Mark Greene

Mark Greene
Anthony Edwards as Mark Greene (1994)
First appearance	September 19, 1994 (Pilot: 24 Hours)
Last appearance	May 9, 2002 (Episode: On the Beach)
Cause/reason	Died of brain cancer
Portrayed by	Anthony Edwards
Episode count	1-149
Information
Gender	Male
Date of birth	1963
Date of death	2002 (39 yrs. old)
Occupation	ER attending physician
Family	David Greene (father), Ruth Greene (mother)
Spouse(s)	Jenn Greene-Simon (first wife) Elizabeth Corday (second wife)
Children	Rachel (born circa 1987 [seasons 8-10] or 1989 [seasons 1-6]), Ella (born 2001)

Dr. Mark Greene was a fictional medical doctor from the television series ER. He was portrayed by Anthony Edwards. For most of his time on the series, Greene's role was that of a mediator and occasional authority figure, a somewhat nerdy man who was nevertheless deeply respected and admired by the people at Cook County Hospital.

Early life

Mark Greene, an only child, was raised by his mother, Ruth, and father, David. David Greene served in the United States Navy, and thus the family traveled a lot and moved around frequently. As a young man Mark had a very strained relationship with his father, and was decidedly closer to his mother. He'd often act out in an attempt to upset his father, and aimed his goals in the opposite of what David wanted. The most memorable time of his childhood was when his family was in Hawaii, a time he would later recreate during the last few weeks of his life. Mark entered medical school, married Jennifer (Jenn), with whom he had a daughter, Rachel. He completed his internship and residency in the Emergency Department of County General Hospital in Chicago, Illinois.

1994-2002

In the pilot episode, which takes place on St. Patrick's Day 1994, Dr. Greene is chief resident in the ER of County General. Dr. Greene is awakened in the first scene to help sober up his long-time friend, Doug Ross, a pediatrician also on duty in the ER. Within the same episode, Jenn gets Mark to visit a private practice near the hospital to explore the possibility of leaving the ER, to give him more family-friendly hours. Mark decides the "clean" medicine isn't his cup of tea. Mark removes a hangnail from an older woman, who wanted him to remove it despite the fact she'd be charged $180. Later that same day, Mark must coordinate the ER to continue working when Nurse Hathaway is brought in, the victim of a drug overdose. During the first season, Dr. Greene's marriage becomes increasingly shaky. When offered an attending physician's position by David Morgenstern, Mark readily accepts, much to Jenn's chagrin. As a newly-admitted member of the bar, Jenn has been clerking in Wisconsin for a judge and becomes increasingly tired of commuting and living separately to accommodate Mark's job. She begins an affair with a coworker, and the marriage soon ends, with Rachel and Jenn leaving Chicago first for Wisconsin, and later for St. Louis, Missouri. In "Love's Labor Lost", Mark made miscalculations in treating a pregnant woman that led to her death in childbirth, and the after-effects of this case lingered long into Season 2.

Mark and Susan have their picture taken in a photo booth (1996).

Mark's career becomes more difficult as he begins needing to make decisions that periodically alienate his friends, such as selecting Dr. Kerry Weaver over another applicant, which angered Susan Lewis first because the other applicant was a good friend of hers, and later because she bristled under Kerry's demanding, sometimes harsh leadership style. His friendship with Dr. Ross becomes strained as his administrative tasks often put him at odds with Doug's wild ways and he was disgusted by Doug's personal problems to the point where he briefly overruled and belittled Doug's abilities as a physician, though he realized he was being a jerk about it and then reconciled with his friend. His love life took a more drastic downward spin when his feelings for Dr. Lewis became so noticed that he's driven to ask her out, only to have her leave for Phoenix, Arizona. He will suffer emotionally again after he is attacked in the ER men's room, initially believed to be a retaliatory act to avenge the death of a patient who may have been "mistreated" by Dr. Greene because of the patient's race. Later on, though, it was strongly implied that his assailant was a psycho who was randomly attacking doctors. Mark bought a gun and later used it to scare away a crowd of punks on a train, but decided to toss the gun in the river soon afterwards. He would struggle through a large part of Season 4 before coming to terms with what had happened to him. With the passing of Doug's father comes the re-entrance of Mark's parents when he and Doug travel to California to settle Doug's father's affairs. Mark's parents lived in another part of California, and they took a side trip to visit. His relationship with his father remains strained, and his mother soon suffers from a string of medical conditions associated with aging (Mark also finds out that his mother viewed being pregnant with him as a mistake, since she didn't really know his father very well and they had to get married right away). Mark's distrust for the Navy brings him at odds with David when he and Mark fight over whether Ruth should be treated in a base hospital or a civilian hospital. Ruth eventually dies and Mark goes to her funeral, putting him on edge when paired with his latest clash with Kerry Weaver over Rocket Romano's successful drive for Chief of Staff. Mark's personal life after his marriage is tumultuous as he takes after Doug, and has several flings, an affair with Nurse Chuny Marquez, and even setting up three dates in one day. He has a brief relationship with a needy desk clerk, Cynthia Hooper (played by Mariska Hargitay in season 4), in which, Mark was distant at best. Hooper leaves him after she finds out Mark doesn't really love her back. Mark eventually meets a British surgeon, Elizabeth Corday. Corday is in Chicago on an exchange program, under the guidance of Robert Romano. Romano's advances on Corday fail, as does her relationship with Peter Benton. Eventually, Mark and Elizabeth begin dating. By now, David Greene's lung cancer has advanced to a stage where he can no longer care for himself, and he reluctantly moves to Chicago and stays with Mark. After an emotional bonding that healed their difficult relationship from Mark's youth, David succumbs to lung cancer. Mark and Elizabeth begin a more serious relationship and move in together. Mark later buys a house at 1211 Dupont Drive, and Elizabeth and he are married. Together they have one daughter, Ella. Their happiness is threatened, though, when the abusive father of a patient goes on a killing rampage after losing his son to the social workers, killing and injuring many in a bid to get his son back, and even threatening to kill Elizabeth and Ella. After being shot by police, he is brought to the ER. During his treatment, he is being transferred by Mark to the OR when he goes into arrest. Mark being alone in the elevator, decides to withhold treatment and allows him to die. He later falsifies records to show that he did attempt to save him, and Elizabeth suspects what Mark did but lets the matter drop without any further discussion. Later, Rachel appears in Chicago unannounced after citing arguments with Jenn and moves in with Mark and a very reluctant Elizabeth. She is found to be sneaking out of the house at night and using drugs, and Ella nearly dies after swallowing one of Rachel's Ecstasy pills. Elizabeth is furious with Rachel, and their relationship, which had been shaky from the start, only improves during Mark's last moments in Hawaii.

Death

Mark begins having medical problems, and is eventually diagnosed with a brain tumor that is thought to be inoperable. Given little time, Mark seeks a second opinion, which proves more positive. He is operated on in New York City, and things appear to be positive although it takes him a while to return to his old self. A year or so later, the tumor returns, and Mark finds out that the tumor is truly inoperable. At this point, Rachel has run away from St. Louis and is staying with Mark and Elizabeth. Though she vehemently denies it, her recreational drug use becomes apparent when baby Ella gets hold of some ecstasy in her backpack and nearly dies from ingesting it. Elizabeth, with Ella, leaves Mark and moves into a motel. Mark stays with Dr. Lewis (who has since returned from Phoenix) during his treatments, not willing to tell Elizabeth that his tumor has recurred. Eventually, he resigns himself to certain truths. On his last day in the ER, he meets with the same older woman that viewers saw on the first episode of ER. She again has a hangnail, and complains about how painful it is. Mark tells her that he has an inoperable tumor, and that he has won, then tells another doctor to treat her hangnail and then tell her to not return to the ER again. He leaves the ER, stops his chemotherapy treatments, tells John Carter that he will now "set the tone", and takes Rachel on a last-minute trip to Hawaii to relive happier times. After several moves around the island, he suffers from increased symptoms. Joined by Elizabeth and Ella in Hawaii, he later dies peacefully at 6:04 AM The last thoughts in his head at death is standing in the middle of the ER that is for once empty of people, along with thoughts of his family - some very dramatic scenes as his thoughts fade to nothingness. Mark's body is returned to Chicago, and he is buried there. Many of his friends come to the funeral, though neither Doug Ross nor Carol Hathaway are seen in his funeral scene, which some fans consider odd because of the close friendship between the three (other fans felt that wordless cameos from Julianna Marguiles and especially George Clooney would have been distracting from the quiet, somber funeral sequence). Those who do attend the funeral include John Carter, Peter Benton, Kerry Weaver, Abby Lockhart, Luka Kovac, Susan Lewis, Jing-Mei Chen, Robert Romano, Jerry Markovic, Frank Martin, Donald Anspaugh, William "Wild Willy" Swift (played by Michael Ironside in 1994), Haleh Adams, Michael Gallant, Cleo Finch, Jenn, Rachel, Ella, and Elizabeth. After the funeral, Rachel asks Elizabeth if she can visit to see Ella; Elizabeth agrees, saying she is Ella's sister. Rachel goes back to living with her mother in St. Louis, but later returns to Chicago when the time comes to select a college.

Epilogue

Dr. Mark Greene was written out of the series because actor Anthony Edwards had decided that he wanted to move on to other opportunities. Dr. Greene did appear in photos included in the slideshow shown at Dr. Carter's farewell party in The Show Must Go On. Greene was also heard in a voice-over telling Carter that he needed to "set the tone" in the ER (which, incidentally, was what Dr. Morgenstern told Dr. Greene in the pilot episode). In the episode "Body and Soul", he is mentioned during a flashback to 2002, when Dr. Pratt tells his patient, Nate Lennox (James Woods), that the reason the ER has few staff working is because they are at Greene's funeral. In Season 14's "Blackout", Nurse Chuny Marquez says that she can't believe the ER is going to be led by Drs. Pratt and Morris, when Mark and Doug Ross were once in charge. Nurse Sam Taggart then says, "Who?"