Crown Media (L to R) Hannah Endicott-Douglas, Matthew Knight, Catherine Bell, Chris Potter, Peter MacNeill, Libby Lennie as Gwen.
Elizabeth Lennie played George’s wife Gwen on Good Witch, but fans were really surprised when she never made it into the Hallmark TV series. Things got even more confusing when George started dating last season. What happened to Lennie and how did they explain the absence of George’s wife in the series itself?
Gwen’s Absence Was Implied But Not Directly Addressed
Crown MediaThe Good Witch’s Destiny
According to IMDb, Elizabeth Lennie last appeared as Gwen in the 2013 movie, The Good Witch’s Destiny. She was also in The Good Witch’s Charm (2012), The Good Witch’s Gift (2010), and The Good Witch’s Garden (2009.) IMDb doesn’t have any listings for Lennie past 2013.
So how did the show explain away the disappearance of Gwen?
It appears that Gwen’s absence was more implied rather than directly addressed on the show. According to the Good Witch wiki for George O’Hanrahan (played by Peter MacNeill), George is the father of Cassie’s first husband’s wife. He later moved into the Grey House after Cassie and Jake were married. In the movies, he married Gwen after Cassie nudged him to meet her for the first time in a nursery, but her character never appeared on the TV series. So the wiki assumes that she died of unknown causes.
Part of the assumption that Gwen died is based on The Good Witch Season 6 Episode 6. In that episode, called The Dream, George spends a lot of time talking to Samantha (portrayed by Mary Long.) He debates whether he should ask Samantha out, commenting that it’s been a long time since he dated. He even went to Cassie for advice, who never mentioned Gwen. This leaves fans to assume that at some point, Gwen died off screen.
Hand-lettering series: #GoodWitch Season 6, Ep. 6!
Cassie reminds George to be himself with Samantha 💗
@reallycb @hallmarkchannel #Goodies
Ready for a new ep tomorrow 👏🏻
The whole episode left some fans confused because they still remembered Gwen.
Whatever happened to George’s wife? At least, I think they got married. It was during the Chris Potter years. Now George says he hasn’t asked anyone out in a long time and Samantha will be his love interest. I’m so confused. #Goodies #GoodWitch 💫@hallmarkchannel
Some fans are disappointed that the show didn’t address what happened to Gwen directly. On the wiki page for Gwen, one fan wrote: “When Jake couldn’t make the show schedule work and he had to leave the show, they at least acknowledge that he DID exist at one point. It’s as if Gwen never existed. I only remembered that George had married anyone, during this weekend marathon. They never mentioned her again and I completely forgot about her. I wish they would at least acknowledge the earlier main and supporting characters…”
Another fan wrote: “I think with the amount of time that was supposed to have passed between the last film and the start of the tv show, we can presume that she passed away, since George no longer wears his wedding ring. But that’s just as guess as they’ve never mentioned her.”
Despite the unexplained absence of Gwen, many fans are rooting for George and Samantha.
Rooting for George and Samantha #GoodWitch #Goodies @hallmarkchannel 💜🔮
Elizabeth Lennie Is an Artist
Today, Lennie — who played Gwen in the movies — is an artist specializing in oil paint, according to her website and her official statement from 2010. She wrote, “Oil paint is the medium I choose. The process of squeezing the pigment onto the palette and then mixing the colors with a knife or brush is a ritual which connects me to the canvas, and the thread of a Canadian mythology is recorded as I imagine it. During my practice, I work in tandem with a second canvas to explore the wondrous world of the abstract image.”
She and her husband, Mike Kirby, also run a business called Voiceworx which produces top-quality demos for radio and TV voiceovers.
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