William "Will" Truman (born October 23, 1966) is a
fictional characterA character is the representation of a person in a narrative or dramatic work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr through its Latin transcription character, the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its...
on the
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
sitcom
Will & GraceWill & Grace is an American television sitcom that was originally broadcast on NBC from 1998 to 2006. The show takes place in New York City and focuses on Will Truman, a gay lawyer, and his best friend Grace Adler, a straight Jewish woman who runs her own interior design firm...
, portrayed by
Eric McCormackEric James McCormack is a Canadian-American actor, musician, writer and producer. Born in Toronto, he began his acting career performing in school plays at Stephen Leacock Collegiate Institute High School...
. He is a
gayThe term gay was originally used, until well into the mid-20th century, primarily to refer to feelings of being "carefree", "happy", or "bright and showy"; it had also come to acquire some connotations of "immorality" as early as 1637....
lawyerA lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person licensed to practice law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain stability, and deliver...
who lives in the
Upper West SideThe Upper West Side is a neighborhood of the borough of Manhattan in New York City that lies between Central Park and the Hudson River above West 59th Street....
of
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
with his best friend,
Grace AdlerGrace Elizabeth Adler is a fictional character on the American sitcom Will & Grace, portrayed by Debra Messing. She is a Jewish interior designer , living in New York City with her gay best friend Will Truman...
.
Will was born on October 23, 1966 in
Bridgeport-Places:In Canada:* Bridgeport, Nova ScotiaIn the United States of America:* Bridgeport, Alabama* Bridgeport, California, in Mono County* Bridgeport, Mariposa County, California* Bridgeport, Nevada County, California...
,
ConnecticutConnecticut is a state in the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and New York to the west and south ....
, to
WASPWhite Anglo-Saxon Protestant, commonly abbreviated to the acronym WASP, is a sociological and cultural ethnonym that originated in the United States and Canada ....
parents Marilyn (
Blythe DannerBlythe Katharine Danner is an Emmy- and Tony Award-winning actress. She is the mother of actress Gwyneth Paltrow and director Jake Paltrow.-Early life:...
) and George (
Sydney PollackSydney Irwin Pollack was an American film director, producer and actor. Born in Lafayette, Indiana to Russian Jewish immigrants, Pollack studied with Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City, where he later taught acting...
); he has two brothers, Paul and Sam. Will
came outComing out of the closet, or simply coming out, is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people disclosing their sexual orientation and gender identity...
in 1985, during college, when — after being accused of living in denial by
Jack McFarlandJohn Philip "Jack" McFarland was a fictional character on the American television sitcom Will & Grace, played by Sean Hayes.-Character personality:...
, who refused to take it back — he found himself attracted to a poster of Kevin Bacon (he saw this as a sign that his relationship with Grace masked his true
sexualitySexual orientation is a pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions to men, women, both genders, neither gender, or another gender...
).
After graduating from
Columbia UniversityColumbia University in the City of New York is a private university in the United States and a member of the Ivy League. Columbia's main campus lies in the Morningside Heights neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan, in New York City...
and NYU School of Law, he worked for a big-time law firm on track to make partner but decided to quit and start his own practice.
William "Will" Truman (born October 23, 1966) is a
fictional characterA character is the representation of a person in a narrative or dramatic work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr through its Latin transcription character, the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its...
on the
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
sitcom
Will & GraceWill & Grace is an American television sitcom that was originally broadcast on NBC from 1998 to 2006. The show takes place in New York City and focuses on Will Truman, a gay lawyer, and his best friend Grace Adler, a straight Jewish woman who runs her own interior design firm...
, portrayed by
Eric McCormackEric James McCormack is a Canadian-American actor, musician, writer and producer. Born in Toronto, he began his acting career performing in school plays at Stephen Leacock Collegiate Institute High School...
. He is a
gayThe term gay was originally used, until well into the mid-20th century, primarily to refer to feelings of being "carefree", "happy", or "bright and showy"; it had also come to acquire some connotations of "immorality" as early as 1637....
lawyerA lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person licensed to practice law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain stability, and deliver...
who lives in the
Upper West SideThe Upper West Side is a neighborhood of the borough of Manhattan in New York City that lies between Central Park and the Hudson River above West 59th Street....
of
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
with his best friend,
Grace AdlerGrace Elizabeth Adler is a fictional character on the American sitcom Will & Grace, portrayed by Debra Messing. She is a Jewish interior designer , living in New York City with her gay best friend Will Truman...
.
Fictional character history
Will was born on October 23, 1966 in
Bridgeport-Places:In Canada:* Bridgeport, Nova ScotiaIn the United States of America:* Bridgeport, Alabama* Bridgeport, California, in Mono County* Bridgeport, Mariposa County, California* Bridgeport, Nevada County, California...
,
ConnecticutConnecticut is a state in the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and New York to the west and south ....
, to
WASPWhite Anglo-Saxon Protestant, commonly abbreviated to the acronym WASP, is a sociological and cultural ethnonym that originated in the United States and Canada ....
parents Marilyn (
Blythe DannerBlythe Katharine Danner is an Emmy- and Tony Award-winning actress. She is the mother of actress Gwyneth Paltrow and director Jake Paltrow.-Early life:...
) and George (
Sydney PollackSydney Irwin Pollack was an American film director, producer and actor. Born in Lafayette, Indiana to Russian Jewish immigrants, Pollack studied with Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City, where he later taught acting...
); he has two brothers, Paul and Sam. Will
came outComing out of the closet, or simply coming out, is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people disclosing their sexual orientation and gender identity...
in 1985, during college, when — after being accused of living in denial by
Jack McFarlandJohn Philip "Jack" McFarland was a fictional character on the American television sitcom Will & Grace, played by Sean Hayes.-Character personality:...
, who refused to take it back — he found himself attracted to a poster of Kevin Bacon (he saw this as a sign that his relationship with Grace masked his true
sexualitySexual orientation is a pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions to men, women, both genders, neither gender, or another gender...
).
After graduating from
Columbia UniversityColumbia University in the City of New York is a private university in the United States and a member of the Ivy League. Columbia's main campus lies in the Morningside Heights neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan, in New York City...
and NYU School of Law, he worked for a big-time law firm on track to make partner but decided to quit and start his own practice. This fell through in the show's second season, and he began working for Doucette & Stein, a firm that he worked for until the end of the seventh season. His next job was working for the mysterious Malcolm (
Alec BaldwinAlexander Rae "Alec" Baldwin III is an American film and television actor. He has appeared in films such as Beetlejuice and The Hunt for Red October, in addition to the Martin Scorsese films The Aviator and The Departed.He was nominated for the Academy Award, Golden Globe, and Screen Actors Guild...
), but that came to an end when Malcolm revealed that he was an FBI agent. In the eighth season, Will took a job at the Coalition of Justice, a business providing legal support for people who cannot afford it, though he ultimately returned to Doucette & Stein, having taken back his old job after being offered a partnership by his new boss at the firm, played by
Lily TomlinMary Jean "Lily" Tomlin is an American actress, comedian, writer and producer. She has won multiple awards from many quarters, including Tony Awards, Emmy Awards, and a Grammy Award and has also been nominated for an Academy Award....
. Will is usually the straight man of the show, being the most calm and down to earth in contrast to Grace's many neurotic tendencies, Jack's camp behavior, and Karen's drunken snobbery. He also has a dry sense of humor, often making jokes about the other three characters.
Relationships
Will's relationship with his parents was always prone to issues, particularly his father, who, though outwardly supportive of Will's lifestyle, was uncomfortable with his son's sexuality for years. In season eight, the two had a fight in which George confessed he wished Will weren't gay. A few days later, having not spoken with Will since the fight, George died of a
heart attackMyocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, is the interruption of blood supply to part of the heart, causing some heart cells to die...
.
Will has had romantic "relationships" with three women: Grace; his high-school girlfriend Claire (
Megyn PriceMegyn Price is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Claudia Finnerty on the sitcom Grounded for Life and Audrey Bingham on the CBS sitcom Rules of Engagement, also starring Seinfeld's Patrick Warburton and comedian David Spade.- Biography:Price was born in Seattle, Washington...
); and Diane (
Mira SorvinoMira Katherine Sorvino is an American actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress at the 68th Academy Awards for her performance in Mighty Aphrodite .-Early life:Sorvino was born and raised in New York...
), the woman with whom he had a
one-night standOriginally, a one-night stand referred to a single night theatre performance, usually by a guest group on tour. Today, however, the term is more commonly understood as a single sexual encounter between individuals, where neither individual has any immediate intention or expectation of establishing...
after he and Grace broke up. Diane is the only woman with whom Will has ever had sex, and, coincidentally, was the only time Diane ever reached
orgasmAn orgasm is the peak of the plateau phase of the sexual response cycle, characterized by an intense sensation of pleasure...
.
At the beginning of the series, Will's most successful relationship with a man was said to have been with long-term boyfriend Michael (
Chris PotterChristopher Jay "Chris" Potter is a Canadian actor, musician and pitchman is primarily known for his roles on soap operas and television. Potter is perhaps best known for his roles as David Carradine's crime-fighting son and partner, Peter Caine, on the popular 1990s crime drama, Kung Fu: The...
), whom he was together with from 1989, to November, 1996. In the 2004-2005 season, however, he became involved in a serious relationship with a NYC
police officerA police officer is a warranted employee of a police force. Police officers are generally responsible for apprehending criminals, maintaining public order, and preventing and detecting crimes...
named Vince D'Angelo (
Bobby CannavaleRobert M. "Bobby" Cannavale is an American Emmy Award-winning actor noted for his role as Bobby Caffey on the critically acclaimed television series Third Watch.-Personal life:...
). Their relationship was put on hiatus after Vince, who lost two jobs in a row because he couldn't resist trying on gloves while on duty, needed to take some time off from the relationship. Towards the end of the final season (2006), the two reunited after Will's father's death. In the
series finaleA series finale or a final episode is the very last installment of a television series, usually a sitcom or drama. The term is typically used to refer to a planned ending, as opposed to an unplanned one when a series is suddenly cancelled by its network. Something labeled as a "series finale" is...
, it was revealed that he and Vince were raising a son named Ben, who eventually marries Grace and Leo's daughter, Lila. Thus, by the end of the series, Will and Vince's relationship has been strong for nearly 20 years.
Much of the comedy on the show is at Will's expense. Many of the characters (especially Jack), play off his many unsuccessful relationships between Michael (and sometimes including the failure of that relationship) and Vince. Jack also has a thing for calling Will "fat and bald" (which he clearly isn’t), also claiming in a Season 4 episode that Will is "strange looking" and has an "odd kind of shellacked look" about him.
Birthday and age
Throughout Will's life, every birthday has ended with someone - or everyone - else stealing the limelight. This is the plot of several episodes of the show, including "Will On Ice," "Gypsies, Tramps & Weed," and "Key Party." The conflicting nature of the air dates for these episodes puts his birthday somewhere between October and January, although October is the most probable. In two different episodes, Jack has said that Will is a
LibraLibra is the seventh astrological sign in the Zodiac, originating from the constellation of Libra. In western astrology, this sign is no longer aligned with the constellation as a result of the precession of the equinoxes. In astrology, Libra is considered a "masculine", positive sign. It is also...
, which means his birthday is between late September and mid October. It is therefore the most correct to think that Will was born in October.
Although there are a lot of signs that Will is born in 1966, some episodes say different. In a late 2005 episode, Will says that he is 41, which means that would have been born in 1964. But if so, he and Grace wouldn’t have been in college together, due to a 3-year age difference, so it is therefore believed that Will was over-exaggerating with his age. He also says that he came out when he was 19. Will came out in November, 1985, and if he was born in 1964, that wouldn’t be correct. It is therefore believed that Will was born in October, 1966.
Children
Will almost donated sperm to his high school girlfriend Claire (
Megyn PriceMegyn Price is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Claudia Finnerty on the sitcom Grounded for Life and Audrey Bingham on the CBS sitcom Rules of Engagement, also starring Seinfeld's Patrick Warburton and comedian David Spade.- Biography:Price was born in Seattle, Washington...
) so she could have a baby but Grace didn't want Claire to have a baby with Will because that would have ruined her "B-Plan".
In the final season, Will reunited with Vince and has a son, Ben, who Will fathered through artificial insemination with a young woman who sold her eggs for rent money. Ben only appeared in the series finale in 2006. He was raised by Will and Vince until he went to college and married Grace's daughter, Lila. This reunites Will and Grace. He was played by actor Ben Newmark.