Arguably the greatest episode of “The West Wing,” the Season 2 finale “Two Cathedrals,” is about how one of TV’s best presidents responds to a cruel act of God. Behind the scenes, something much more mundane led to the episode’s creation: An actress was thinking about quitting.
Kathryn Joosten played Dolores Landingham, the personal secretary to Martin Sheen’s President Jed Bartlet, for the first two seasons of the hit NBC political drama. A fan-favorite character, Mrs. Landingham dies unexpectedly when she’s hit by a drunk driver at the end of the sophomore season’s penultimate episode. Her death prompts an already profoundly stressed Bartlet to experience a crisis of faith.
Joosten unwittingly sealed Mrs. Landingham’s demise at an event when she stepped out to smoke a cigarette next to “West Wing” creator Aaron Sorkin. She casually mentioned that she was auditioning for roles on other shows and might have to quit “The West Wing” if she got a regular part. Sorkin instantly saw the narrative potential and made the decision for her.
“It was a spur-of-the-moment thing,” Sorkin told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, explaining that the sudden loss of Mrs. Landingham would take Bartlet “right to the edge” and cause him to curse out God inside the National Cathedral.
Kathryn Joosten’s acting career survived Mrs. Landingham’s death
In an interview with the Television Academy, Kathryn Joosten said Aaron Sorkin later “implied in various conversations that he’s sorry he’d done it,” and that there was backlash from fans about Dolores Landingham’s death. The resulting episode, though, is an all-time “West Wing” classic. Martin Sheen told Empire that it’s his favorite, and “Two Cathedrals” regularly tops ranked lists of “West Wing” episodes. Joosten’s career flourished afterward, too.
Joosten’s biggest part came in 2005 with ABC’s “Desperate Housewives,” and she went on to win two Emmy Awards for her role as eccentric neighbor Karen McCluskey. She also had a string of memorable appearances on other series like “Scrubs,” NBC’s “My Name Is Earl,” and the CBS drama “Joan of Arcadia.”
Joosten, who died at age 72 in 2012, reprised her role as Mrs. Landingham two times after “The West Wing” killed her off. She appears in flashbacks in Season 3’s “Bartlet for America,” and Season 4’s “Debate Camp.”