Allison Cameron, M.D.

Doctor of Medicine

Doctor of Medicine is a doctoral degree for physicians. The degree is granted by medical schools...

, is a fictional character

Fictional character

A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...

 on the Fox medical drama

Medical drama

A medical drama is a television program, in which events center upon a hospital, an ambulance staff, or any medical environment.In the United States, most medical episodes are one hour long and, more often than not, are set in a hospital. Most current medical Dramatic programming go beyond the...

 House

House (TV series)

House is an American television medical drama that debuted on the Fox network on November 16, 2004. The show's central character is Dr. Gregory House , an unconventional and misanthropic medical genius who heads a team of diagnosticians at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in...

, portrayed by American actress Jennifer Morrison

Jennifer Morrison

Jennifer Marie Morrison is an American actress, model and film producer. She is best known for her role as Dr. Allison Cameron in House, whom she played for five-and-a-half years, and also as Zoey Pierson in the sixth season of How I Met Your Mother...

. An immunologist, Cameron was a member of Dr. Gregory House

Gregory House

Gregory House, M.D., or simply referred to as House, is a fictional antihero and title character of the American television series House, played by Hugh Laurie. He is the Chief of Diagnostic Medicine at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, where he leads a team of diagnosticians...

's team of handpicked specialists at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital's Department of Diagnostic Medicine.

Fictional character biography

Prior to working at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, Cameron was a medical intern

Medical intern

A medical intern is a term used in the United States for a physician in training who has completed medical school. An intern has a medical degree, but does not have a full license to practice medicine unsupervised...

 at the Mayo Clinic

Mayo Clinic

Mayo Clinic is a not-for-profit medical practice and medical research group specializing in treating difficult patients . Patients are referred to Mayo Clinic from across the U.S. and the world, and it is known for innovative and effective treatments. Mayo Clinic is known for being at the top of...

 and was one of the top students in her class in medical school

Medical school

A medical school is a tertiary educational institution—or part of such an institution—that teaches medicine. Degree programs offered at medical schools often include Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, Bachelor/Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Philosophy, master's degree, or other post-secondary...

. She hails from the Midwestern United States

Midwestern United States

The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....

 and has a sibling, an unnamed older brother. In "Lockdown

Lockdown (House)

"Lockdown" is the seventeenth episode of the sixth season of the American medical drama House. It aired on April 12, 2010. This episode also marks the directorial debut of Hugh Laurie on the show....

", Chase mentions admiring how strong she stood up to her father after he yelled at her mother during their holiday visit. Cameron worked for House under a medical fellowship

Fellowship (medicine)

A fellowship is the period of medical training in the United States and Canada that a physician may undertake after completing a specialty training program . During this time , the physician is known as a fellow...

 alongside Dr. Robert Chase

Robert Chase

Dr. Robert Chase is a fictional character on the Fox medical drama House. He is portrayed by Jesse Spencer. His character was a part of the team of diagnosticians who worked under Gregory House until the end of the third season when House fires him. However, he was then re-hired in season 6...

 (Jesse Spencer

Jesse Spencer

Jesse Gordon Spencer is an Australian actor and musician. He is best known for his current portrayal of Dr. Robert Chase on the medical drama House and for playing Billy Kennedy in the Australian soap-opera Neighbours....

) and Dr. Eric Foreman

Eric Foreman

Eric Foreman, M.D., is a fictional character on the Fox medical drama House. He is portrayed by Omar Epps.-Background:A neurologist, Foreman was a member of Dr. Gregory House's handpicked team of specialists at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital's Diagnostic Medicine Department...

 (Omar Epps

Omar Epps

Omar Hashim Epps is an American actor, singer, songwriter, and record producer. His film roles include Major League II, Juice, Higher Learning, Scream 2, The Wood, In Too Deep, and Love and Basketball. Epps' television work includes the role of Dr. Dennis Gant on the US medical drama series ER,...

) for three years.

At the age of 21, Cameron fell in love with a man, knowing that he had been diagnosed with terminal thyroid cancer

Thyroid cancer

Thyroid neoplasm is a neoplasm or tumor of the thyroid. It can be a benign tumor such as thyroid adenoma, or it can be a malignant neoplasm , such as papillary, follicular, medullary or anaplastic thyroid cancer. Most patients are 25 to 65 years of age when first diagnosed; women are more affected...

. They got married, and six months later her husband died because the cancer had metastasized

Metastasis

Metastasis, or metastatic disease , is the spread of a disease from one organ or part to another non-adjacent organ or part. It was previously thought that only malignant tumor cells and infections have the capacity to metastasize; however, this is being reconsidered due to new research...

 to his brain.

In Houses first season, Cameron has a crush on House. She resigns in "Role Model", after Edward Vogler forced House to fire one of his team members. When she is asked to return, Cameron only agrees if House will go out on a date with her. The two go on a date in "Love Hurts". Afterward, when they are asked if they will do it again, House replies "I don't think so", while Cameron says she does not know. After seeing House's behaviour when he and his ex-girlfriend Stacy

Stacy Warner

Stacy Warner is a fictional recurring character portrayed by Sela Ward on the Fox Broadcasting Company's medical drama House. She was in a relationship with Dr. Gregory House , when he suffered an infarction in his right leg during a game of golf...

 (Sela Ward

Sela Ward

Sela Ann Ward is an American movie and television actress, perhaps best known for her television roles as Teddy Reed on the American TV series Sisters and as Lily Manning on Once and Again...

) reunite, Cameron tells House, "I thought you were too screwed up to love anyone. I was wrong. You just couldn't love me. It's good. I'm happy for you."

Cameron sleeps with Chase in season 2 episode 7 ("Hunting") while high on methamphetamine, and then begins a "friends with benefits" relationship

Casual relationship

A casual relationship, colloquially known as a fling, is a physical and emotional relationship between two people who may have a sexual relationship or a near-sexual relationship without necessarily demanding or expecting the extra commitments of a more formal romantic relationship...

 with him in season 3 at the end of the episode "Insensitive". However, she ends their relationship when Chase informs her that he wants to take their relationship to the next level. Despite Cameron's refusal to reconcile, Chase starts to ask her out every Tuesday. When she becomes the lone fellow of the Department of Diagnostic Medicine after Chase is fired and Foreman resigns from his post, in the third season finale, Cameron resigns too. Afterward, she goes to Chase's house on a Monday, telling him, "I just didn't feel like waiting."

In season four, Cameron has become a senior attending physician in the emergency room. Chase and Foreman both notice that, despite having resigned from House's team, she is "remarkably involved with his team". Cameron later confides in Foreman that what she misses about her old job is "people doing whatever it takes to get the job done", although she has stated on multiple occasions that she does not want her old job back. Cameron's relationship with Chase moves forward during the fifth season; in the episode "Saviors

Saviors (House)

"Saviors" is the twenty-first episode of the fifth season of House. It aired on April 13, 2009.-Plot:Cameron cancels a vacation with Chase, saying she wants to make sure House takes the case of an environmental activist named Doug who collapsed at a rally...

", after having a little argument with Chase about their canceled vacation, the two get engaged. In "Both Sides Now

Both Sides Now (House)

"Both Sides Now" is the twenty-fourth episode and season finale of the fifth season of House. It originally aired on May 11, 2009.-Plot:...

", the season 5 finale, the two get married.

In season six Chase and Cameron return to the Department of Diagnostics under Foreman. However, Chase murders a patient, Dibala, a brutal African dictator, in the episode "The Tyrant

The Tyrant (House)

"The Tyrant" is the fourth episode of the sixth season of House. It first aired October 5, 2009.- Plot :The team treats a brutal African dictator named Dibala who has fallen ill;...

". He confesses this to Cameron in the episode "Known Unknowns". In the following episode, "Teamwork

Teamwork (House)

"Teamwork" is the seventh episode of the sixth season of House. It aired on November 16, 2009. This episode marks the departure of Jennifer Morrison from the series, since it was stated by Fox that Cameron's character would be written out of the series by the middle of season six.-Plot:After...

", Cameron and Chase were supposed to leave House's team and the hospital because of Dibala's death and to save their relationship. However, Chase eventually decides to remain on the team. Cameron confronts House by saying he ruined Chase's life making him "unable to see right or wrong and not to see the sanctity of human life". She admits her former love for Dr. House, which has disappeared as a result of recent events, along with her love for Chase. The episode ends with Cameron parting with Chase and leaving their apartment in tears. In the episode "Lockdown

Lockdown (House)

"Lockdown" is the seventeenth episode of the sixth season of the American medical drama House. It aired on April 12, 2010. This episode also marks the directorial debut of Hugh Laurie on the show....

", she returns to the hospital to get Chase's signature on divorce papers. After initial hesitation and argument, Chase signs the divorce papers, but while in "Lockdown" they end up dancing and then sleeping together one last time.

Personality

Cameron was the only woman on House's initial diagnostic team. She is known for her honesty

Honesty

Honesty refers to a facet of moral character and denotes positive, virtuous attributes such as integrity, truthfulness, and straightforwardness along with the absence of lying, cheating, or theft....

, sincerity

Sincerity

Sincerity is the virtue of one who speaks and acts truly about his or her own feelings, thoughts, and desires.-Sincerity in Western societies:Sincerity has not been consistently regarded as a virtue in Western culture...

, idealism

Idealism

In philosophy, idealism is the family of views which assert that reality, or reality as we can know it, is fundamentally mental, mentally constructed, or otherwise immaterial. Epistemologically, idealism manifests as a skepticism about the possibility of knowing any mind-independent thing...

 and strong ethical center. Even so, she is not out of her depth teasing others, as she does when alone with Chase, telling him that women can have hour-long orgasms (in response to Foreman telling her Chase is interested but shy) but when Foreman enters, she acts completely deadpan. She is an atheist, but expresses a feeling of respect for people with religious beliefs, unlike House, who openly and mercilessly taunts religious people. Joyce Millman of The New York Times

The New York Times

The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

has stated she plays "Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre is a novel by English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published in London, England, in 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. with the title Jane Eyre. An Autobiography under the pen name "Currer Bell." The first American edition was released the following year by Harper & Brothers of New York...

 to House's Edward Rochester." Millman stated that House's description of Cameron in "Love Hurts" (see box on the right) " cut to the core of Cameron's motivation and personality". Morrison has said that Cameron hates herself for being in love with House, "but she can't help but find him desirable". Cameron objects to House's reliance on deceiving their patients and has gone head-to-head with him several times on the issue. She has also been reluctant to deliver bad news to patients or their families.

Cameron's interest in House supposedly subsided as she began a relationship with Chase, although it resurfaces occasionally with flirtations and Freudian slip

Freudian slip

A Freudian slip, also called parapraxis, is an error in speech, memory, or physical action that is interpreted as occurring due to the interference of some unconscious , subdued, wish, conflict, or train of thought...

s; in the season 4 episode "Ugly

Ugly (House)

"Ugly" is the seventh episode of the fourth season of House and the seventy-seventh episode overall. It aired on November 13, 2007. The episode revolves around a teenager named Kenny Cyrus with a major facial deformity. He is set to get surgery in order to remove the deformity, but has a heart...

", Cameron lets slip to a documentary team that she loves House. In "No More Mr. Nice Guy

No More Mr. Nice Guy (House episode)

"No More Mr. Nice Guy" is the 13th episode of the fourth season of House, and the 83rd episode overall. It was the first House episode filmed after the resolution of the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike. It aired in the United States on April 28, 2008.The episode revolves around Dr...

", when House is believed to have neurosyphillis, Chase asks her directly in front of Foreman and the other fellows if she has slept with House, to which she ambiguously replies "It's none of your business". Chase thinks she did; however, later, when they are in private, she says she did not. In season 4, Cameron also dyes her hair blonde. Early in season 4, House, who was told by Dr. James Wilson

James Wilson (House)

James Evan Wilson, M.D., is a fictional character on the Fox medical drama House. He is played by Robert Sean Leonard. The character first appears in the show's pilot episode when he introduces a medical case to Dr. Gregory House, the protagonist of the show. Wilson is Dr. House's only true friend,...

 (Robert Sean Leonard

Robert Sean Leonard

Robert Sean Leonard is an American actor, who has regularly starred in Broadway and off-Broadway productions. Since 2004 he has played the role of Dr. James Wilson on the TV series House...

) and Dr. Lisa Cuddy

Lisa Cuddy

Dr. Lisa Cuddy, M.D., is a fictional character on the Fox medical drama House. She is portrayed by Lisa Edelstein. Cuddy was the Dean of Medicine and hospital administrator of the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in New Jersey. She also becomes House's love interest through the...

 (Lisa Edelstein

Lisa Edelstein

Lisa Edelstein is an American actress and playwright. She is best known for her role as Dr. Lisa Cuddy on the television drama House.-Early life and education:...

) that Cameron and Chase moved to Arizona, finds her in the ER after finally discovering that they were still working at the hospital. House tells her that she was an "idiot". When Cameron asks if it was either the hair or where she was working, he said both, stating that her hair made her look like a hooker and that he liked it.

In the season 5 episode "Big Baby

Big Baby (House)

"Big Baby" is the thirteenth episode of the fifth season of House and the ninety-ninth episode overall. It aired on January 26, 2009.-Plot:Sarah, a 29-year-old special needs teacher, is working in her class when she coughs up blood and collapses...

", Cameron temporarily moves up to Acting Dean of Medicine and Hospital Administrator, after Cuddy decides to spend more time being a mother. However, she soon quits, stating that she can never say no to House after studying under him for three years.

Reception

Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune reported that many fans were disappointed the character received less airtime in season 4.
David Shore

David Shore

David Shore is a Canadian writer, best known for his work writing and producing in television. As a former lawyer, Shore became known for his work on Family Law, NYPD Blue, and Due South...

 and producer Katie Jacobs

Katie Jacobs

Katie Jacobs is an American television producer and director. Together with her husband, Paul Attanasio, the couple run Heel and Toe Films production company, which produces the Fox series House and the now defunct series Century City...

 stated that Chase and Cameron would be getting sufficient screentime and storylines soon throughout the series when many of the show's fans complained and took action.

Departure

Fox Broadcasting announced in September 2009 that Cameron would be written out of the series in the middle of season 6. This was a decision on the part of the writers and producers, and not Morrison's.

Before her final episode aired on November 16, 2009, Morrison commented on the announcement of her departure, stating that it was not definite. "I don't think anyone really knows...they're always just a couple of episodes ahead, and [executive producer] David Shore has always been very true to the writing of the characters and what he believes them to be." Morrison says that Shore is currently trying to figure out the truth of where Cameron's supposed to be right now, and "if she fits into the hospital...and as far as I know, they don't know. So that's what I know," Morrison said at the Star Trek home video

Home video

Home video is a blanket term used for pre-recorded media that is either sold or rented/hired for home cinema entertainment. The term originates from the VHS/Betamax era but has carried over into current optical disc formats like DVD and Blu-ray Disc and, to a lesser extent, into methods of digital...

 premiere party. Cameron returned for one more episode in season 6, "Lockdown

Lockdown (House)

"Lockdown" is the seventeenth episode of the sixth season of the American medical drama House. It aired on April 12, 2010. This episode also marks the directorial debut of Hugh Laurie on the show....

".

External links

• Allison Cameron at House Wiki
• Allison Cameron on TVIV
• Dr. Allison Cameron on House M.D. Guide