Helen Chappel

Character name is...

This first section is called a lead. You'll want to fill it with the most important aspects of the character's life. Think about a newspaper article. Put the best stuff up front!

Biography
Played by Crystal Bernard, Helen is a petite blonde who speaks with a Texas drawl despite having lived on Nantucket for most of her life. In the series, it is explained that Helen's family moved to the island from Texas when she was about 10 years old. Though Helen dreams of playing the cello in a large symphony orchestra, she runs the lunch counter in the airport terminal and never really manages to get a music career off the ground until the final episode. Occasionally Helen earns money teaching children the cello.

A running gag related to her music is that bad luck always seems to follow her when she plays. Examples of this bad luck include: Helen having to join a string quartet of neurotic individuals as that was the only group at the time who would accept her; Helen getting accepted to a state-run symphony, only to learn the state legislature eliminated the funding; the Boston Symphony Orchestra appreciating a cassette of her cello playing, but them losing the label and having no way to contact her; and when she finally gets a chance to play for the BSO, the plane crashes en route.

Helen battles a compulsive eating habit that caused her to be obese in her youth. Though successful at losing the weight sometime after Brian eloped with Carol, it is still a specter in her life and a blight on her self-image. She has been a lifelong friend of both Hackett brothers and dreamed of marrying Joe from a young age. Helen married Antonio to prevent him frombeing deported. Although Antonio won Green Card Lottery and agreed to end the marriage, when Helen tried to marry Joe she realized she could be charged with bigamy due to forgetting to submit the divorce papers. At the season finale of the sixth season, Helen is finally able to marry Joe.

Behind the scenes
The writers originally had a different character in mind, written for Peri Gilpin: Joe's love interest working at the lunch counter was a woman of Greek heritage. However Gilpin was unable to commit to the role, and thus the new character of Helen was created for Bernard. Gilpin, however, did star on one episode of Wings in the third season.