Dana Scully Characterization
What was Dana's character like?
What was Dana Scully's character like in the X-Files?
Throughout the series, her Catholic faith served as a cornerstone, although a contradiction to her otherwise rigid skepticism of the paranormal. Due to her career in science and medicine, she drifted from her Catholic Christian upbringing but remained somewhat entrenched in her religious beliefs. Scully almost always wears a gold cross necklace, given to her by her mother as a Christmas present when she was fifteen. When she was abducted by Duane Barry, a self-proclaimed alien abductee, it was the only item left behind in Barry's getaway car. Mulder wore it as a talisman of her until Scully miraculously reappeared in a Washington, D.C. hospital. After she recovered from the trauma of her abduction, he returned the cross to her. The abduction visibly tested the limits of her faith -- Mulder believes that Scully was taken aboard an alien spaceship and was subjected to tests. However, because of Scully's skepticism, she believes she was kidnapped by men and subjected to tests, not aliens. She believes she could have been brought there by Barry, and she began to exhibit symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder on a case involving a murdering fetishist named Donnie Pfaster. This psychological re-victimization continued after Pfaster escaped from prison five years later and again attempted to kill her in her home, ending only after she fatally shot him. She struggled with what motivated her actions to kill Pfaster, and questioned whether it was God compelling her to kill him, or "something else." Sometime after her recovery from cancer, Scully began to regularly attend Mass again. At the request of Father McCue, Scully got involved in a case concerning a paraplegic girl who was found dead in a kneeling position with her palms outstretched and eye sockets charred. After Scully discovered the girl was part of a set of quadruplets and two more were murdered, Father McCue shared with her the story of the seraphim and the nephilim, which Scully interpreted as a possible explanation for the deformations and deaths of the girls. Scully continued to have visions of Emily, and when the last girl died, Scully believed she was returning the girl to God. Upon her return to Washington D.C., she went to confession to gain peace of mind and acceptance for Emily's death. In confession she regretted her decision of letting the girl go. This suggests Scully had doubts about her faith. In the sixth season episode "Milagro", Agent Scully's vulnerability is exposed. In this episode, the murderer takes the victim's heart out. The suspect, a writer named Phillip Padgett, has a particular interest in Scully and is fascinated by her beauty and personality. When she goes to a church to observe a painting, the writer is there and talks to her about the Sacred Heart of Jesus. During the conversation he says she visits the church because she likes art, but not as place of worship. Scully doesn't say otherwise and later she says to Agent Mulder the writer told her her life story. All this suggests that Scully isn't a devout Roman Catholic, although she attempted to approach again the Catholic community and the Catholic faith to which she was devout in her youth, after handling the strange case presented in "Revelations" and also after dealing with life-threatening cancer during the fourth season. CANNOTANSWER
Throughout the series, her Catholic faith served as a cornerstone, although a contradiction to her otherwise rigid skepticism of the paranormal.
Dana Katherine Scully, MD, is a fictional character in the Fox science-fiction, supernatural television series The X-Files, played by Gillian Anderson. Scully is an Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) special agent and a medical doctor (MD), partnered with fellow Special Agent Fox Mulder for seasons one to seven and seasons 10 and 11,  and with John Doggett in the eighth and ninth seasons. In the television series, they work out of a cramped basement office at FBI headquarters in Washington, DC to investigate unsolved cases labeled "X-Files". In 2002, Scully left government employment, and in 2008 she began working as a surgeon in Our Lady of Sorrows, a private Catholic hospital – where she stayed for seven years, until rejoining the FBI. In contrast to Mulder's credulous "believer" character, Scully is the skeptic for the first seven seasons, choosing to base her beliefs on what science can prove. She later on becomes a "believer" after Mulder's abduction at the end of season seven.

Scully has appeared in all but five episodes of The X-Files, and in the 20th Century Fox films The X-Files, released in 1998, and The X-Files: I Want to Believe, released 10 years later. The episodes in which she does not appear are "3", "Zero Sum", "Unusual Suspects," "Travelers," and "The Gift" (excluding archive footage). The 11th season marked Anderson's final time portraying the character.

Background
Dr. Dana Katherine Scully was born on February 23, 1964, in Annapolis, Maryland, to William (Don S. Davis) and Margaret Scully (Sheila Larken), into a close-knit Catholic family with Irish ancestry. She has an older brother, Bill Jr., an older sister, Melissa, and a younger brother, Charles, who is never seen on the show except in flashbacks. Scully's father was a navy captain, who died of a heart attack in early January 1994. Dana Scully grew up in Annapolis, Maryland and later in San Diego, California. As a young girl, Scully's favorite book was Moby-Dick and she came to nickname her father "Ahab" from the book, and in return, he called her "Starbuck". Due to this, she named her dog Queequeg.

Scully attended the University of Maryland, and in 1986 received a bachelor of science degree in physics. Her undergraduate thesis was titled Einstein's Twin Paradox: A New Interpretation. Just out of medical school at Stanford University, she was recruited by the FBI; she accepted the agency's offer of employment because she felt she could distinguish herself there. After two years in the bureau, Section Chief Scott Blevins assigned her to work with agent Fox Mulder.

Storylines

Upon being partnered with Mulder, Scully maintained her medical skills by acting as a forensic pathologist, often performing or consulting on autopsies of victims on X-Files cases.

In season two, Scully was kidnapped by an ex-FBI agent turned mental patient named Duane Barry, and then taken from Barry by a military covert operation that was working with the alien conspirators, but was later returned. In season three she found out that a super hi-tech microchip has been implanted in the back of her neck. After having it removed, she developed cancer in the fourth season and was hospitalized after the cancer became terminal. She was saved after Mulder broke into the Department of Defense to retrieve another chip to be implanted back into her neck. At the time, Scully was also undergoing experimental medical treatments and was having a dramatic renewal of her faith.

Scully was pronounced infertile during the fifth season. In the season-five episode "Emily", Scully discovers that she unknowingly mothered a daughter during her abduction (in season two). Her daughter Emily was adopted by another family. Emily died shortly afterwards, and they were unable to further investigate after Emily's body went missing. In the seventh-season finale, "Requiem", Scully mysteriously became pregnant. The child, named William, after her own father, as well as Mulder's father, was born at the end of the eighth season. The show did not initially reveal the cause of Scully's pregnancy, but later episodes and movies would see Mulder and Scully call William "our son"; the pair had unsuccessfully tried for a child through in vitro fertilization. Around this time, Mulder was fired from the FBI by Deputy Director Alvin Kersh, and Scully left the field to teach forensics at Quantico. William was given up for adoption during the end of the ninth season after Scully felt she could no longer provide the safety that William needed. William was a "miracle child", of some importance to the alien conspirators. He demonstrated extraordinary powers, including telekinesis.

In The X-Files: I Want to Believe, she is shown working as a medical doctor at the Our Lady of Sorrows, a private Catholic hospital in Virginia. Early on in the film, Scully is contacted by the FBI, who are looking for Fox Mulder in the hope that he will assist them with the investigation of a missing FBI agent. In exchange for his help, the charges against him will be dropped. Unlike Mulder, Scully was apparently not considered a fugitive by the FBI. However, she did continue to maintain her romantic relationship with Mulder throughout the six years that he was on the run from the American government. In the movie, they are shown to be living together in a secluded house.

In the first episode of season 10, "My Struggle" (2016), Scully is still working as a doctor for Our Lady of Sorrows hospital, now performing surgeries on children with severe birth defects. She has extraterrestrial DNA, as the test that she performs on herself confirms. After the FBI reopens the X-Files, 14 years after their closure, she rejoins the bureau. In "Mulder and Scully Meet the Were-Monster", Scully jokes that she often enters dangerous situations alone due to the immortality she seemingly obtained during the events of the episode "Tithonus". At the end of "Mulder and Scully Meet the Were-Monster", Scully steals a dog from an animal control center, named Daggoo, which is named after yet another character from Moby-Dick. In "Home Again" Dana's mother, Margaret Scully, dies after suffering a heart attack. In the show's 10th-season finale, "My Struggle II", Scully is in a race against time to save humankind, creating a vaccine from her own extraterrestrial DNA.

Characterization
Throughout the series, her Catholic faith served as a cornerstone, although a contradiction to her otherwise rigid skepticism of the paranormal.  Due to her career in science and medicine, she drifted from her Catholic Christian upbringing, but remained somewhat entrenched in her religious beliefs.

Scully almost always wears a gold cross necklace. Two conflicting stories exist of how Scully received the necklace. After Scully's abduction in season two, Scully's mother told Fox Mulder she gave Scully the necklace as a birthday present. In season five, Scully recalls receiving the necklace as a Christmas present. Scully's sister, Melissa, also receives a similar necklace on that occasion. When she was abducted by Duane Barry, a self-proclaimed alien abductee, it was the only item left behind in Barry's getaway car. Mulder wore it as a talisman of her until Scully miraculously reappeared in a Washington, DC, hospital. After she recovered from the trauma of her abduction, he returned the cross to her.

The abduction visibly tested the limits of her faith — Mulder believes that Scully was taken aboard an alien spaceship and was subjected to tests. Because of Scully's skepticism, though, she believes she was kidnapped by men, not aliens, and subjected to tests. She believes she could have been brought there by Barry, and she began to exhibit symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder on a case involving a murdering fetishist named Donnie Pfaster. This psychological re-victimization continued after Pfaster escaped from prison five years later and again attempted to kill her in her home, ending only after she fatally shot him. She struggled with what motivated her actions to kill Pfaster, and questioned whether it was God compelling her to kill him, or "something else".

Sometime after her recovery from cancer, Scully began to regularly attend mass again. At the request of Father McCue, Scully got involved in a case concerning a paraplegic girl who was found dead in a kneeling position with her palms outstretched and eye sockets charred. After Scully discovered the girl was a quadruplet and two more were murdered, Father McCue shared with her the story of the seraphim and the nephilim, which Scully interpreted as a possible explanation for the deformations and deaths of the girls. Scully continued to have visions of Emily, and when the last girl died, Scully believed she was returning the girl to God. Upon her return to Washington, DC, she went to confession to gain peace of mind and acceptance for Emily's death. In confession, she regretted her decision of letting the girl go. This suggests Scully had doubts about her faith.

In the sixth-season episode "Milagro", Agent Scully's vulnerability is exposed. In this episode, the murderer takes the victim's heart out. The suspect, a writer named Phillip Padgett, has a particular interest in Scully and is fascinated by her beauty and personality. When she goes to a church to observe a painting, the writer is there and talks to her about the Sacred Heart of Jesus. During the conversation he says she visits the church because she likes art, but not as place of worship. Scully doesn't say otherwise and later she says to Agent Mulder the writer told her her life story. All this suggests that Scully isn't a devout Roman Catholic, although she attempted to approach again the Catholic community and the Catholic faith to which she was devout in her youth, after handling the strange case presented in "Revelations" and also after dealing with life-threatening cancer during the fourth season.

Relationships
While in medical school, she carried on an affair with her married instructor, Dr. Daniel Waterston, who may have been the "college boyfriend" mentioned in "Trust No 1". In the show, whether or not the relationship became sexual is never indicated. According to Anderson in the episode's audio commentary, Scully came very close to having an affair with the married Waterston, but left before she could break up his marriage. The end of her relationship with Waterston came about following her decision to go into the FBI. After her entrance to the FBI's Academy at Quantico, Scully began a year-long relationship with her Academy instructor, Jack Willis, with whom she shared a birthday.

Towards the end of the series, her previously platonic friendship with partner Fox Mulder developed into a romantic relationship. When Mulder was injured in a boat crash, he awakened in a hospital and told Scully that he loved her. In the season six episode "How the Ghosts Stole Christmas", a ghost that seems to know the inner workings of Scully's mind suggests that her source of intimacy for Mulder comes from her desire to always prove him wrong. By the end of the sixth season, Mulder and Scully were increasingly shown enjoying more light-hearted activities together, such as practicing baseball, using FBI funds for a "night out" during a movie premiere, and watching a movie at Mulder's apartment. In the season seven episode "all things", Scully is shown getting dressed in Mulder's bathroom, while Mulder sleeps, apparently naked, in the bedroom. In "Trust No 1" a man reveals to Scully that he works for a "new" Syndicate like-organization, and his job requires him and a few other colleagues to spy on her around the clock. Due to this he knows intimate details of Scully's personal life, right down to her "natural hair color" (Titian, as later confirmed by Chris Carter). It is suggested by this man that Scully ultimately initiated a sexual relationship with Mulder, as he remarked that he was very surprised when she invited Mulder "into her bed". The last scene of the series finale featured Mulder and Scully holding each other on a bed, facing an uncertain future together in love.

In the film, The X-Files: I Want to Believe, which takes place six years later, Mulder and Scully are still in a relationship. Scully was concerned that Mulder's continuing pursuit of the unknown was taking its toll on their relationship, and they could not be together if he could not "escape the darkness". However, the film ends with the couple sharing a passionate kiss, and in the "secret ending" after the majority of the credits, a happily smiling Scully is seen in a small rowboat with Mulder, both clad in swimwear, in a tropical sea, having taken him up on his offer to run away together. In the 10th season, Scully and Mulder are no longer a couple, as she chose to leave him. At the end of the season, Scully gets a vision, which is revealed to have come from her son, William,at the beginning of season 11. Over the course of season 11, Scully and Mulder search for William. Skinner learns from the Smoking Man that the Smoking Man, who is Mulder's father, also artificially impregnated Scully, thus is William's father, as well. In the third episode of the 11th season, "Plus One", Scully and Mulder are intimate again. In the season-11 finale, "My Struggle IV", she reveals to Mulder that she is pregnant with his child.

Conceptual history

Chris Carter named Scully after his favorite sportscaster, Vin Scully of the Los Angeles Dodgers. John Doggett was likewise named after Vin Scully's longtime broadcasting partner, Jerry Doggett. Scully's character was also inspired by Jodie Foster's portrayal of Clarice Starling in the film The Silence of the Lambs. Scully was a known name in UFO lore. In 1950 the less than credible Behind the Flying Saucers was published, written by Variety columnist Frank Scully. The name Scully was also used in 1976 film All the President's Men, an obvious inspiration for the show, in a list of names who work for the Committee for the Re-Election of the President.

The casting for Scully caused a conflict between Carter and the Fox network. Carter had chosen 24-year-old Gillian Anderson, whom Carter felt was perfect for the role. Of her audition, Carter said, "she came in and read the part with a seriousness and intensity that I knew the Scully character had to have and I knew [...] she was the right person for the part". However, Fox executives had wanted a more glamorous "bombshell" for the part (in a 2008 interview Anderson stated that Pamela Anderson had actually been the network's first choice), hoping that this would lead to the series involving a romantic element. This led Carter to insist that he did not want the roles of Mulder and Scully to become romantically involved. Carter decided Scully would be the skeptic to play against established stereotypes; typically on television the quality was attributed to a male. Because Duchovny was much taller than Anderson, during scenes where Mulder and Scully stand or walk next to each other Anderson stood on "the Gilly-Board", an apple box named after her.

Scully appears in every episode of the 10-season series with the exceptions of "3", "Zero Sum", "Unusual Suspects", and "Travelers". She has appeared outside The X-Files on numerous occasions, the most notable being in the Millennium (also created by Chris Carter) episode "Lamentation", in which the main character, Frank Black, visits the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, and Mulder and Scully are briefly seen descending a stairway. In fact, they are Duchovny and Anderson's stand-ins.

An animated version of Scully, which featured the voice acting of Anderson, appeared on season eight of The Simpsons, in the episode "The Springfield Files", as well as Canadian animated series Eek! The Cat, on the episode "Eek Space 9". The animated television series ReBoot featured characters Fax Modem and Data Nully, obvious spoofs of Mulder and Scully, in the episode "Trust No One". Anderson provided her voice work for the episode, but co-star Duchovny declined.

Reception

Anderson won many awards for her portrayal of Special Agent Scully during the ten seasons of The X-Files, including an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 1997, a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Television Drama Series in 1997, two SAG Awards for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series in 1996 and 1997 and a Saturn Award for Best Actress on Television in 1997. In total, Anderson received for the role, four Emmy nominations, four Golden Globe nominations, nine SAG nominations and eight Saturn nominations.

Film critic Scott Mendelson, writing in The Huffington Post, cited Scully as an example of strong female characters on television, calling her "one of the most iconic characters in the science-fiction genre". Radio Times Laura Pledger also named her as a strong TV woman, placing her at No. 1. Rebecca Traister of Salon.com opined that Scully had a better character arc than Mulder. She wrote, "The very fact that her character was such a hard sell made her repeated brushes with the supernatural all the more powerful. Mulder's desire to believe was so expansive, his credulity so flexible, that it's not as though he was ever going to have either shaken from him. But Scully's surety was solid, stable, rigid; every time she saw something she thought she'd never see, we saw it crack, sparks fly from it. She was forced to question herself, grow, change". She praised her for being more "rational, resilient, [and] mature" than her partner and for their mature relationship. In a review of "Irresistible", Emily VanDerWerff of The A.V. Club wrote that it was a cliché to put Scully in danger, as "Scully is [the show's] heart, and any time she's in danger, it feels like the show itself is about to be stabbed through the heart".

The character of Scully has become something of a sci-fi heroine due to her intelligence and resilience, frequently appearing on lists of important female science fiction characters, such as Total Sci-Fi Onlines list of The 25 Women Who Shook Sci-Fi, where she came in fourth. TV Squad named her the thirteenth greatest woman on television, while the site also listed her among the most memorable female science fiction television characters. She is also often cited as being an unlikely sex symbol, frequently being included in lists of sexy TV characters. She was listed in AfterEllen.com's Top 50 Favorite Female TV Characters. The pairing Mulder/Scully was ranked number 15 on Sleuth Channel's poll of America's Top Sleuths.

Angelica Jade Bastién of Vulture emphasized the importance of Scully's character in popular culture by listing all the strong female characters she inspired or may have influenced in some aspects, including: Temperance "Bones" Brennan of Bones, Peggy Carter of Agent Carter, Veronica Mars of Veronica Mars, Olivia Moore of iZombie, Dr. Maura Isles of Rizzoli & Isles, Olivia Benson of Law and Order: SVU, Joan Watson of Elementary, Sydney Bristow of Alias, Abbie Mills of Sleepy Hollow, Zoë Washburne of Firefly, Stella Gibson (another character portrayed by Anderson) of The Fall and Olivia Dunham of Fringe. Jade Bastién wrote: "Do all the characters Scully has influenced live up to her? Definitely not. Gillian Anderson's performance and her chemistry with David Duchovny aren't exactly elements that can be replicated. But these characters prove that Scully isn't only the heart of The X-Files, but also the character who had the most profound influence on popular culture".

Indiewire's Liz Shannon Miller ranked Scully as the No. 1 most important character of The X-Files, writing: "Scully's legacy is so important in so many ways, from giving us the gift of Gillian Anderson's acting, to inspiring an entire generation of young women to pursue careers in STEM. Intelligent, loyal, flawed and brave, Scully was the show's beating heart and saving grace even in its lowest years. As Chris Carter himself has said: 'It's Scully's show'."

"The Scully Effect"
The character is believed to have initiated a phenomenon referred to as "The Scully Effect", as the character's role as a medical doctor and FBI Special Agent inspired many young women to pursue careers in science, medicine, engineering, and law enforcement, and as a result brought a perceptible increase in the number of women in those fields. At the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con International, Anderson noted that she has long been aware of "The Scully Effect" and stated: "We got a lot of letters all the time, and I was told quite frequently by girls who were going into the medical world or the science world or the FBI world or other worlds that I reigned, that they were pursuing those pursuits because of the character of Scully. And I said, 'Yay!'" Anne Simon, a biology professor and a science adviser for the series recalls: "I asked my Intro Bio class back then how many of them were influenced by the character of Scully on The X-Files to go into science and half of the hands in the room went up. That's huge! That was saying that the show was really having an effect." "The Scully Effect" remains a subject of academic inquiry.

References

Bibliography

External links
 Dana Scully on IMDb
The Scully Effect on Fanlore

The X-Files characters
American female characters in television
Female characters in television
Fictional characters with cancer
Fictional characters from Maryland
Television characters introduced in 1993
Fictional special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Fictional female detectives
Fictional female doctors
Fictional feminists and women's rights activists
Fictional forensic scientists
Fictional paranormal investigators
Fictional American physicians
Fictional surgeons
Fictional female scientists

de:Akte X – Die unheimlichen Fälle des FBI#Hauptdarsteller
sv:Lista över figurer i Arkiv X#Dana Scully
William Szathmary (October 5, 1924  June 15, 2017), known as Bill Dana, was an American comedian, actor, and screenwriter. He often appeared on television shows such as The Ed Sullivan Show, frequently in the guise of a heavily accented Bolivian character named José Jiménez. Dana often portrayed the Jiménez character as an astronaut.

Early life
Dana was born William Szathmary in Quincy, Massachusetts, the youngest of six children born to Joseph and Dena Szathmary. He was of Hungarian Jewish descent. He took his stage name "Dana" after his mother's first name "Dena" as he felt "Szathmary" was unpronounceable.

Dana benefited from the expertise of an older brother, Arthur, who was fluent in several languages and gave his sibling his second entry into foreign languages. The first was growing up in a polyglot neighborhood where Spanish and Italian were among the languages spoken and having a Hungarian immigrant for a father. His older brother was Irving Szathmary, composer of the Get Smart theme.

During World War II, he served in the United States Army with the 263rd Infantry Regiment, 66th Infantry Division as a 60mm mortarman and machine gunner, as well as an unofficial interpreter. He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal.

Career

Dana began his career as a page at NBC's famous Studio 6B while performing comedy in nightclubs around New York with partner Gene Wood. Starting in the 1950s, his appearances on television included The Imogene Coca Show and The Danny Thomas Show, as well as writing for and producing The Spike Jones Show.

Dana's career took a major turn when he began writing stand-up routines for the young comedian Don Adams, including the now well-known "Would you believe?" jokes popularized by Get Smart. From there, he was brought in as a writer for The Steve Allen Show, where he created the José Jiménez character for the show's Man in the Street segments.

On an Ed Sullivan Show appearance, Dana related a story of how a woman recognized him on the street, but knew him only as José Jiménez, and asked what his real name was.  Instead of his stage name, "Bill Dana", he gave her his real name, "William Szathmary". The woman rejoined: "Wow, no wonder you changed it to Jiménez!"

Dana had several comedy albums but only one that strictly featured the Jose Jimenez character. One of the cuts;  "The Astronaut (Part 1 & 2)"...an interview from news reporter, writer and producer Don Hinkley...made it to the Billboard Top 40 charts at #19 in September 1961. Hinkley and Dana met as writers for the Allen show.

In 1961, Dana made the first of eight appearances on The Danny Thomas Show, playing Jimenez as a bumbling but endearing elevator operator. The character was so well-received that it was spun off into his own NBC sitcom, The Bill Dana Show (1963–1965).  Jiménez was now a bellhop at a posh New York hotel. His snooty, irritable boss was played by Jonathan Harris. The cast also included Don Adams as a hopelessly inept house detective named Byron Glick; when the show was cancelled, Adams quickly used the Glick characterization as the basis for Maxwell Smart, and Get Smart premiered on NBC that fall.

Before appearing in front of a television camera for the first time on The Steve Allen Show in 1959, Dana had been a prolific comedy writer, an activity he continued into the 1980s, producing material for other actors on stage and screen. Dana co-wrote the script for the Get Smart theatrical film The Nude Bomb. His brother, Irving Szathmary, wrote the theme song for the Get Smart television series.

In 1966, Dana wrote the animated television movie Alice in Wonderland (or What’s a Nice Kid Like You Doing in a Place Like This?), in which he also supplied the voice of The White Knight (using his Jiménez voice). That same year, the Jiménez character was animated for the Paramount cartoon I Want My Mummy, written by Dana in collaboration with Howard Post. In 1966, Dana appeared uncredited in episode 48 of Batman playing José Jiménez, opening the window in the wall Batman was climbing and talking with him.

In May 1967, Dana hosted his own late-night talk show, The Las Vegas Show, on the new United Network. Originated live from the Hotel Hacienda in Las Vegas, Nevada, the program was cancelled by the end of May when the United Network folded.  
 
Joey Forman's 1968 parody album about Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, called The Mashuganishi Yogi ("mashugana" meaning crazy or bizarre in Yiddish), was produced by Dana, and includes a cameo of Dana as Jiménez, as well as a cover appearance. The album is a mock news conference, an extended question-and-answer session. The ersatz Bolivian–accented Jiménez asks the ersatz Indian-accented Yogi: "Why do you talk so funny?"

In 1970, responding to changing times and sensitivities, Dana stopped portraying the José Jiménez character; however, he played the character again on the 1988 revival of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. Dana wrote the script for possibly the best known episode of the situation comedy All in the Family, entitled "Sammy's Visit", which featured Sammy Davis Jr. In 1976, he appeared in the "A Doctor's Doctor" episode of the NBC situation comedy The Practice as the hospital roommate of Danny Thomas's character Dr. Jules Bedford.

The José Jiménez character was part of several scenes in the 1983 film The Right Stuff. The government officials watch The Ed Sullivan Show before recruiting the Navy pilots.  Sullivan is talking to Jiménez. ("Is that your crash helmet?" "Oh, I hope not!") Later during medical testing, a large, Hispanic worker (played by NFL offensive tackle Anthony Muñoz) takes offense to Alan Shepard (Scott Glenn) mimicking the Jiménez character.

Although his film appearances were few, Dana had roles in a few movies including The Busy Body (1967), Harrad Summer (1974), I Wonder Who's Killing Her Now? (1975), and the aforementioned The Nude Bomb (1980). Dana would also have a recurring role on The Golden Girls as Sophia Petrillo's brother Angelo. He also played her father in a flashback. In addition, he played Wendell Balaban on Too Close for Comfort, as well as Howie Mandel's father on the series St. Elsewhere.

Dana reprised the role of Bernardo the servant on the CBS TV series Zorro and Son, but his performance was different from Gene Sheldon's pantomime counterpart on the 1950s live-action show. Both series were produced by Walt Disney Productions.

Dana died on June 15, 2017, at his home in Nashville, Tennessee at the age of 92.

American Comedy Archives
Bill Dana was integral in creating the American Comedy Archives, a series of audiovisual interviews with such comic luminaries as Phyllis Diller, Dick Gregory, Don Knotts, Norman Lear, Bob Newhart, Tom Poston, Paul Rodriguez, Dick Van Dyke, Betty White, and Jonathan Winters. The American Comedy Archives are housed at the Iwasaki Library at Emerson College, but transcripts of some interviews (Dana's included) have been made available on the library website.

Filmography

References

External links

Bill Dana at the American Comedy Archives

1924 births
2017 deaths
American male comedians
American male television actors
American male screenwriters
American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent
Jewish American male actors
Jewish American male comedians
Writers from Quincy, Massachusetts
United States Army personnel of World War II
Comedians from Tennessee
Screenwriters from Massachusetts
20th-century American comedians
United States Army soldiers
21st-century American Jews Dana Monroe (initially credited as Dana Adams) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Barbara Smith. Smith auditioned for the role over Zoom due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on television and was cast as Dana, a love interest for established character Bobby Beale (Clay Milner Russell), making her first appearance on 1 April 2021. She was initially cast in a 6-month guest stint, but was promoted to a regular cast member and had her family introduced to the soap. She was overjoyed to have been cast due to having been a fan of the soap since her youth. Dana has been shown to be a bubbly, generous and likeable character. Smith was initially unsure if viewers would like her, but critics have noted that it has been refreshing to have a character with good intentions on EastEnders.

As well as her on-off relationship with Bobby, her tumultuous relationships with her relatives have been central to Dana's storylines. Father Harvey Monroe (Ross Boatman) is shown to be a strict father to Dana and attempts to control her, while brother Aaron Monroe (Charlie Wernham) disgusts Dana with his racist and Islamophobic attitudes. Smith noted that despite Dana being at the bottom of the Monroe family's power hierarchy, it would not stop her from attempting to change their family's old-fashioned mindsets. Her relationship with Bobby has been well received by viewers and critics, with one of their scenes nominated for Feel Good Moment at the 2021 Inside Soap Awards. Smith was also nominated in the newcomer categories at the 2021 I Talk Telly Awards and the Digital Spy Reader Awards for her portrayal of Dana.

Casting and characterisation
Smith's casting was announced on 28 March 2021, when it was confirmed that she would be guest starring as a love interest for established character Bobby Beale (Clay Milner Russell). Smith said that she was attracted to playing Dana since she is a smiley and bubbly character, describing her as the "innocent wholesome version of the girl next door". She was also keen to be involved in a romantic storyline since she had not previously been part of one. Smith auditioned for the role of Dana over Zoom with executive producer Jon Sen and other members of the production team. Smith was unsure about her performance and felt that she could have changed things about her audition, so went for a walk with her mother afterwards to ease her thoughts. Hours later, her agent informed her that she had gotten the role and that she would begin filming imminently. She was initially contracted for six months. Smith noted her happiness at having been cast due to having been a long-term viewer of the soap; she described the moment she was told as "a moment [she will] remember for a long time".

Smith had appeared in EastEnders prior to portraying Dana, when she played Ellie in 2019, a school student who gives Bex Fowler (Jasmine Armfield) drugs. However, the role was filmed on-location, and Smith had therefore not been on the set of EastEnders until 2021. When she arrived on set, Smith felt as though she was stepping into her television and said it was a moment where she had to pinch herself. She noted her "obsession" with the soap as a child and particularly noted her adoration for cast member Lacey Turner. Smith said that she is fairly similar to her character, specifically due to sharing a love for books and films. Dana is into anime, which Smith does not watch, but she felt that she is similar to her with how she likes to escape into fictional worlds. She said that Dana is the nicest character she has played throughout her career, adding that Walford needs more nice characters like her own. When asked what Smith liked the most about Dana, she said that it was her generosity and her willingness to do anything for her loved ones. She opined that in real life, she is more selfish than Dana, but liked being able to play such a likeable character. She felt that Dana was "quite an unusual character for soapland" since she only has good intentions and was unsure what the viewers' reception would be. Dana gets a job as a waitress, which Smith liked since she felt it made Dana more "rooted in reality" due to many 19-year-olds having waitressing jobs. She had worked as a waitress in real life prior to portraying Dana and said that the restaurant scenes reminded her of her times as a waitress.

Development

Introduction
Kim Fox (Tameka Empson) makes it her mission to find love for Bobby and introduces him to Dana, setting the pair up on a date that aired on 1 April 2021. However, as Suki Panesar (Balvinder Sopal) destroys his confidence prior to the date, the Metros Stephen Patterson wrote that this could affect Dana's date. Bobby introduces himself as 'Rob' on the date and tells Dana that he is the owner of Walford East, his family's restaurant, as well as owning his own house. However, Bobby's "lies threaten to catch up with him" when Dana unexpectedly arrives at Walford East. After continuing to lie about his identity, Bobby eventually becomes worried about their relationship when Dana announces that she wants to get more serious within their relationship. Smith was initially nervous to film romantic scenes with Russell, particularly when COVID-19 restrictions meant that they could not touch. This meant that Smith had to get it across that her character was interested in Bobby without touching him, which she found challenging. She was also nervous when they were able to kiss, but since Russell was nervous too, they formed a "we're in this together" mindset to allow them to do it. Viewers have given the pairing the portmanteau 'Bana'.

Establishment of the Monroe family

In June 2021, it was announced that Smith had been promoted to a regular cast member after her six-month testing period and that her father, Harvey Monroe (Ross Boatman), would be joining the series. Smith was excited for Boatman to play her father since she was a fan of his after seeing him on the BBC series Mum. Digital Spy's Sophie Dainty wrote that Dana is close to Harvey and that he would be protective of her when he is introduced to Bobby. After Dana and Bobby have sex, he reveals to Dana that years ago, he murdered his sister and the truth about his life. She is disgusted by what he has done and how he has lied, telling him their relationship is over. Digital Spy's Susannah Alexander wrote that Dana may have "been put off him for good after his revelations", hinting the end of their relationship. Bobby's brother, Peter Beale (Dayle Hudson), secretly contacts Dana and asks her to give Bobby another chance. While no there was no prior confirmation on if she would continue their relationship, the Radio Times predicted that the pair would reconcile. The pair eventually reconcile and initially decide against telling Harvey about Bobby's past. Actress Smith said that the decision to lie to her father causes Dana anxiety since she is close to Harvey and has never lied to him. She explained: "She's not a typical teenager that goes out to parties or sneaks out. She's never had a boyfriend before, it's all very new to her so she's worried about Harvey finding out." Smith added that since Harvey is a strict father, he may forbid the relationship, but expressed her personal hopes that their relationship continued as she liked the pairing.

After the introduction of Boatman's character, their characters were allotted a home set on the set of EastEnders. Smith found the experience unbelievable and surreal, accrediting her excitement to it being near the Beale family's house, which she felt is an iconic part of the EastEnders set. Smith also noted that having the set allowed her to play her role as Dana better, since the photographs of Boatman and herself around the flat allowed her to "feel immersed in their world". She expressed her enjoyment at working with Boatman, as she felt that she was learning from his acting experience. Smith added that despite his experience, Boatman is "happy to run with [her] ideas" for scenes which she felt allowed them to build a good father-daughter relationship with him, both on-screen and off-screen. In August 2021, it was announced that Charlie Wernham had been cast as Dana's older brother, Aaron Monroe. Digital Spy's Lisa Wehrstedt hinted that there would be tension between the siblings due to Dana often feeling shut out by Aaron, leading the pair to have a "strained relationship". Sen added that the siblings are the opposite to each other in terms of personality. Smith said that Dana's biggest issues with Aaron are his views, his arrogance and his stubbornness. She detests his Islamophobic and racist comments and makes continuous efforts to change his mindset. On her place in the Monroe family, Smith explained that if there was a power ranking, Dana would most likely be towards the bottom. However, despite not "having much sway", this does not stop Dana from trying to change things within the family. She added that despite being loyal to her family, she would also criticise their methods when she feels it is necessary. Smith has expressed her wishes to see Dana's mother introduced, as she felt that it would explain a lot about Dana's personality.

Attack and rocky relationships
In September 2021, it was revealed that Dana would be attacked in forthcoming scenes. Since Bobby and his friends are Muslims and are pushing for the opening of a mosque in Walford, Dana supports their movement. Harvey tries to dissuade Dana of her relationship with Bobby, but she remains adamant that she is happy with him. Whilst handing out flyers for the mosque, Dana notices a group of men saying racial slurs heading for them; they are all cornered and attacked by the group, with Dana getting "brutally" physically assaulted. A helpless Bobby watches on and is later "consumed with his own guilt" for not being able to prevent the attack. Dana becomes unsure about the future of their relationship due to his lack of action in the attack, and in an attempt to fix their relationship, Bobby tries to persuade Harvey that he would be a supportive boyfriend. Harvey tells Dana that she needs to forget about Bobby and go to university in Glasgow, which she is upset about. Dana is angry about him going to Harvey rather than her personally, and in "heartbreaking" scenes, Dana dumps Bobby. Dana tells Bobby: "I've spent my life having him make my decisions for me. I'm not going to spend my life with another man who thinks he can do the exact same thing. We're done." However, after seeing Bobby obsessively cleaning the kitchen at Walford East due to an OCD relapse, the pair talk and decide to reconcile. However, Sam Warner of Digital Spy hinted that Harvey may never truly approve of Bobby.

When Harvey makes a racist comment to Ash Kaur (Gurlaine Kaur Garcha), Dana pushes him to apologise to Ash. However, Aaron is furious with her for not sticking by their father, telling Dana to "keep [her] mouth shut". Wernham hinted that when his "controversial" character finds out that Dana is dating a Muslim, he would "have an opinion on whether he's good enough for her". It was later announced that Aaron would be a sinister villain on EastEnders. Dana does not initially know of his criminal nature and just thinks he is "arrogant and says ignorant things". However, Smith said that once Dana discovers his true self, there would be a lot for her to process. Dana informs Aaron that she is contemplating converting to Islam and Susannah Alexander's Digital Spy wrote that his fury could leave Dana in danger. EastEnders announced that Aaron's storyline would explore issues of racism and religious hatred and that Dana could be affected by a bombing he is involved in. After Aaron is arrested for trying to bomb the Albert and Bobby dumps Dana, Dana and Harvey plan to leave Walford, despite Dana believing that she could be pregnant. Bobby discovers of her potential pregnancy and proposes to her, to which she says no and confirms that she is not pregnant. Kathy sees the proposal and exposes the Monroes in front of a crowd for having a terrorist in their family.

Smith enjoyed the storyline as she felt is developed Dana as a character aside from being Bobby's love interest and appreciated being able to see more of her character. She also hoped that Dana and Bobby's angst had come to an end since she liked the pairing. However, Smith appreciated that the couple were normal and that teenagers could relate to their relationship since under all of the hardships, "they're two teenagers very much in love". She explained that their youth and lack of experience in serious relationships had contributed to them having trouble navigating their relationship. Smith was asked who she would like to film with in future, to which she said that Dana having interactions with Stacey Slater (Turner) would be interesting, especially since she is a fan of Turner. She was also asked which storylines she would implement if she was in charge. Smith said that she would love to see Dana in charge of people and executing her own visions, as well as working with people who have been radicalised and having "a bigger voice". Smith said that Dana would have been ready to accept his proposal if he was not doing it out of obligation to her. She said that despite being young and unready to get married, Dana is "so wrapped up in her love for Bobby that she doesn't always think logically". She hoped that the couple would get married one day and expressed her excitement at the thought of filming a soap wedding, having loved Stacey and Bradley Branning's (Charlie Clements) as a child. However, she hoped that prior to a wedding, Dana would have been explored more as a singular character.

Reception
Susan Knox of the Daily Mirror described Dana as a "brunette beauty" and noted that Smith is a talented actress. Knox added that Dana and Bobby's relationship "has kept fans gripped" and felt that it would continue to do so in forthcoming scenes. The Daily Mirror reported that viewers of EastEnders were "delighted" to see Dana kiss Bobby, specifically due to the lack of social distancing during the scenes. Viewers were "happy to witness some normality again", since the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on television meant that cast members on the soap had to socially distance. The scene of Bobby stopping Dana from leaving Walford was nominated for Feel Good Moment at the 2021 Inside Soap Awards. Smith was also nominated in the newcomer categories at the 2021 I Talk Telly Awards and Digital Spy Reader Awards for her portrayal of Dana. Viewers were horrified by Dana's attack from the Islamophobic gang, with many Tweeting that the attack was too violent and hoping that Dana would be okay. After scenes of Harvey and Aaron being casually racist, the Metros Calli Kitson appreciated that Dana is nothing like them, adding that viewers have noticed the difference too. OK! magazine wrote that Dana "lights up screens" and that she has proved popular with viewers. Metros Duncan Lindsay said that it is not common a soap character is genuinely nice and has no ulterior motives so Dana is a "breath of fresh air" for EastEnders. Smith noted that she had received numerous messages from fans "saying they love her, she has a heart of gold and they want to protect her", as well as complimenting her acting skills. In February 2022, Inside Soaps Kate White wrote that Dana and Bobby are an "adorable duo" and hoped that their families would allow them to stay together. Smith told the magazine that she was surprised to have such a positive reaction to the couple.

References

EastEnders characters
Female characters in television
Fictional victims of crime
Teenage characters in television
Television characters introduced in 2021