Trudy Monk
| Trudy Monk | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | "Mr. Monk and the Candidate" |
| Last appearance | "Mr. Monk and the End - Part II" |
| Portrayed by | Stellina Rusich (2002–2003) Melora Hardin (2004–2009) Lindy Newton (2006 college flashbacks) |
| Information | |
| Gender | Female |
| Occupation | Journalist |
| Family | Dwight Ellison (father) Marcia Ellison (mother) Jack Monk, Sr. (father-in-law) Ambrose Monk (brother-in-law) Jack Monk, Jr. (half-brother-in-law) Molly Evans (daughter) |
| Spouse(s) |
Adrian Monk (married at time of death) |
Trudy Anne Ellison Monk is the beloved deceased wife of Adrian Monk on the television series Monk. Adrian's attempt to solve the case of her murder is the show's longest-running plot arc, and it was her death that left Adrian "emotionally paralyzed," the trigger for his obsessive–compulsive disorder. She worked as a columnist for The San Francisco Examiner, and as a reporter for San Francisco Chronicle, writing hard-hitting exposes.
Trudy was played by Stellina Rusich in the first two seasons and Melora Hardin from the third season on; in the season five episode "Mr. Monk and the Class Reunion", a younger Trudy is portrayed in a flashback by Lindy Newton.
When Trudy was merely in photographs and short flashback scenes during the first two seasons, Stellina Rusich was used in the role. By the third season, the character needed to be recast, but with someone similar in appearance to the original actress. Series executive producer Randy Zisk recalls the search was narrowed to five women reading with Tony Shalhoub, and that Melora Hardin "just knocked us out. She had an angelic quality without being too syrupy or heavy-handed. It's a softness that we like, because Trudy would definitely have that quality."
Trudy Monk was born in Los Angeles in 1962 to Dwight and Marcia Ellison. In Adrian's words, Trudy "enjoyed poetry, was often barefoot, and kept every promise she ever made". Adrian offers a glimpse into her mindset (in "Mr. Monk Takes Manhattan") by turning Warrick Tennyson's morphine back on after he had turned it off claiming Trudy would have wanted him to. She attended the Ashton Preparatory School and graduated valedictorian in 1977, at the age of 15. She did not date very much while there, expecting to know who the right man would be once she found him. Trudy and Adrian met during his senior year at UC Berkeley (episode "Mr. Monk and the Class Reunion"). They married on August 8, 1990. In 1993, Trudy was involved in a lawsuit with the financier Dale "The Whale" Biederbeck because she referred to him as the "Genghis Khan of Finance". Dale was unable to win the lawsuit, but the Monks were forced to sell their house paying for their lawyer. Adrian harbors an intense hatred for Dale because of the pain he caused Trudy, saying that he stole a year of her life. Dale remains an important adversary of Adrian's, especially when it is revealed that he was hiding information he knew about Trudy's death.
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Wikipedia