At the turn of the 21st century, TV fans got to live in the idealized world of Jed Bartlet’s White House on The West Wing. For seven seasons on NBC, we watched the president’s sometimes-flawed but always well-meaning staff strive to prioritize the needs of the country above all else. As with any administration, or TV show rather, people came and went, but many appeared in a significant number of the series’ 155 episodes. Here are the 32 cast members we saw the most:
Bradley Whitford - 150 episodes
It’s funny to think Josh Lyman was in danger of losing his job in The West Wing’s series premiere back in 1999. Instead, Bradley Whitford’s Deputy Chief of Staff was there for the duration, with the actor appearing in more episodes than any of his compatriots.
Allison Janney - 146 episodes
Has a White House Press Secretary ever been more likable than C.J. Cregg? Over the years she perfected the art of controlling a room full of media, fielding tough questions and disseminating the most important information to the country. It’s no wonder one of Allison Janney’s best characters remained a vital member of the Bartlet White House for the majority of the episodes of the show’s seven-season run.
Richard Schiff - 142 episodes
While sometimes awkward in his personal interactions, Richard Schiff’s Toby Ziegler was a master when it came to crafting President Bartlet’s speeches as Communication Director. Toby remained a series regular through all 155 episodes, appearing in 142 and endearing us with his no-nonsense personality, the rubber ball he threw at the wall and his penchant for speaking truth to power.
Janel Moloney - 142 episodes
If you ever wondered how important Donna Moss was to Josh Lyman as his senior assistant, just look at how many episodes Janel Moloney appeared in. Though many of the staff’s assistants appeared often in smaller roles, Donna was often featured more prominently for her drive to always be more — and for the flirty repartee she had with Josh that carried a “will-they-won’t-they” vibe through the series.
Martin Sheen - 141 episodes
President Josiah Bartlet himself is, of course, one of the most prominently featured characters on The West Wing, but it wasn’t originally intended to be that way. Creator Aaron Sorkin famously wanted the series to revolve only around the senior staff, with Martin Sheen making only a few appearances per season. That plan was quickly scrapped, and Sorkin let Bartlet be Bartlet for the majority of the episodes.
John Spencer - 136 episodes
When you think second-in-command at the White House, your mind might go to the vice president, but on The West Wing, it was always Bartlet’s Chief of Staff Leo McGarry. John Spencer’s character was one of the series’ most complex — a war veteran, recovering alcoholic and addict whose dedication to his job resulted in his wife leaving him. Leo would have been in more episodes, however Spencer died of a heart attack before Season 7 was complete. His death was written into the final scripts, with his character suffering the same fate.
Dulé Hill - 131 episodes
Long before The Wonder Years, a young Dulé Hill joined The West Wing as Charlie Young, the personal aide (aka “bodyman”) to President Bartlet. Charlie appeared in fewer episodes of the NBC drama’s final season, as Hill began his co-starring role on the detective dramedy Psych.
NiCole Robinson - 106 episodes
As senior assistant to the Chief of Staff, Margaret Hooper was just as dedicated to Leo as Donna was to Josh. However, there were definitely no romantic undertones to this relationship. Leo and Margaret were an often-hilarious odd couple, with Margaret being quite quirky. NiCole Robinson’s character was never the main focus, but she was a consistent presence, appearing in many episodes over all seven seasons.
Melissa Fitzgerald - 101 episodes
We can’t forget Carol Fitzpatrick (Melissa Fitzgerald), who served as the assistant to Press Secretary C.J. Cregg. Equally as qualified and dedicated as the other senior staffers’ assistants, Carol was often also a friend to C.J., encouraging her boss to have a personal life and talking to her about men. Carol appeared in all seven seasons, though not as prominently in Seasons 6 and 7.
Rob Lowe - 80 episodes
Unlike Richard Schiff, Allison Janney and John Spencer, original cast member Rob Lowe did not stick around to see the Bartlet presidency through. The actor portrayed Sam Seaborn, Deputy Communications Director, for roughly the first half of the show’s run, before he left in Season 4. Lowe’s exit from The West Wing has been attributed to a combination of disputes over his salary and the actor feeling undervalued. Despite the drama, Lowe reprised his role in a pair of guest appearances in Season 7, as well as the cast’s stage recreation of Season 3’s “Hartsfield’s Landing” in 2020.
Joshua Malina - 71 episodes
Replacing Sam Seaborn as Deputy White House Communications Director was Will Bailey, played by Joshua Malina. Malina joined the cast in Season 4 and remained part of the White House operations — whether that was working with Toby Ziegler or acting as Vice President Bob Russell’s Chief of Staff — through the end of the series.
Stockard Channing - 57 episodes
Stockard Channing's presence may have been less prominent near the end of The West Wing’s run, but there's no question the actress was a vital member of the cast as First Lady Dr. Abigail Bartlet. Always sharp as a whip and often at odds with her husband, Abbey was rarely the focus of the plot, but man could Channing steal a scene. She did just that in 57 episodes across seven seasons.
Kim Webster - 56 episodes
“Ginger, get the popcorn!” In Kim Webster, we got another of our beloved senior assistants, as she portrayed Toby’s communications aide Ginger in all seven seasons. The majority of her 56 episodes came in the first four seasons — aka the Sorkin years — as Webster appeared in only four episodes total across Seasons 5-7.
Kris Murphy - 52 episodes
C.J. Cregg wouldn’t have been able to do her job without members of the press to talk to. Kris Murphy played Washington Post journalist Katie Witt in all seven seasons, though her appearances dwindled as the show went on. Murphy was in six episodes of Season 5, four in Season 6, and just one episode of The West Wing’s last season.
Timothy Davis-Reed - 52 episodes
Another member of the White House press corps was Mark O’Donnell, played by Timothy Davis-Reed. He appeared more than 50 times across Seasons 2-7, most prominently in the third and fourth seasons.
William Duffy - 47 episodes
William Duffy portrayed congressional liaison Larry, who was one-half of the fan-favorite duo of Ed and Larry. The staffers were practically always together and often confused for one another, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern-style. With that being the case, one has to wonder why Duffy is credited with one more episode than his counterpart.
Peter James Smith - 46 episodes
Congressional liaison Ed was played by Peter James Smith. He and William Duffy appeared in all seven seasons of The West Wing, though each showed up only two times in the final two seasons.
Renée Estevez - 44 episodes
The senior staffers of The West Wing did form something of a family unit, but for Martin Sheen, it really was a family affair. His daughter Renée Estevez had a small role as Nancy, the assistant to the executive secretary. She appeared quite often outside the Oval Office, working amidst Charlie and Mrs. Landingham, though she rarely had much to say.
Charles Noland - 43 episodes
Charles Noland played the press corps member Steve, and fans might remember seeing him amongst the media members who witnessed Josh Lyman completely bomb a press conference by joking that President Bartlet had a "secret plan to fight inflation" in Season 1's "Celestial Navigation." Noland appeared in all seven seasons.
Devika Parikh - 40 episodes
Devika Parikh played Bonnie, a staffer in the Communications Office of the West Wing who worked closely with Ginger and, by proxy, Toby and Sam. Like Ginger, Bonnie mostly disappeared after Season 4, appearing just twice in Season 5 before exiting for good.
Jimmy Smits - 35 episodes
Matthew Santos didn’t enter The West Wing universe until Season 6, but he was arguably its most important latecomer. Portrayed in those 35 episodes by the great Jimmy Smits, Santos would go on to succeed Jed Bartlet as President of the United States.
Lily Tomlin - 34 episodes
Speaking of great successors, Deborah Fiderer had the unenviable task of replacing the beloved executive secretary Mrs. Landingham after she was killed in a car wreck. Lily Tomlin was up to the task, though, especially with the backstory of how she got fired for recommending Charlie as the president’s bodyman over another candidate. Tomlin appeared in the Season 3 finale, then recurred for the remaining four seasons.
Mindy Seeger - 34 episodes
Chris was another member of C.J.’s press corps, played by Mindy Seeger. Chris and C.J. seemed to have something of a friendly relationship, and she appeared in a handful of episodes in the first six seasons but just one in The West Wing’s final run.
Mary McCormack - 30 episodes
Mary McCormack joined the fray at the end of Season 5 as Deputy National Security Advisor Kate Harper. While she signed on as a series regular for the final two seasons, McCormack appeared in just over half of the episodes.
Kathryn Joosten - 30 episodes
Delores Landingham (Kathryn Joosten) was a favorite of The West Wing fans as the Executive Secretary to President Bartlet. A confidante and supporter of Jed Bartlet long before he took political office, she had the respect of everyone in the building and ensured that decorum was maintained in the vicinity of the Oval Office. Mrs. Landingham appeared in nearly every episode of the first two seasons before — in one of the most shocking moments in TV history — she was killed by a drunk driver at the end of Season 2. Joosten returned as a guest for one episode in Seasons 3 and 4 in flashbacks.
Timothy Busfield - 27 episodes
One of the bigger romantic storylines on The West Wing outside of Josh and Donna featured C.J. and her efforts to keep things professional with senior White House correspondent Danny Concannon. Timothy Busfield was prominently featured as the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist in the first season, then came back a handful of times in Seasons 2 and 4, once in Season 5 and made four appearances in the final season.
Ivan Allen - 26 episodes
The White House clearly had its preferred TV news anchor, because Ivan Allen appeared as anchor Roger Salier — via TV screen — in a few episodes for all seven seasons of the political drama’s run, 26 times in total.
Elisabeth Moss - 25 episodes
Elisabeth Moss is well-known now for series including Mad Men and The Handmaid’s Tale, but before that, you might have forgotten she was on The West Wing as President Bartlet’s youngest daughter Zoey. She appeared at least once in every season except the third.
Mary-Louise Parker - 23 episodes
Amy Gardner came into Aaron Sorkin’s universe in Season 3 as a political lobbyist and college friend of Josh. She and Josh engaged in an on-off relationship, as she worked her way to positions within both the Bartlet and Santos administrations. Parker made most of her guest spots in Seasons 3 and 4, though she returned for a handful of Season 5 episodes, one in Season 6 and two in Season 7.
Kristin Chenoweth - 23 episodes
The West Wing is not the first show that comes to mind when Kristin Chenoweth’s name comes up, but sure enough, she portrayed Deputy Press Secretary Annabeth Schott in Seasons 6 and 7, appearing in about half of each season’s episodes. Her character joined the Santos campaign trail and had a clear attraction to Leo McGarry before his death.
John Amos - 22 episodes
As the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, anytime John Amos’ Percy Fitzwallace showed up on The West Wing, you knew something was going down. Unfortunately for the fans, his episodes were merely sporadic in Seasons 1, 3, 4 and 5.
Gary Cole - 22 episodes
Vice President Bob Russell, aka “Bingo Bob,” aka actor Gary Cole, was the second vice president of the Bartlet administration, and he appeared mostly in the fifth and sixth seasons, with one guest appearance in Season 7.
These may be the 32 characters who graced our television screens in the most episodes of The West Wing, but this list only scratches the surface of the talent featured in the political drama for seven seasons. Alan Alda notched 16 episodes as presidential candidate Arnold Vinick, and Moira Kelly appeared in 20 episodes of the 22-first season, before her character Mandy became a victim of “Chuck Cunningham Syndrome” and was never heard from again.
