Whatever Happened to the Cast of ‘Northern Exposure’?
Northern Exposure debuted in 1990 as a midseason replacement show, an eight-episode summer confection designed to tide viewers over until the new fall season debuted. But viewers and critics fell for the dramedy about newly-minted doctor Joel Fleischman, who is sent to tiny Cicely, Alaska, as their town doctor in exchange for free med school tuition. There, irascible New Yorker Fleischman encounters a host of quirky characters — from Maggie, a pretty tomboy pilot with an unfortunate love life, to Chris, the town’s radio DJ slash philosopher, and a pack of other interesting locals — who teach him a ton about life and what honest human connection is all about. The show earned 7 Emmy wins and 39 nominations in its six seasons, before a lengthy lawsuit and offscreen squabbles brought the series down.
But loyal Northern Exposure fans never forgot their weekly favorite — which aired its final episode on July 26, 1995 — and cheered when the show finally began streaming for the first time ever on Amazon Prime Video in January 2024. So whether you’ve been a fan since Joel Freshman first set foot in Cicely, or you’re new to show, here’s what the actors who played the ladies and gents of Northern Exposure are up to now.
Rob Morrow (62)
Dr. Joel Fleischman
Anna Webber/Getty Images for MGM+
Morrow spent a decade playing bit parts in series and films before he was cast as Dr. Fleischman. He earned a pair of Emmy nominations and a trio of Golden Globe nominations for the role, but battled producers for a better contract in the show’s final two seasons, leaving altogether midway through Season 6 to pursue films.
He earned good notices in Robert Redford‘s 1994 true crime thriller Quiz Show and 2000’s romantic drama Maze, which he also cowrote, directed and starred in alongside Laura Linney. In 2005, Morrow returned to series television, playing FBI agent Don Eppes in the popular crime-drama Numb3ers, which also ran for six seasons, then found another plum TV role as Adam DeGiulio in the Showtime hedge fund drama Billions. In May, Morrow and his former costar Janine Turner launched the “Northern Disclosure” podcast, in which the pair dish on each episode of the beloved series.
“He was like a mentor many years,” Morrow said of Redford in an interview with producer Barry Katz. “He was a real kind of father figure and gave me advice and lent me homes and got my [short] movie [The Silent Alarm] into Sundance. He showed me what the big leagues are like and he showed me how to do it with integrity and not let the pressures get to me.” Morrow is married to actress and podcaster Debbon Ayer, with whom he shares adult daughter Tu (yes, Tu Morrow). He also fronts the Rob Morrow Band and supports ALS research.
Janine Turner (62)
Maggie O’Connell
Rex Rystedt/TV Guide/courtesy Everett Collection
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Turner was a model and soap star before she took flight as Dr. Fleischman’s nemesis-turned-love interest, Maggie O’Connell — a former debutante who took up bush piloting to escape high-society life in Michigan. Professionally successful, her love life is a disaster, with each of her former lovers meeting comically tragic ends (tainted potato salad! glacier nap! crushed by a satellite!). She and Joel were a sometimes item before declaring a “mutually desirous incompatibility.”
A Texas native, Turner used her Northern Exposure fame to retreat from Hollywood, buying a North Texas ranch, Mockingbird Hill, where she raised Longhorn cattle and her daughter Juliette (whose dad is Dallas Cowboys scion Jerry Jones Jr.). Turner revealed on her Facebook page that she willed the ranch and the rest of her estate is to The Janine Turner Gauntt Refuge Retreat, which serves disadvantaged and traumatized youth.
Turner remains a passionate advocate for Northern Exposure, calling it “ahead of its time.” Beyond acting, she’s thrived as an author, political pundit, singer, and founder of the nonprofit Constituting America, which promotes constitutional education.
Post-Exposure, Turner portrayed June Cleaver in the film reboot Leave it to Beaver (1997), costarred in the award-winning series Strong Medicine, recurred on Friday Night Lights, and even got to play ranch-savvy types in Walker, Texas Ranger: Trial By Fire, Hallmark’s Taking the Reins, and 2023’s Birthright Outlaw.
John Corbett (64)
Chris “Chris in the Morning” Stevens
photo: Matthew D. Lawrence / © Universal Television / Courtesy: Everett Collection
Araya Doheny/Getty Images for Janie’s Fund
West Virginian Corbett had barely launched his acting career when he established himself as a charming actor and undeniable sex symbol — and earned an Emmy nomination in the process — while playing Cicely’s resident ex-con/ philosopher/ non-denominational pastor/ radio host. Corbett parlayed both those winning qualities into a lengthy and successful career that includes high-profile roles in the My Big Fat Greek Wedding movie franchise, the Emmy-nominated Showtime dramedy United States of Tara, the NBC family drama Parenthood and, of course, his ongoing gig as Carrie Bradshaw’s wayward lover Aidan Shaw on Sex & The City and its sequel And Just Like That … .
In addition to his time as Aidan, Corbett will next appear in the biographical drama Soul on Fire, based on the memoir On Fire: The Seven Choices to Ignite a Radically Inspired Life by motivational speaker John O’Leary, who survived burns over 100 percent of his body at age 9. The film, which costars William H. Macy is scheduled for release in October.
The film is reflective of Corbett’s recent admission that he wished he sought more fulfillment from his acting career and delved further into the creative process. “I’ve made a lot of money. I live in a beautiful home. People come to me at every restaurant I go in. I’m a friend of the world,” Corbett told his hosts on a 2024 episode of the podcast Fly on the Wall with Dana Carvey and David Spade. “But as far as a fulfilling creative work life, I didn’t write one f—— line. I didn’t write one joke to make people laugh. So it’s been unfulfilling on that level.”
Still, he added, “I’m just at this point in my life … if something seems really, really fun, I’ll say yes.”
Off-camera, Corbett lives with actress Bo Derek, his wife since 2020 and partner since 2002, on their ranch in Santa Ynez, Calif.
Barry Corbin (84)
Maurice Minnifield
© Universal Television / Courtesy: Everett Collection
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Barry Corbin may be best known for playing rugged Western types on Dallas, Urban Cowboy, The Ranch, Lonesome Dove, No Country For Old Men, and Yellowstone. But his Northern Exposure character held no nostalgia for a simpler, dustier way of life. Minnifield, a gruff retired astronaut, ex-Marine, and self-made millionaire owns much of Cicely and dreams of transforming into a throroughly modern outpost.
A vocal critic of the dramas that he thought weakened the show, and eventually took Northern Exposure off the air, Corbin nonetheless had a thriving career afterward. He appeared in dozens of films and television series, and enjoyed prime TV roles on One Tree Hill and Anger Management. He has multiple film roles in the hopper for future release.
Beyond the cameras, Corbin, an oral cancer survivor, will soon release a spoken word album called Cowboys and Endings. He also appears at fan conventions and autograph events, performs his one-man show “An Evening with Barry Corbin,” and champions veterans’ issues and children’s health care in his home state of Texas.
Corbin and his wife, Jo, live on a ranch in Fort Worth, where, according to his official bio, he enjoys “watching old movies, taking walks through his neighborhood, doing interviews … and keeping up with the world.”
Elaine Miles (65)
Marilyn Whirlwind
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Miles may have had the fewest lines as Dr. Fleischman’s poker-faced receptionist, but boy, did she ever make them count. Marilyn Whirlwind’s deadpan humor and impeccable timing made her a true fan favorite and one of the show’s most subtly funny characters. And Marilyn’s deep connection to Native culture and traditions adds a layer of grounding spirituality to the series.
In an interview with The Nerds of Color, Miles revealed that she didn’t exactly mind not speaking too much. “That first season, they had me pronounce every letter and consonant,” she said. “It was crazy because Natives don’t talk like that.”
Miles, who grew up on Pendleton, Oregon’s Umatilla Indian Reservation, came upon her career by accident. She accompanied her mom to audition for Marilyn and directors asked her to come back, too. Both women were cast, Miles as Marilyn and her mom as the character’s mom.
Though Miles wasn’t seeking an acting career, she continued to appear on the big and small screen, often in Native American themed projects like the series The Rez, and the films Smoke Signals with her Exposure costar Cynthia Geary and The Business of Fancydancing, which also costarred Geary. She recently thrilled Northern Exposure fans by making a surprise appearance on the smash HBO horror series The Last of Us.
Off camera, Miles performs standup comedy and powwow dancing, and champions Native American causes and cultural pride. She lives in Seattle with her son, Dustin.
Darren E Burrows (59)
Ed Chigliak
NORTHERN EXPOSURE, Darren E. Burrows, 1990-1995. photo: Cliff Lipson / © Universal Television / Courtesy: Everett Collection
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Kansas native Burrows was working in films when he was cast as Chigliak, the sweet-natured, half-Native, would-be Scorcese who was raised by the residents of Cicely when his parents died. On a 1993 episode of the Arsenio Hall Show, Burrows said, “Ed’s probably as close as I’ve ever come to meeting a Zen Master. … He’s one of those people who wakes up in the morning and ‘Wow, what a glorious day, the sun and everything!’ And the next day, maybe it’s raining and ‘Wow! Feel the raindrops on your tongue!” Not that he doesn’t feel the other things, but just very in the moment.”
After Northern Exposure, Burrows continued to act in television and on film. But Cicely, Alaska, was never far from his mind. In 2013, he wrote a memoir, Northern Exposed, about his time on the show and a few years later, established a production company with the hopes of reviving Northern Exposure in a new capacity.
Though he still takes occasional acting roles, Burrows and his wife Melinda — whom he met on set — moved to Missouri. There, he hunts, gardens and creates fine jewelry and other metal art pieces, selling them on Etsy via his MetalManiacArt storefront. Melinda is a professional chef, and the couple share three kids.
“Melinda was from Seattle, and she and her business partner occasionally provided food for the actors and crew when we taped Northern Exposure,” Burrows told the Jefferson News Tribune. “She claims she had a crush on me, and I asked her to marry me two weeks after we met.”
John Cullum (95)
Holling Vincoeur
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Boasting a soothing presence and a voice as rich as molasses, Cullum’s former big game hunter Holling Vincour owns Cicely’s favorite eatery, The Brick. But Holling is best known as half of Cicely’s most beloved couple, having charmed young beauty queen Shelly Tambo (Cynthia Geary) away from his best friend, Maurice. Though Holling is 40 year’s Shelly’s senior, the pair’s positive outlook and simple nature make them the perfect pair, and they live a happy life together at The Brick, eventually becoming parents to a baby girl.
Away from Exposure, Cullum divides his time between Hollywood and the stage, appearing in more than two dozen Broadway productions, multiple feature films and in popular series such as ER, Law & Order: SVU, Madame Secretary and The Middle.
He is reportedly planning a solo cabaret show at New York’s Feinsteins/54 Below to debut in fall.
Cynthia Geary (60)
Shelly Marie Tambo
photo: Cliff Lipson / © Universal Television / Courtesy: Everett Collection
Getty Images/Getty Images for Vox Media
Geary’s Shelly Tambo came to Cicely as the somewhat captive fiancé of Maurice Minnifield, but found a family and home with pub owner Holling Vincoeur. Barely into her 20s, Shelly’s fresh-faced beauty and charm made her a breath of fresh air for Cicely’s residents … except for her jilted lover.
Geary never left the Pacific Northwest after Northern Exposure ended, taking up residence in Seattle, and appearing in faith and family-oriented projects, most notably the acclaimed Great American Pure Flix drama Going Home, which deals with end-of-life issues. She also appeared in the 2024 drama Inheritance and the Netflix adventure series Penelope.
Away from the cameras, Geary is married to University of Washington professor Per Reinhall, has two adult daughters with her first husband Robert Coron and is devoted to enjoying life on Seattle’s beautiful Lake Sammamish.
She recently told Medium’s Ming Zhao that some of the best advice she ever received came from her Northern Exposure hubby.
“John Cullum did tell me ‘Save your money!’ I did; my father and brother are stockbrokers. I invested every penny I made on Northern Exposure in the stock market ’90s heyday. Best advice ever!”
Do you have a favorite character or episode from Northern Exposure? Tell us about it in the comments below!
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