FOR BLACK HISTORY MONTH - ADMIRAL PERCY FITZWALLACE

Continuing the Inner Toob salute to Black History Month, today we're looking outside the main Toobworld to the "Tele-Terra" in which 'The West Wing' took place.

ADMIRAL PERCY FITZWALLACE

AS SEEN IN:
'The West Wing'

PORTRAYED BY:
John Amos

From the 'West Wing' Wiki:

Admiral Percy Fitzwallace, known casually as Fitz, was the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. When Bartlet became President, Fitz was one of the first few people to know about the President's condition, that he has MS.

Percy Fitzwallace was a navy admiral, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs for most of the Bartlet Administration. Before becoming Chairman, the last thing he captained displaced 7,000 tons.

Fitzwallace convinced the lame-duck president to send a military mission to the Philippines shortly after Jed Bartlet was elected. Bartlet, miffed that he might be saddled with new military obligations before taking office, quipped that he should "fire that guy" Fitzwallace. ("Memorial Day") Nevertheless, they grew to respect one another highly. Due to the President's lack of personal military experience, Fitz often felt the need to run things by Leo McGarry first.

To find out more about the Admiral and the role he played in the Bartlet administration, click here.

Not all of the characters to be found in that alternate TV dimension have counterparts in Earth Prime-Time.  Josiah Bartlet did, but he wasn't the President and his DNA structure was different.  (Apparently it was a different sperm from his father which impregnated Mrs. Bartlet.)

Percy Fitzwallace might exist in the main Toobworld; he might even look like John Amos.  But he probably didn't follow the same career path as he did in that world.  He might not even have the same name.  He could have been given up for adoption at birth (or the same could hold true for the Admiral) and so any John Amos character could be the Admiral's exact counterpart.

But I don't think we should consider James Evans of 'Good Times' to be the Admiral's doppelganger.  Both were men of character, and both died during the course of their respective shows, but Mr. Evans has a lot of baggage because he was in so many episodes to his credit.  I would have to watch all the episodes of 'Good Times' to make sure there were no Zonks.  I think there is a John Amos character out there who would be worth the comparison to Admiral Percy Fitzwallace.

Inner Toob salutes your memory, Sir.

BCnU!