The family members and romantic partners of the Main Characters in Mrs. America. Beware of spoilers.
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The Macray Family
Buck Macray
Buck Macray
Played By: David Snelgrove
Alice's husband who doesn't act appreciative of her.
- Foil: Of sorts.
- To Fred. He is definitely of a conservative sort of mold like Fred but is apolitical compared to the right-wing Fred and he doesn't really try to control Alice and knows when to let Alice do something she intends to do. He and Alice have an amicable but bland marriage but it isn't an Awful Wedded Life like the Schlaflys' do.
- To Kevin Whalen, full stop. He and Kevin did marry their spouses straight out of high school but Buck tends to be okay with Alice doing her thing while Kevin is controlling of Pamela.
- Innocently Insensitive: He doesn't appreciate Alice as well as he should have been, adding to Alice's fears about the ERA taking away alimony benefits for divorced spouses.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: Alice was always a submissive wife to him, but at the gala when his fed up wife is drinking he chides her for the amount of alcohol she is taking in and she tells him "it's a party" and doesn't bother to stop her when she tries to go up to Phyllis to tell her off (he was about to follow her but sits back down, thinking the better of it).
- Mellow Fellow: He is rather congenial and good-natured, not much getting a rise out of him compared to the husbands of Phyllis and Pamela; ironically this attitude is contrasted with how Alice wants to get more involved in life and use her intelligence.
- Token Good Teammate: To all the other conservative men in the series, he is very amicable with his wife and doesn't behave in a domineering manner like Fred or Kevin or demean women. At the end of the series, Alice gets a job as a 411 operator and she said he jokes that it's phone calls he doesn't have to pay for.
Tommy, Beth, and Gracie Macray
Tommy, Beth, and Gracie Macray
Played By: Dan Tracy (Tommy), Alexandra Floras-Matic (Beth), and Zoe Ambrose (Gracie)
Alice's three children. Her eldest Tommy starts the series as being in the armed forces and is married with a few sons by the end of the series, Beth is less than enthused about her mother trying to set her up and about her mother's devotion to Phyllis, and Gracie is the youngest and very obedient to her mother and grandmother. Tommy and Beth are good friends to John and Liza Schlafly.
- '70s Hair: All three of them have it with Tommy wearing his hair as long as the military will let him and with sideburns while the girls have long, glossy hair.
- Bookworm: Beth, Alice said that she always had her head in a book, in contrast to her Book Dumb mother.
- Brainy Brunette: Beth is a dark haired girl who is said to have her head in a book and seems very cynical about her mother's relationship with Phyllis.
- Light Girl, Dark Boy: Tommy is the Dark Boy (dark haired and tall) to his wife Helen's Light Girl (light blonde hair).
- Like Father, Like Son: Tommy and Gracie appear to be easy-going and cheerful, like their parents (especially Alice).
- Like Father, Unlike Son: Beth. She doesn't appear particularly impressed with Phyllis or the Republican Womens' function or her mother fawning over Phyllis. She also is not inclined towards marrying young or being set up with men like John Schlafly.
- Nice Girl: Most prominent with Gracie, who is very agreeable and close to her mother.
- Nice Guy: Tommy appears to be affable and kind-hearted, and unlike his parents, his (from what we see at the wedding) his circle of friends include some people of color.
- Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: Beth. She is a pretty girl with skin as fair as Alice's and very dark hair.
- Tall, Dark, and Handsome: Tommy, as we see in his appearance in Betty is a tall, handsome veteran with a beaming smile. It's easy to see what John saw in him.
Helen Macray
Helen Macray
Played By:
Alice's young daughter-in-law and Tommy's wife from Ladue, Missouri.
- '70s Hair: Has blonde, winged, shiny Breck Girl hair under her veil.
- Fairytale Wedding Dress: From what we see, she is wearing a white lacy gown with long sleeves, a sweetheart neckline, a long veil, and the long and flowy skirt of the decade.
- Fourth-Date Marriage: In 1972 Helen and Tommy just met on vacation, with Alice and Buck meeting the girl and her family, a year later the couple is engaged and wedded.
- Light Girl, Dark Boy: She is a blonde bride who complements her dark-haired groom.
- Meet Cute: She was on vacation with her parents in Honolulu when she met Tommy on military leave.
- Stay in the Kitchen: From what we know, she started having two little boys right away after her wedding but then relied on Alice for childcare, perhaps going to school or work.
The National Women's Political Caucus Husbands
Bill Ruckelshaus
Bill Ruckelshaus
Played By: Josh Hamilton
Jill's husband, the first administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, former FBI director, and along with Jill quit the Nixon administration over firing an official tasked with investigating Nixon's role in Watergate.
- '70s Hair: Has conservative, side-parted hair of many middle-aged men of the decade. Long sideburns and receding hairlines.
- Fox News Liberal: Just like Jill, he was one of many liberal Republicans before the party lines became so polarized. Along with being a supportive feminist ally, one of many accomplishments was enacting a ban on DDT as it was disastrous to the environment and oversaw the Clean Air Act.
- Happily Married: To Jill until his death in 2019.
- I Was Quite a Fashion Victim: As he and Jill recalled, when they first met, he was a "square" in tweed.
Martin Abzug
Martin Abzug
Played By: David Eisner
Bella's husband, a stockbroker and writer who is utterly devoted to his wife.
- Happily Married: He and Bella are beneficially loving and adoring of one another.
Marc Feigen-Fasteau
Marc Feigen-Fasteau
Played By: Adam Brody
Brenda's husband who is a writer and lawyer who teams up with Brenda to debate the Schlaflys.
- '70s Hair: He wears feathered, chin-length hair.
- Betty and Veronica: Brenda is the Archie, while he as her husband is the Betty and Jules is the Veronica.
Conrad Chisholm
Conrad Chisholm
Played By: Brandon J. Dirden
Shirley's first husband and a private investigator.
Gloria's Boyfriends
Franklin Thomas
Franklin Thomas
Played By: Jay Ellis
Gloria's first boyfriend in the series, who is interested in settling down with her, and is a divorced father.
Stan Pottinger
Stan Pottinger
Played By: Jake Lacy
A bureaucratic appointee in the Nixon and Ford administrations, a colleague of Brenda's, Gloria's next boyfriend.
Other Family and Lovers
Jules
Jules
Played By: Roberta Colindrez
A photographer who becomes Brenda's lover.
- '70s Hair: Has a short, shaggy haircut.
- Betty and Veronica: The seductive Veronica to Marc's Betty.
- Butch Lesbian: She dresses rather masculine for most women (even the queer women) in the 1970s, often in leather jackets and button down shirts and pants.
Kevin Whalen
Kevin Whalen
Played By: Drew Doyle
Pamela's controlling and abusive husband.
- '70s Hair: His brief appearance shows him with conservative "Dry Look" hair.
- Domestic Abuse: He controls and emotionally abuses Pamela.
- Jerkass: He is hot-tempered, controlling, abusive, and constantly keeps Pamela pregnant.
- Hate Sink: Going by Alice's understated observance of his character, he is very hot tempered and controlling of Pamela's movements. It is soon confirmed that Pamela is being abused by him emotionally (one time physically) and that he gets her pregnant and keeps her from going to the gala.
- Karma Houdini: By the end of the series he receives no comeuppance for his treatment of Pamela, other than the fact that Alice outed him (if the onlookers are even of the same community) during her confrontation with Phyllis as a jerk.
- Tall, Dark, and Handsome: His short appearance shows him to be quite handsome with the requisite coloring (though rather menacing).
Kathleen Sloan-Hunter
Kathleen Sloan-Hunter
Played By: McKenzie Cornelius
Margaret's young daughter.
- '70s Hair: As a little girl, she wears her hair in tiny little afro pigtails and is later seen as a adolescent with her natural down at a chin length with a braided crown.
- Children Are Innocent: She is Margaret's innocent young daughter who clings to her Mommy and is more interested in cake than the discussion at Flo's house.
- Little Miss Snarker: As a black little girl with a lesbian single mom, she is encouraged to take this approach when dealing with possible bullying.Kathleen: Why is your Mommy straight?
Arlene Crane
Arlene Crane
Played By: Andrea Grant
Phil Crane's wife who is totally aware of her husband's dalliances and has a animosity with Phyllis.
- '60s Hair: Has her hair done in a face framing bob with a teased crown that resembles a helmet.
- '70s Hair: At the "End of the ERA" gala, she has a short flip bob that frames her face.
- Alpha Bitch: Shows signs of this when she gives Phyllis a demeaning look after remarking that her husband Phil won a seat in congress in the same year Phyllis lost (after Phyllis said it was a bad year for Republicans).
- Hidden Depths: Apparently she takes an active role in picking the girls that Phil sleeps with.
- Passive-Aggressive Kombat: Engages in a light bit with Phyllis in the first episode, sniping about Phyllis's loss in the last election.
- Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: She has very dark hair and pale skin that stands out when done up in patriotic colors.
- Southern Belle: She's an attractive woman with an accent (in Real Life, she was born in Virginia) who shows signs of being catty despite being gracious.
Emily Friedan
Emily Friedan
Played By: Toni Barban
Betty's teenage daughter who bonds with her young stepmother, to Betty's chagrin.
- '70s Hair: Has the bone straight tresses associated with the first half of the decade.
- Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: Has long dark hair and pale skin.
