List of desk clerks and other non-medical staff in ER

This is a partial list of fictional characters in the medical drama ER.

Miranda Fronczak

Miranda Fronczak
First appearance	October 5, 1995 (Season 2: "Do One, Teach One, Kill One")
Last appearance	October 23, 2003 (Season 10: "Shifts Happen")
Portrayed by	Kristin Minter
Information
Nickname(s)	Randi
Gender	Female
Occupation	Desk Clerk, County General Emergency Department (1995-2003)

Miranda Fronczak, better known to the staff as "Randi", is hired as a Desk Clerk in Episode 028 "Do One, Teach One, Kill One". The character is portrayed by Kristin Minter.

A good looking assertive woman, Randi is not afraid to get her hands dirty or deal with hostile patients. In Episode 031 "Days Like This", she knocks out a violent patient with Dr. Weaver's crutch after he has knocked down both Weaver and Jeanie Boulet. In that same episode it is revealed that she is on probation when Randi casually refers to her parole officer. This comment leads to a great deal of speculation among the staff about what she went to prison for, including a betting pool. It is ultimately revealed by Randi that she went to jail for "malicous mischief, assault, battery, carrying a concealed weapon, and aggravated mayhem."

Randi is a bit of a rebel and is often seen wearing unprofessional attire more suitable to a club than an ER. Some of her clothes are designed and made by herself, and she attempts to market them under the label "Randi wear". When Weaver confronts her about her wardrobe, Randi replies that she is dressing more conservatively than normal; a revelation which leaves Weaver uncharacteristically speechless. She continues to get away with wearing whatever she wants throughout her many years of service in the ER. Later in season 5, Randi actually helps Weaver put together an outfit for her interview for the position of Chief Of Emergency Medicine.

During season 6 Randi punches an extremely obnoxious man who sets off the fire alarm (causing chaos in the ER) in order to get attention as he has a migraine. She is last seen in Episode 205 "Shifts Happen" dancing to hip hop music at the front desk with Dr. Pratt at 3:00 AM. Her departure from the ER staff was never mentioned or explained.

Cynthia Hooper

Cynthia Hooper
First appearance	October 2, 1997 (Season 4: "Something New")
Last appearance	March 05, 1998 (Season 4: "My Brother's Keeper")
Portrayed by	Mariska Hargitay
Information
Gender	Female
Occupation	Desk Clerk, County General Emergency Department (1997-1998)
Children	1

Cynthia Hooper, portrayed by Mariska Hargitay, first appears in Episode 071 "Something New" as an applicant for the job of ER desk clerk. Her interview with Mark Greene and Carol Hathaway does not go well as she appears very emotional and somewhat unreliable and inexperienced given her work history. She has also forgotten her references. Cynthia waits until Mark has finished work and asks if she can talk about the job. In talking with her, Mark discovers that she is new to Chicago and feels sympathy for a lost soul in a new city. He invites her to get some coffee and, having made a personal connection with her, gives Cynthia the job without discussing it with Carol.

Mark's decision to hire Cynthia is met with some hostility and her inexperience leads to some initial problems at the ER. Friction develops between Cynthia and some members of the ER staff, particularly Carol. Meanwhile, Mark and Cynthia continue to develop a friendship and eventually end up in a relationship together. Their relationship, however, is somewhat dysfunctional as Mark is really only in it for fun and Cynthia is truly in love with Mark. When Mark's mother becomes seriously ill, Mark goes to California to be with his parents. Uninvited, Cynthia decides to surprise Mark by going out to California to support him and his family. She is surprised to find Mark annoyed by her arrival, which causes awkwardness between them. Mark ultimately admits to Cynthia that he is not in love with her and; upset, Cynthia returns to Chicago.

On returning to Chicago, Mark finds that Cynthia has quit her job without leaving a forwarding address. Unhappy with how things ended, Mark uses his Doctor status to find Cynthia's new address. He goes to her new apartment to apologize and return some of her possessions. He is surprised to find Cynthia with a little boy, her son, whom Cynthia had previously mentioned as living with other relatives. Cynthia, sadder but wiser, appears to have grown as a person and puts Mark in his place.

Jerry Markovic

Jerry Anthony Markovic was desk clerk of the emergency room and later promoted to supervising emergency services coordinator (a position that carries no additional responsibilities and/or benefits, but requires him to wear a tie.) The character was portrayed by Abraham Benrubi.

Jerry was comic relief on the series. The character was mostly seen playing jokes on other staff members, organizing parties and celebrations, trying to make money on the side via various get-rich-quick schemes and making humorous remarks. During the fourth season, Jerry accidentally blew up an ambulance with a grenade launcher; this led to a suspension from day turns by Kerry Weaver, thus Jerry was forced to attend at nights, but he would get his job back on days later that season. Jerry was last seen at the end of season 5. To date, there has been no official explanation for the character's absence during that period, not even from Benrubi himself. Because of his great height and girth, Jerry is also used as a bouncer if patients or customers become aggressive, although he claims he avoids violence and generally has a gentle nature.

It was not until season 8 that Jerry was called back to work after members of the staff became sick. When asked about where he's been for the past three years, he replied that he had been in "retirement." During that time, he developed some rivalry with fellow desk clerk Frank Martin, to the point that they were involved in a fight in which they crashed on Dr. Chen. Jerry and Frank received a warning from Dr. Weaver, and since then Jerry and Frank seemed to be getting along better, and later became friends, as shown when Frank suffered a heart attack, a fact that really concerned Jerry. Equally, Frank was deeply affected when Jerry was shot in the 12th season finale.

Jerry's mother is introduced in the first episode of season 13 when her son was treated by some members of the staff after he was shot by Samantha Taggart's ex-boyfriend Steve Curtis, who went on a rampage in the emergency room in season 12's finale. During the assault, Jerry was shot while protecting a boy. Jerry's mother reveals to Archie Morris that she applied to Harvard four times for him, but he was never able to make it into college, and complains about Jerry's paycheck. Jerry ultimately survives the surgery, but was never seen again in the ER. In an episode during the 14th season, Frank remarks that Jerry officially quit and is now "slinging beers in Alaska," a reference to Benrubi's character Ben Tomasson in the ABC television series Men in Trees.

The character of Jerry's mother was played by Seinfeld's Estelle Harris in "Bloodline," but she also appeared in a long shot in "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," berating him for using her trashcans to trap a kangaroo on the loose. The episode was also one of the last episodes to show Jerry smoking a cigar.

In the Season 15 episode "The High Holiday", Jerry returns to Chicago as he got tired of Alaska, and was first amicably welcomed back by Frank and Morris. Although he has not had any luck getting a job, he is presumably re-hired at County General because Dr. Banfield needs someone to cover for Frank, who is under the influence of marijuana-laced brownies. He is seen in the "Dream Runner" episode and it is assumed that he has his old desk clerk job back.

Jerry is also a Universal Life Church Minister, and officiated Neela and Michael Gallant's wedding in the episode "I Do." His politics seemed too progressive, often clashing with Frank's law and order conservatism. Jerry is single and there was no mention of him being married or having a girlfriend, although at the beginning of "The Gallant Hero and the Tragic Victor," he turns down Dr Clemente's (John Leguizamo) offer of a beer because he's meeting a "lady friend." However, in S15E16 'The Beginning of the End', Jerry, free of inhibition under the influence of a mushroom-derived toxin (from a love potion made by a mushroom expert, Teddy, who is a patient), makes a pass at a returning Dr John Carter - telling "Dr. Carter, call me."^[1]

In the episode, "Blame It on the Rain," it is revealed that Jerry is deathly afraid of thunderstorms—mainly because he has been hit by lightning on several previous occasions, a fact that everyone in the ER knows but Kerry Weaver, who sent him out in a storm to get a gift for her son Henry's birthday. He returns several hours later, dazed and holding a scorched paper bag. Frank asks him, "You got hit by lightning again, didn't you?" to which he only nods. At first Kerry does not believe him, but Jerry finally manages to get out the words, "Here's your change," then hands her a bunch of coins that have been fused together. Needless to say, she's thoroughly convinced.

In a 12th season episode, it is revealed that Jerry is also fluent in American Sign Language, when he is asked to interpret for a boy who was trying to bring a drugged girl to the ER and wound up being assaulted due to a misinterpretation by the police.

Up until the third season, Jerry was a cigar smoker (as was Benrubi himself, although it is not known if he still smokes), but after the episode "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," the character was not seen smoking again.

Jerry's age has never been given on the show, although it is presumed that he is the same age as Benrubi himself (in his late 30s), although when he returned after three seasons, Jerry's hair and goatee are gray, so it is possible he could be older.

Frank Martin

Francis "Frank" Martin first appeared as a police officer who was shot in his foot in the first episode of the show. He was Dr. Carter's first patient and then as a desk clerk in the Season 6 episode "Such Sweet Sorrow," temporarily replacing Jerry Markovic. Troy Evans, the actor who portrays Frank, had previously made a guest star appearance in the pilot episode "24 Hours" as a character named "Officer Martin." When Frank arrives to start as desk clerk, he mentions to Weaver that he had previously worked as a Chicago policeman for 26 years. Considerable speculation that Frank and Officer Martin are one and the same can now be confirmed by Michael Crichton on ER Season 1 DVD commentary.

Frank exhibited a more traditionalist, conservative, law and order type of philosophy that often put him at odds with some of his more liberal co-workers, especially in matters of sex outside marriage; when giving the expecting Abby Lockhart a gift basket, he remarked, 'That's for you and the little bastard". He ran background checks on patients in order to help the police round up criminals (which earned him the anger of Kerry Weaver), opposed giving medical care to illegal immigrants, and attempted to beat up a homeless man with a stick. He was almost as overtly racist and bigoted as Dr. Romano; his statements about women, minorities, gays, lesbians, and the indigent were often politically incorrect and deeply insensitive. However, unlike Romano, Frank was a generation out of step and eventually his attitude began to mellow; in later seasons, very few of his inappropriate comments had real malice attached to them. When asked for information by the staff (and sometimes patients, if their requests seem unreasonable) Frank typically gave a very sarcastic response, then (only sometimes) refers them to what they need. Despite his attitude, most of the doctors and nurses regarded him with a mixture of affection and exasperation- especially Neela Rasgotra and Luka Kovac, both of whom are non-American nationality and thus put up with Frank's insults often. Frank also tends to show a bit more patience and concern around children, and when a ten-year-old girl who had been kidnapped and raped for months died from gunshot wounds in the ER (Season 12) even Frank was too appalled to say anything witty.

When Jerry came back to work, he and Frank fought over politics, eventually coming to blows and injuring Dr. Chen by accident. She prevented Weaver from suspending them by claiming that she tripped and hurt herself, then ordered Jerry and Frank to agree to learn to work together. The relationship between the two men became quite cordial, eventually developing into a genuine friendship; when Jerry was shot and nearly died in the Season 12 finale/start of Season 13, Frank was constantly at Jerry's side.

In the Season 10 episode "Forgive and Forget," Frank suffered a heart attack while at work. Ironically, his life was saved primarily by two minority staffers: English-Indian medical student Neela Rasgotra, who found him collapsed on the floor; and African American Dr. Greg Pratt, who successfully performed a life-saving procedure on Frank, using a syringe to remove blood that had accumulated around his heart. This episode also revealed that Frank was not only a former police officer, but also a Vietnam War veteran with high regard for his fellow soldiers, a loving husband, and a devoted father to a developmentally disabled daughter. All this offered a more complex illustration of his life and contradicted his workplace reputation as an elderly grouch. It was also more or less confirmed that Frank was indeed the same Officer Martin who shot himself in the foot in the show's debut.

Following the heart attack, Frank remained predictably cantankerous, though in some ways the character seemed to become a nicer man—particularly to Neela and Pratt. When Greg Pratt died in the Season 15 premiere "Life After Death," Frank was deeply shaken and upset. Upon Neela's departure from County in the Season 15 episode "Shifting Equilibrium," Frank threw her an elaborate farewell party that focused on Neela's Indian heritage.

Despite his personality, he does show a deep liking to other doctors, such as Archie Morris and John Carter. He spoke in defense of Morris to Banfield, explaining Pratt's death affected him harder than most. He welcomed Carter back when he returned with a pregnant Kem, and wished him good luck in him getting his kidney transplant.

Timmy Rawlins

Timmy was one of the many special County General ER staff members that was in the show's 2-hour pilot episode. Halfway into the show's first season he disappeared without any explanation. Years later in season 13 he was brought back into the show and resumed his position as a desk clerk on the staff of County General's ER. It was explained in his return to the show in season 13 as to why he left County he said it was because he had felt trapped at County General and needed to do something new so, he left to travel the world.

Later in the season he went on a cruise with Charge Nurse Samantha Taggart's grandmother Gracie and even though the cruise was only supposed to last 1 week they ended up gone for 2 months which he explained was because they went to Singapore and they also later got stuck at the Cambodian border.

He disappears without any explanation after the season ends.

Other Desk Clerks

• Amira (Desk Clerk), portrayed by Pamela Sinha (1999-2005)
• Javier (Desk Clerk), portrayed by Jesse Borrego (2007-2008)

References