, and calls her a "class act."