This is a list of characters from the Nickelodeon sitcom iCarly. The series is about a girl named Carly Shay who creates her own web show called iCarly with her best friends Sam and Freddie. The series stars Miranda Cosgrove as Carly, Jennette McCurdy as Sam, Nathan Kress as Freddie, Jerry Trainor as Spencer and Noah Munck as Gibby. The series was created by Dan Schneider, who also serves as executive producer.

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Main characters[link]

Carly Shay[link]

Carlotta "Carly" Shay^[1] (Miranda Cosgrove) lives with her older brother, Spencer, in Seattle, Washington and the lead protagonist of the show.

Carly's Best Friends are Samantha "Sam" Puckett (an aggressive girl who doesn't care about school, always get's in trouble and is very nice to Carly but awful to their friend Freddie), and Fredward "Freddie" Benson (a mutual friend of Carly's and Sam's, lives across the hall from Carly and has a very annoying overprotective mother). Carly lives in the "Bushwell Plaza" in apartment 8-C with her funny, often careless, artist brother Spencer Shay.

In "iPilot", Carly takes the heat for one of Sam's pranks and has to oversee people who want to be in the school's talent show. When Carly, Sam, and Freddie's suggestions are completely ignored, they decide to make a web show named "iCarly" upon Freddie's suggestion, with the 'i' standing for 'internet' and Carly's name since she will be the host of the show.

Carly is a smart, pretty girl who gets good grades, going for straight A's in one episode. She is kind and naive at times, wanting to believe the best in people. She has her moments when she proves just how crazy she can be. Yet in many ways, she is more grown up than her adult brother.

She has, on occasion, wondered why she and Sam are friends, because Sam tends to get her into trouble. Freddie has a crush on Carly, which everyone is aware of. She, however, does not feel the same way (which she has told him many times). However, in "iSaved Your Life", Carly wanted Freddie to become more than friends because Freddie pushed her out of the way of a truck, getting hit himself instead. Although he was originally eager about their new relationship, Sam later advises him to break up with her. Freddie does so, regretting it later. In "iSpace Out" and "iSam's Mom", it is seen that Carly is claustrophobic. She also plays the ukulele.

She is the younger sister of Spencer Shay and the daughter of Colonel Steven Shay and Mrs. Shay. She lives with her older brother, Spencer, in Apartment 8-C at Bushwell Plaza in Seattle while their father is stationed on a Navy submarine; their mother has never been seen or mentioned, probably deceased. She is the best friend of Sam Puckett and former best friend of Missy Robinson whom she hung out with during her childhood. She is also the best friend of Freddie Benson who lives across the hallway (Apt. 8-D) who has had a crush on her since the day they met. Carly is a kind, easygoing, and caring person who would do anything for her friends, although she can be spoiled at times when she doesn't get things the way she wants them, especially in "iLook Alike", when Spencer would not approve her going to a mixed martial arts fight, which causes her to go into a tantrum state. In "iDate a Bad Boy", it is shown that she can be shallow, as she had a dislike of Griffin's hobby of collecting Pee Wee Babies (a parody of Beanie Babies).

Occasionally, she has to get between her best friends, Sam and Freddie, especially when they argue too much. She herself usually tries not to get in trouble, except for when she takes the blame for Sam's wrongdoing. However, when pushed too far, like in "iHave My Principals", Carly has proven to be just as devious as Sam, which catches most people by surprise because of her generally nice demeanor and the little-known, but generally assumed, fact that she has never pulled a prank by herself until "iGet Pranky" (which she did with Spencer's help).

She is easily grossed out by vermin, the gross videos Sam likes (except in iStage an Intervention, when she wanted to see a guy who could pull his lip down over his chin), or even when Spencer says "bowels" (mentioned in "iTake on Dingo"). In "iMake Sam Girlier", Sam tells Carly that she is "soft and girlie and weak". It was shown in iSpace Out and confirmed in iSam's Mom that Carly suffered from claustrophobia and freaks out when she is locked in a small space for a long period of time; in iPsycho, she seems to be mildly distressed when Nora locks her, Sam, and Freddie in a recording booth in her basement.

She somehow takes really long showers when she is depressed or needs to think, as mentioned in "iGive Away a Car". She sometimes takes chairs in with her.

According to Spencer, she takes vitamins every day and suffers from allergies and asthma. She had her last asthma attack when she was seven years old. Spencer gives her decaffeinated coffee even though she is unaware of this.

Possibly her most prominent trait, Carly, unlike Sam, is not tough, and even when furious, she has never physically attacked anyone on-screen (but tried to tackle Freddie in an angry manner in "iThink They Kissed" and "iPromise Not To Tell"). However, on occasion, she will confront someone, even bullies and teachers, for her friends when it is needed, as shown in "iHave a Lovesick Teacher" and "iMake Sam Girlier". She was also part of a girl mob (Sam and Shelby Marx) that beat up Nevel in "iFight Shelby Marx" although Nevel said he wasn't scared of her.

Carly shows singing ability in "iDo", when she sings Shakespeare, and in "iPie", when she tries to get people at a funeral to sing "Amazing Grace".

In "iParty With Victorious", Carly portrayed a character called The "Hideous" Patty Schwab, Carly disguised in this character to prevent her, Sam, and Freddie from being recognized by fans so they can focus on finding Steven (Carly and Tori's boyfriend). Patty had a British accent. She said she was "Hideous" because of her look, along with Sam and Freddie, who also wore disguises. It is shown that she wears a mask to keep her from snoring. And in "iMeet the First Lady", her father's pet name for her is "Snug Bug."

Sam Puckett[link]

Samantha "Sam" Puckett^[2] (Jennette McCurdy) is Carly Shay's best friend and in later episodes the ex-girlfriend of Freddie Benson. She co-hosts the show with Carly and handles the sound effect remote control. Sam has an identical twin sister named Melanie. Their mother is Pam Puckett (Jane Lynch^[3]). Sam also stated she (and her twin sister, Melanie) were born on a bus and her mother drove off from a gas station and left them.

Even though she is a tomboy, prone to aggression, loves pranks, and hates working, she's really a nice girl at heart. It is mentioned in the series that she has been arrested three times. In "iWon't Cancel the Show", Sam gets arrested a fourth time after a man cuts in front of her in a market and she shoved a hot chili dog down his pants, only to find out he was the Mexican ambassador and as a result, she is sentenced to juvie for seven days (this is the only episode where Sam does not appear at all). Sam is also portrayed as gluttonous, with a particular love for meat (i.e. fried chicken, ham, bacon, steak, ribs and pork). One time she went on a meat patch she had at least 7 of them on her arm but still she couldn't resist her meatball. There is a running gag in the show where Sam is prone to say bacon. It was revealed in "iGot a Hot Room" that Sam's speaks fluent Italian and she said she can play a trombone (or at least took 3 years of lessons). She's got many stars on her locker, including Drake Bell, Patrick Stump, Pete Wentz, Joe Trohman and Andy Hurley from Fall Out Boy. Sam loves to dance, as shown in "iWas a Pageant Girl", when she did a dance with her former dance coach for the talent portion. Sam reveals that she has a small crush on Spencer and that was what was keeping her from beating him up after numerous pranks performed on her, Freddie, Carly, Gibby, T-Bo, and an old lady. She has a rabid three-legged cat named "Frothy". Sam has proven to have a musical background. In "iParty with Victorious" it is shown that Sam is a skilled rapper.

She occasionally refers to herself as "Momma." In the episode "iWant to Date Freddie" it is stated by Carly that Sam never lies but in the same episode she promised not to tell on Valerie even though she does. Also in "iSaw Him First" the nurse states that she will turn her in and asks her for her name and Sam says Rebecca Berkowitz. Despite her laziness and unhealthy diet, Sam is physically fit and several episodes show her flipping over full grown men or carrying Freddie over her shoulder with ease. She still lives with her mom although she often stays with Carly, as she is dissatisfied with her home life. In the episode "iParty with Victorious" Sam reveals that her father promised his family he would return, but still has not come back since. He is never actually seen or heard.

Sam admits she used to compete in beauty pageants (and came in second in 19 of them) but got suspended for seven years due to her being suspected of "pushing" a candidate, Leann Carter, down a flight of stairs. Sam pushes Carly into doing the pageant when she finds out that Leann is going for her 100th straight win. At the pageant, Sam finds out she can compete because it has been seven and a half years since the ban. For the talent part Sam dances with her old coach and comes out with first place.

During the first two seasons, Sam has a colorful, boy-like style, often dressing in cargo-Capri pants and sweaters. As the series progressed, she begins to change her style. Most prominent in season 4, where on occasion she wears skinny legged jeans and heels. This shows she is aging and she is showing her girlier side.

Sam tends to insult any other girl who has a crush on Freddie. Despite having dated boys before, she still shares her first kiss with Freddie. In "iSaved Your Life", she gets upset when she tells Spencer that Freddie got hit by a taco truck (even throwing down the pizza Spencer was holding when he thought she was tricking him so he would let his guard down and she could beat him in their game of "Assassin"), although she proceeds to help herself to a taco (bought from the same taco truck that hit Freddie) afterwards. In "iOMG", it is revealed that she is in love with Freddie, as she kisses him with passion. "iLost My Mind" will feature them finally together continuing "iOMG" when Carly saw Freddie and Sam kissing. In "iLost My Mind" Sam checks herself into a mental hospital because she thinks she is insane for being in love with Freddie. When Carly, Sam, and Freddie had to tape a show of iCarly in the hospital, Carly wanted to get the iCarly fans to see if Sam and Freddie should go out. After the iCarly fans are saying that Sam and Freddie should go out, Freddie then records himself saying that no one has asked how he feels. Sam, of course, thinks this is his chance to get back at her and embarrass her. In the middle of yelling at him, Freddie walks over to her and kisses her.

Then in "iDate Sam and Freddie", they kept arguing, while Carly helped them get along, and eventually they would make-up and kiss afterwards. When Sam and Freddie go on their date, they get in an argument again. Carly tries to settle it but she gets frustrated, and tells them maybe they aren't meant to be, leaving the episode a cliff-hanger. In "iCan't Take it", Gibby and Freddie's mom try to break Sam and Freddie up. They didn't break up but they did get in an argument which caused Freddie to think that he should break up with her. But Carly convinces Freddie that Sam would never try to hurt him. Or ruin his chances of getting in NERD camp. Even though before Sam did sabotage his application to be in NERD camp. Freddie and Sam make-up and kiss. In "iLove You", Sam and Freddie try each others hobbies. Freddie invites Sam to hang out with him at his club "Training Bros". Sam makes Freddie get kicked out by accident. So Sam invites Freddie to see her Uncle Carmine and cousin Chaz in prison. Freddie gets caught with ham in his pants, which causes Carmine and Chaz to get sent away by the police. Sam warns Freddie that they might stab him later on. After that, Sam and Freddie overhear Carly talking to Spencer and Jenna about their relationship. Freddie and Sam feel as if Carly was talking about their relationship. So Sam and Freddie finally come to closure on the past episodes "iKiss", "iOMG" and "iLost my Mind". And they decide that maybe later on if they ever become mature about a relationship, they'll get back together. So they decide to break-up. When Sam gets off the elevator, Freddie tells her that he loves her for the first time. Sam tells him she loves him too, and they kiss. When Freddie sees what time it is, 10:30, Sam suggests they break-up at midnight just to have an excuse to kiss more for the last time.

Freddie Benson[link]

Fredward "Freddie" Benson^[4] (Nathan Kress) is the technical producer for the web-show iCarly, which stars his friends Carly Shay and Sam Puckett. He is often the scapegoat when it comes to Sam's bad ideas. It is revealed that he has had a crush on Carly since the 6th grade, but Carly generally only regards him as her best friend. However, in "iSaved Your Life", Carly falls for him after he saves her from getting run over by a taco truck, revealing that there is more to her feelings for him. Freddie (acting on advice from Sam) breaks up with her and says that if Carly still loves him and would still want to be his girlfriend when "the whole hero thing dies down", he would "be very psyched about it." At the end of this episode, Freddie is shown in the elevator yelling, "WHAT DID I DO?" He clearly still had feelings for Carly, as did she for him, but he did not want to use her, and so he broke it off with her, for the time being.

Like Carly, Freddie is shown to get high grades in school, although his talents are on a more technological basis; thus, he is somewhat of a nerd. When explaining a certain technology that Carly and Sam do not know about, he tends to speak in terms that neither Carly nor Sam can comprehend, and thus, this is one of the sources of Sam's constant ridicule of Freddie. He is shown as being a very effective producer, though he is given little credit for iCarly's popularity. Sam eventually somewhat realizes his vital role to the webcast when a girl named Valerie makes him her technical producer instead, and iCarly is greatly hindered as a result. It is also known that Freddie is interested in studying multiple foreign languages, including French, Spanish, and Portuguese. From the second season on, he is frequently heard exclaiming phrases in Spanish. In one episode, it is mentioned that Freddie has a living grandfather.

Freddie's relationship with his mom is a very strained one. She means well, but can be overprotective. At the end of the day, though, they love each other. In iGo to Japan, it is revealed that he has a GPS chip in his head she implanted him in Venezuela due to his mother being overprotective of him, which was used to find them after they were ditched by two Japanese people near Tokyo. Her constant overbearing eventually drove Freddie to temporarily move out of their apartment, and he remained there until his mother begged him to come back. Freddie agreed as long as she unblocked his favorite channels and left him alone in public. His father is not mentioned, much like Carly's mother.

Freddie's relationship with Sam in the first season shows a strong dislike for each other. They have become more civil to one another as the series progresses to the point of them only arguing when they are around other people. Freddie constantly finds himself on the wrong end of Sam's demeanor and his near-psychotic mother's over-protectiveness. Throughout the series, Sam insults him, causes physical harm to him, or pulls pranks on him without hesitation, and also insults any girl who is attracted to him. But they both care for each other. Freddie gradually gets used to this so much so that in "iKiss", he stated that "his life would feel too weird if she didn't make him miserable all the time" and kisses Sam after they mutually compromise to "get their first kiss over with". In "iReunite With Missy", Sam asks for Freddie's help and when Carly finds out she says to Freddie, "You care about Sam" which shows that despite her constant abuse, he sees her as a good friend. In "iOMG", he tests out his new app that tells you your mood, on Sam, and it said in love. He assumes it is their new intern, Brad and tells Carly. But at the end of the episode Sam kisses Freddie, revealing she was in love with him. When the kiss is over Sam says, "Sorry." Freddie then says, "It's cool," with mixed emotions of confusion and gladness on his face. The episode ends there leaving Freddie unsure of his feelings for Sam. "iLost My Mind" features them finally together continuing "iOMG" when Carly sees Freddie and Sam kissing. Freddie kisses her live on iCarly at the end of the episode showing that he does, in fact, reciprocate Sam's feelings. Then in "iDate Sam and Freddie", they kept arguing, while having Carly help them get along. They eventually made up afterwards. In "iCan't Take It", Gibby and Freddie's mom try to break Sam and Freddie up. They didn't break up but they did get in an argument which caused Freddie to think that he should break up with her. But Carly convinces Freddie that Sam would never try to hurt him. Or ruin his chances of getting in NERD (New Electronics Research and Development) camp. Even though before Sam did sabotage his application to be in NERD camp. Freddie and Sam eventually make up and kiss.

In "iLove You", Sam and Freddie try each others hobbies. Freddie invites Sam to hang out with him at his club "Training Bros". Sam makes Freddie get kicked out by accident. So Sam invites Freddie to see her Uncle Carmine and cousin Chaz in prison. Freddie gets caught with ham in his pants, which causes Carmine and Chaz to get sent away by the police. Sam warns Freddie that they might stab him later on. After that, Sam and Freddie overhear Carly talking to Spencer and Jenna about their relationship. Freddie and Sam feel as if what Carly said also applied to their relationship. So Sam and Freddie finally come to closure on the past episodes "iKiss, iOMG" and "iLost my Mind". And they decide that maybe later on, if Freddie becomes more weird or Sam becomes more normal, they'll get back together. So they mutually decide to break-up. When Sam gets off the elevator, Freddie tells her that he loves her for the first time. And Sam tells him she loves him too, and they kiss. There is some debate on whether they meant this romantically or not, as they broke up during this same conversation. When Freddie sees what time it is, 10:30, Sam suggests they break-up at midnight just to have an excuse to kiss more for the last time.

After this point, in iOpen A Restaurant, it is revealed that Freddie again has feelings for Carly, asking her suddenly, "Is it too late for you to love me?" Carly smiles at this and looks confused, but he refuses to repeat himself, even though she seemingly did not hear him. Later, Sam asks him if he has a "new little crush" on Carly, which he denies in a way that makes it obvious that he does indeed.

Spencer Shay[link]

Spencer Shay (Jerry Trainor) is Carly's older brother. When Carly's dad was called overseas, she went to live with Spencer, who turned their loft into both a workspace and gallery for his wacky sculptures. Spencer is off-beat and rarely acts his age, but acts responsibly and seriously when it counts. Though often spontaneous and unreliable, Spencer has been shown as being extremely protective of Carly, especially in episodes such as "iQuit iCarly", when he sees Carly about to fall out of a window and sprints to her rescue, and "iLook Alike", when he would not approve her going to a mixed martial arts fight. In "iWanna Stay with Spencer", when Carly was being sent to live with her grandfather against her and Spencer's wishes, Spencer gives their grandfather Carly's asthma inhaler, despite her not having an asthma attack since she was seven. He tells their grandfather that he had kept all these years in case she needed it and demands he takes it with them, but after seeing how much Spencer really cares about Carly by keeping the inhaler all this time, their grandfather allows her to stay with him. In the alternate reality shown in "iChristmas," it is revealed that if Spencer was born "normal," Carly would have never met Sam and Freddie, Sam would be stuck in a juvenile detention center, Spencer would be engaged to Marissa Benson, and iCarly would not exist.

In addition to making sculptures, he has been shown to be an incredibly talented artist; while trying to teach Carly to draw in "iMust Have Locker 239", he quickly draws a professional-looking rabbit without even looking at the pad, much to Carly's amazement. However, when Spencer tries to get involved in something besides sculpting, it tends to spontaneously set itself on fire, despite the object usually not being flammable (such as a cymbal). He is often the focus of the subplot for each episode, in which he usually finds himself in a strange situation. An odd interest of his is dressing up like a woman seen in iWant my website back and in iLost my mind. He also enjoys drinking milk in the shower, as stated in the episode "iGot A Hot Room".

In several episodes, it is stated that Spencer went to law school (because of his father's wishes) for three days before dropping out. Spencer did not tell his father that, claiming that he is busy.

Spencer is constantly being attacked and tortured by a trouble-making boy, who lives in the apartment building, named Chuck Chambers. The conflict started when he was covering for the doorman Lewbert in "iHurt Lewbert". Chuck has been seen in several episodes as a worthy enemy, because of his "sweet" personality, and martial arts skills.

He has also had numerous girlfriends throughout the series, including Veronica from a grocery store (whom he has had a crush on since he first saw her) in "iMake Sam Girlier" and a very high class woman in "iWon't Cancel The Show".

It is revealed that Spencer pulled numerous pranks during his youth in "iGet Pranky". After helping Carly pull a prank, his love for it was reignited, and he soon began to set up constant pranks at the expense of almost everyone, especially Carly. At her wit's end, Carly calls some of his old school friends (all of whom that came were victims from one of his pranks) to talk him out of his refueled habit. When she leaves, however, they resort to beating up Spencer since they still haven't forgiven him for it. Despite this, Spencer gets the message. In "iParty with Victorious" it is shown that Spencer has a book club with only ladies. To Carly, Sam, and Freddie's amazement they think that it is not the most manly thing in the world, Spencer also agrees. In iLost my Mind this book club reappears, exchanging fruit tart recipes.

Gibby[link]

Orenthal "Gibby" Cornelius Gibson^[5][6] (Noah Munck) is a friend and classmate of Carly, Sam, and Freddie and the show's breakout character. Due to his odd personality and pudgy appearance, he is an outcast at school, although he does have a few friends. A running gag on the show is that Gibby often takes his shirt off in every episode in which he is featured. Since Season 4, he has not taken his shirt off and stated that he does not do it anymore. He often appears on iCarly to assist Carly, Sam, and Freddie. Gibby started off as an occasional recurring character of the show, but was promoted to a main character by Season 4.^[7] Gibby has a little brother named Guppy (played by Munck's younger brother), who is seen in the episodes "iPsycho", "iSell Penny Tees", "iDo", and "iStart a Fan War". In "iMove Out", he has a pet bulldog named Grubbles. A running gag in many episodes usually has many characters yelling "Gibby!" to him, either when they are aggravated or annoyed by him. Since he became a series regular, Gibby often says his name in a deepened voice, usually like "Gibbay!!" whenever he enters a scene or just at random. It was revealed in the episode, "iStill Psycho", that his birth name is Orenthal Gibson.

Much like Freddie, he is often a victim of Sam's pranks, but she has shown to have more respect for him. In "iSpeed Date", his last name is finally revealed as Gibson at his house's postbox saying "The Gibsons" and reveals he has a girlfriend named Tasha. A very attractive girl, she only has small part in the episode. This surprised Carly, Sam, and Freddie, because they feel that Tasha is somewhat out of Gibby's league. In "iEnrage Gibby", Tasha returns and has a larger role, showing much affection towards Gibby, it also implies that she is at least 16 years old after Gibby said he would walk her to her car. In this episode, Gibby is shown to be ruthless and jealous, but in a comedic way. He is also shown to be a skilled kickboxer. Gibby is portrayed to be a very capable fighter, almost to the level of Sam, as shown in "iPsycho", where he succeeds in breaking into and smashing down a barricaded door. In the episode "iCan't Take It" Gibby is shown to be a strong singer when he serenades Sam and Freddie after he has a change of heart about trying to break them up.

His mom Charlotte went on a date with Spencer in "iFix a Pop Star", but they broke up because he looked too much like Carly to her and she looked too much like Gibby to him. His parents are divorced. He also has some emotional problems because he is the main target for most bullies (mostly Sam).

He is very good friend with Spencer. In "iKiss", he became Carly's replacement in Spencer's football training. In "iCarly Awards", Spencer gave him the awards and he gave them to Carly and Sam. In "iQuit iCarly", he became Spencer's "boat boy" and he helped him defeat the Pirates. In "iPsycho", Spencer finds out that Gibby is not allowed to go to the camp anymore, so he cheers him up by inviting him to "Camp Spencer". In "iGot a Hot Room" his grandpa gives Spencer a haircut. In "iSell Penny-Tees", he introduces Spencer to Fugtor, his bus driver from Uzbekistan, for translate the phrases of Krustacia, Spencer's potential girlfriend from Uzbekistan, but the driver only spoke Uzbek and ended up falling for Krustacia, much to Spencer's dismay. In "iOMG", Gibby felt bad about hurting Spencer in the experiment. In "iParty with Victorious", he revealed he is skilled in massage therapy by aiding Spencer, so Spencer refused to drive the rest of the gang to Los Angeles unless Gibby was allowed to accompany them.

Recurring characters[link]

Marissa Benson[link]

Marissa Benson (Mary Scheer) is Freddie's stereotypically overprotective, and sensitive safe-cautious mom, first appearing in "iWanna Stay with Spencer". She constantly treats her son like a child and is very worried about him getting hurt or having relationships with girls (especially Carly), but in "iWill Date Freddie", she wanted Carly to love him. Marissa constantly embarrasses Freddie in public, often by making him follow all of her strange rules that she has. In the episode "iMove Out", it is revealed that her pregnancy with Freddie lasted eleven months. She does not seem to care about other people's apologies as seen in the special "iSaved Your Life". She has a somewhat negative relationship with Carly and Spencer, except for "iParty with Victorious," when she and Carly actually have a nice conversation. She doesn't really have a negative relationship with Sam however. In addition to the episodes named above, she has appeared in "iWanna Stay With Spencer", "iNevel", "iStakeout", "iCarly Saves TV", "iFence", "iHurt Lewbert", "iGo to Japan", "iPie", "iChristmas", "iLook Alike", "iFind Lewbert's Lost Love", "iMove Out", "iBloop", "iBeat The Heat", "iSam's Mom," "iWill Date Freddie", "iParty with Victorious", "iCan't Take It", "iQ", "iStill Psycho", "iBalls" and "iToe Fat Cakes".

Lewbert[link]

Lewbert Sline^[8] (Jeremy Rowley) is the mean, vain doorman of Carly's apartment. He has a large, noticeable wart on his left cheek. In "iFind Lewbert's Lost Love", he reveals that the wart developed because of his abusive ex-fiancee, Marta. Her over-obsessiveness caused Lewbert to change his middle and last name, lose his good looks, his job as a supermodel, move to Seattle, and go crazy. He is later sent to jail (by smacking a police officer on the face and "admitting" that he was the one who was stealing the TV remotes) so he can escape Marta.

He is featured on the bit "Messin' with Lewbert" on iCarly, in which Carly, Sam and Freddie pull pranks on him, once going so far that they accidentally blew his wart off his face with an "exploding muffin basket", made to shoot confetti, but blew up as an explosive. Afterwards, he had a short-lived romance with Freddie's mother. However, this did not last because of his attitude after Freddie fell down the stairs while wearing "open-toed shoes", which was actually a ruse by Carly and Sam to end the relationship. Lewbert is loosely based on an enraged customer Rowley played in a "Blockblister" segment on The Amanda Show. Lewbert appears in: "iWant more Viewers", "iWanna Stay with Spencer", "iScream on Halloween", "iHeart Art", "iHurt Lewbert", "iGo to Japan", "iTake On Dingo", "iFind Lewbert's Lost Love", "iEnrage Gibby" and "iBeat the Heat". He is not seen in seasons 4 and 5 but he returns in the sixth season premiere, "iApril Fools".

T-Bo[link]

Terrence "T-Bo" Bo^[9] (BooG!e) is the manager at the Groovy Smoothie (a parody of Jamba Juice). He often tries to get his customers to buy random foods (often skewered on a stick), such as bagels, bell peppers, pickles, doughnuts, muffins, turkey breasts, tacos, chicken pot pies and of course, smoothies. T-Bo says he has a degree in "Smoothology". He is a close friend of Carly, Spencer, and the rest of the gang. After "iQ", he rents a room from Mrs. Benson.

T-Bo appears in: "iWant my Website Back", "iDate a Bad Boy", "iTwins", "iCook", "iSpeed Date", "iHave my Principals", "iQuit iCarly", "iGot a Hot Room", "iSam's Mom", "iGet Pranky", "iSell Penny-Tees", "iDate Sam & Freddie", "iQ", "iStill Psycho", "iMeet the First Lady", in the Extended Version of "iParty with Victorious" as the panda, later shown in a commercial, "iApril Fools", "iGo One Direction", "iOwn a Restaurant", "iHalfoween", "i100 Episodes", and "iGet Banded".

Socko[link]

Socko is a friend of Spencer who is only mentioned in several episodes. He and Spencer were friends in high school. He shares Spencer's love of unusual socks, and makes them, as stated in "iGo to Japan". Several members of Socko's family have names that match their jobs or personalities and are also off-screen characters; examples include Tyler, who makes ties; Otto, a used car salesman; Rob, a professional thief; Penny, who actually created Penny-Tees;Isaac, the optomotrist; Taylor, who makes tuxedos; Bernie, a professional welder; and Boomer, who sells bombs. Like Carly and Spencer's parents and most of Freddie and Sam's family members, Socko and most of his family members have never been seen in the show in person except for Rob who stole back Carly and Spencer's couch and Bernie who burnt a pickle on iCarly.

Nevel Papperman[link]

Nevel Amadeus Papperman^[10] (Reed Alexander) is the former nemesis of the iCarly team and the primary antagonist of the show, making 7 appearances. Nevel hacks computers frequently and he is evil but quite sophisticated. Nevel appears in "iNevel," "iRue The Day," "iChristmas," "iGive Away a Car," "iWant my Website Back," "iFight Shelby Marx," "iPity the Nevel" and "iHalfoween." Nevel runs a popular website, Nevelocity.com, on which he reviews other websites. He tends to have a "posh" personality which includes dressing formally all the time. At first, he had a crush on Carly and initially offered to interview her in order to get close to her, but she refused his romantic advances and rubbed his face with a special dip his mother made called "tapenade". Nevel tries to take revenge by writing a scathing review of iCarly.com on Nevelocity.com. He is extremely intelligent, often using complex plans that hide his involvement at first. Despite his intelligence, he often underestimates the iCarly gang, leading to his defeat. Most of his plans backfire, resulting in him suffering in some way and presumably causing his website to increasingly run out of business due to his corrupt, vindictive nature. It is revealed in the episode "iGive Away a Car" that his dream is to open his own haberdashery. He is not seen or mentioned at all in season 3 except for archived footage from "iBloop", but returns in the season 4 episode "iPity The Nevel". After not appearing in the rest of S4 or at all in S5, he appeared in "iHalfoween". He gives Carly and Sam candies that made their voices annoyingly deep, and later framed Freddie for it; however, after Freddie was punished, Carly states that she now acknowledges that Nevel's attack on them today was provoked, and after being nice to Nevel and making his two bodyguards disappear, he is finally punished himself. This infers that he will appear later in the show. He also appears in the self-titled video game as the antagonist. His middle name was revealed to be Amadeus in "iPity the Nevel".

Chuck[link]

Chuck Chambers^[11] (Ryan Ochoa) is the secondary antagonist of the show but mostly towards Spencer. He first made an appearance in "iHurt Lewbert", when playing racquetball in the lobby, which Spencer got him grounded for by his father for two days. Since then, Chuck and Spencer became rivals and have clashed on several more occasions each time ending with Spencer winning and Chuck getting in trouble with his father except in "iFind Lewbert's Lost Love". He reappears in "iBeat the Heat", where he comes to the Shays' apartment with his dad and sister, Gia, who Spencer finds attractive. Chuck also appears in "iReunite with Missy" and "iTwins".

Guppy[link]

Guppy Gibson^[6] (Ethan Munck) is Gibby's younger brother. He appears in "iPsycho", coming over to Carly's house to stay with his brother, who is staying at "Camp Spencer". Guppy later frees the iCarly gang from a recording booth while Gibby distracts Nora (the girl who trapped the iCarly gang). Guppy is played by Noah Munck's real-life brother, Ethan. Like Gibby, Guppy likes taking his shirt off, but unlike Gibby, he rarely talks and is mostly shown speaking into Gibby's ears. In addition to "iPsycho", Guppy also appears in "iSell Penny Tees" when he was on the iCarly webcast, "iDo" when he was riding in his flame little car that is attached to Gibby's bike, in "iStart A Fan War" in which he, Gibby, and their grandfather are driving to Webicon. His signature phrase (towards Gibby) is, "Happy birthday!"; when Carly, Sam, and Freddie are trapped in Nora's basement in "iPsycho", they make a code and send it to Gibby, in which "every fourth word" is a code phrase. He also appears to have psychological problems because in "iStart A Fan War" he says he "hears the voices in his head".

Charlotte[link]

Charlotte Gibson^[6] (Deena Dill) is Gibby's attractive mother. She was dating Spencer in "iFix a Pop Star", but he broke up with her because he thinks she looks too much like her son Gibby. She appears also in "iGo Nuclear" when Sam gives Gibby a wedgie and she needed to give him his new underwear, "iPsycho" when Gibby went to Camp Spencer in Spencer and Carly's Loft, and in "iEnrage Gibby" offering Gibby a snack while he was punching a punching bag.

Granddad Shay[link]

Granddad Shay (Greg Mullavy) is Carly and Spencer's paternal grandfather who lives in Yakima, Washington. In "iWanna Stay With Spencer", he attempted to get Carly to move with him because he thought Spencer was an irresponsible guardian. In the end, he allowed Carly to stay with Spencer after Spencer demanded he take her asthma inhaler with them even though Carly had not had an asthma attack since she was seven and was saving it "just in case". It is mentioned there, when he discusses with Spencer, that he is a lawyer. Ever since his visit, however, Spencer has become a little more serious with Carly. He loves to exercise and can do a handstand while walking. In "iWant a World Record", he appears for a few seconds on the web show, but is not seen again later, but is mentioned several times in the show. He reappears in the episode, "iHire An Idiot", after his almost 3 season absence.

Mandy Valdez[link]

Amanda "Mandy" Valdez^[12] (Aria Wallace) is an obsessed fan of iCarly and only appears in "iAm Your Biggest Fan" and "iWant My Website Back". She is loud and outgoing, and is considered insane and annoying by the iCarly gang. She has an awkward habit of wearing duck masks. It appears she switches fandom very quickly, going from iCarly to the band Spencer was in, claiming to be their biggest fan. She is gullible, as shown in "iWant My Website Back" when she accidentally gives away the iCarly site to Nevel. She was not seen after.

Minor characters[link]

Faculty at Ridgeway Junior High School[link]

Principal Ted Franklin^[13] (Tim Russ) is the school principal, who is fond of Carly and Freddie. Principal Franklin is sometimes fond of Sam because he loves iCarly. As seen in "iHave My Principals", Principal Franklin has a daughter named Emily who is an iCarly fan. Principal Franklin appears in "iPilot", "iPromise Not To Tell", "iGot Detention", "iOwe You", "iMust Have Locker 239", "iHave My Principals" and his voice was heard in "iOMG". He makes a return in the Season 6 episode "iOpen a Restaurant" where he allows Gibby to keep the restaurant he opened in the old school basement after denying Mr. Howard's request to have it closed.

Ms. Francine Briggs (Mindy Sterling) is a mean English teacher that Carly and her friends like to tease, and one of Spencer's former teachers when he attended Ridgeway Middle School. She first appeared in "iPilot". It is revealed in the episode "iSpy A Mean Teacher" that she likes to exercise in her swimsuit and she is obsessed with Randy Jackson. She returned in Season 3's episode "iHave My Principals" and makes a brief appearance in "iBelieve in Bigfoot". She plays the bagpipes, much to the hatred of the students, and feels that iCarly is bad for the young society. She has a bullhorn, and commonly uses it in the school hallways. Ms, Briggs doesn't return to the series for seasons 4 and 5 but she returns in the season six premiere, "iApril Fools".

Mr. Howard (David St. James) is a mean math teacher and detention moderator with an extremely unpleasant personality. A vindictive, hateful, perpetually-angry person that hates practically everything – laughter, children, and even his wife (although it is mentioned in "iTwins" that he 'makes out' with Miss Briggs in the teacher's lounge, thus meaning he cheats on his wife). Everyone at Ridgeway, including Carly and her friends as well as Principal Franklin, dislike him in return. In recent episodes however, he has shown some respect towards Carly, Freddie, and Gibby (not to Sam, though). He appears in "iParty With Victorious" when he seems very fond of Steven (Carly's boyfriend). Later he catches Carly and Sam texting in class and force them to say their texting conversation to the class. Sam later states she texted "colon P" (:P) to Carly, and Mr. Howard says he knows all about "colon P", which makes the class laugh and Mr. Howard confused on the joke. He returns in the episode "iOpen a Restaurant" where he finds out about the secret food joint Gibby had opened in the old school basement. He convince Principal Franklin (who is there enjoying himself) to close it down to which Franklin agrees to do. It's not until Mr. Howard leaves the basement, Principal Franklin blind-sides his request and tells Gibby to keep it open.

Mr. Devlin (Adrian Neil) is a history teacher at Ridgeway Middle School. He is known for being snotty and very strict to his students, even in his former position as lunchroom monitor. He also despises 3-hole punched paper, as revealed to Carly in the episode "iPromise Not to Tell", when he keeps Carly from getting straight "A"s by giving her a "B" on a history paper making Carly get a "B+" for the semester. He teaches very fast, and if ever asked to slow down, he says no and keeps talking. He also made an appearance in the episode "iKiss", when he tried to help Freddie stand up for himself and shouts "I am Freddie Benson and I have never kissed a girl!", causing everyone to laugh. Embarrassed and running away to avoid being responsible for the outburst, he tells everyone to stop laughing, and calls Freddie an "unfortunate misfit" while he runs off. He is from England, which explains his accent.

Miss Lauren Ackerman (Jessica Makinson) is a mentally unstable, verbally abusive, and possibly bipolar history teacher at Ridgeway. She only appeared in the episode "iHave A Lovesick Teacher", where she temporarily dated Spencer after her former boyfriend dumped her. Anytime she is dumped, she is extremely mean, abusive and unforgiving to her students, in ways such as giving them large homework assignments on chapters they have not read, and giving people F's on quizzes without letting them be taken. While dating Spencer, however, she is kind and giddy, even suggesting that her class go ice skating. She is often possessive, needing to know where Spencer is at all times during the day. When Spencer breaks up with her, she goes back to being crazy and this time making the primary characters do ridiculous punishments, such as making Carly and Freddie do jumping jacks during class and making Sam wash her car. She is arrested for admitting on iCarly that she illegally downloaded 500 songs on her PearPod (parody of the iPod) for Spencer as a present. It was actually a set-up by Carly and her friends to put an end to everybody's misery.

Mr. Stern (Joseph Buttler) is a teacher at Ridgeway Middle School. He is very strict and usually seen coming out of the teacher's lounge when there is an emergency. Not much of his personal life is revealed, although in "iSpy A Mean Teacher", it is learned that he went to a rock concert and crowdsurfed (and wore shorts, which according to Carly, teachers should never do). In addition to that episode, he was in "iLike Jake", "iDon't Want to Fight", "iGot Detention", "iMake Sam Girlier" and "iSaved Your Life".

Mr. Henning (Andrew Hill Newman) is a hippie science teacher at Ridgeway Middle School. Spencer once had him as a science teacher, but complained that Mr. Henning smelled like rotting wood. He stresses the importance of being environmentally friendly, but does so in the wrong ways, and as a result, he tends to give the majority of his students poor grades because they were doing what is supposed to be correct, but not correct by his standards (e.g. in "iGo Nuclear", Freddie created a high-tech and expensive composting machine, but was marked down for polluting the air by importing worms from Portugal). He is later mentioned in "iBeat the Heat".

Superintendent Harold Gorman^[14] (Weston Blakesley) is a Superintendent at Ridgeway Middle School and Principal Franklin's boss, and appeared in "iHave My Principals". He has an abnormally low voice, which at first, stunned Sam. He also appears to have a strong hatred of fun, and fires Franklin simply for appearing on iCarly and playing one of their games, something he feels is below a principal, but proves he has a big heart when he rehires Franklin later in the episode.

Mr. Wimbley (William Cowart) appears in "iPromise Not to Tell" as the computer teacher, where Carly distracted him so Freddie could hack the school's network firewall. He is known to have a surly personality, particularly when he tells his students to complete exercises 7 and 9. When Carly asks Wimbley about exercise 8, Wimbley exclaims in a whiny voice "I'm in charge!".

Mr. Connick (Jonathan Spencer) was a teacher who recommended Carly to go to his brother-in-law Dr. Rick Schaffer, who is a plastic surgeon, because he thinks Shelby Marx will disfigure Carly's face in "iFight Shelby Marx".

Ms. Gatlind appears in "iHate Sam's Boyfriend" dressed in a chicken costume, because she said if all of the students in her class received a good grade, she would. After she does, Sam cracks on her and says, "What if a chicken dressed as a teacher?!?"

Mr. Paladino (Randall Park) appears in "iGot Detention" when Freddie steals his stapler. After seeing Freddie with the stapler, he simply takes it back and Freddie goes unpunished.

Mrs. Rosenthal (Missy Doty) is a lazy math teacher who appears in "iGot Detention" when Carly loosens the bolts on her chair. She says that she will get 2 months recovery, and leaves careless and without any injuries.

Nurse Vullen (Marylin Sue Perry) is seen on "iSaw Him First" when Sam pretends to faint so Shane could kiss her. She tries to shock Sam awake, but Sam stops her. Nurse Vullen angrily states she is going to report Sam to the principal and asks for her name. Sam lies and says she is Rebecca Berkowitz (Katherine M. Ellis).

Ms. Murdock (Joan Huddleson) is seen on "iReunite With Missy" passing by Carly's, Sam's, and Missy's lockers. She wears very poor fashioned makeup, including sky blue eyeliner and heavy pink lip wear.

Mr. Newman is a science teacher. He is never seen in person, but mentioned on iCarly.com. Sam mentions in a blog that she is going to bribe him into taking away an "F" he gave her in exchange for her returning the class hamster, which she found while cleaning her room.

Mr. Sumack is a science teacher mentioned in "iHatch Chicks". Sam says that he was the teacher who assigned Carly and Sam to their science project. He has never been seen on the show.

Mrs. Walker (Lisa K. Wyatt) is a biology teacher who appears on "iCarly Saves TV" when the producer comes to take the gang and she is proud to meet a producer.

Mrs. Guntrell is a teacher who gives Carly an "F" for writing a report on Bigfoot.

Ms. Lovenson is a drama teacher who gave Sam a "D-" for her play, "The Prisoner who Just Wanted Some Soup and the Man who Refused to Give Him Some".

Students at Ridgeway Junior High School[link]

Missy Robinson^[15] (Haley Ramm) was Carly's best friend, because both of their fathers were stationed at the same naval base at Seal Beach when they were 7, all before Carly met Sam. In "iReunite with Missy", she constantly tries to get rid of Sam so she can be Carly's best friend again. Carly finds out about her plan and ends her friendship with her. She left for a six-month sea cruise, which Freddie originally won and gave to her to get rid of her threat to iCarly, and vomited because of her seasickness.

Valerie (Carly Bondar) was Freddie's girlfriend in "iWill Date Freddie", but was actually using him for her webshow so that it could overshadow iCarly. When Sam and Carly found out about this, Freddie did not believe them, but later talked to Valerie, who revealed the truth. She was able to manipulate people; her actions were evident in attempting to use Sam as well for her webshow, and trying to get Carly to give up her show. At the end of the episode, on her webshow (called "The Valerie Show"), Valerie was supposed to show her recent trip from Idaho, but the monitor fell on her head, and she said "I don't know what to do now." She was not seen after that, but was mentioned in "iKiss".

Jeremy (Nathan Pearson) is a sick kid who is known as "Germy" because he has been constantly sneezing and coughing since first grade. Like Freddie, he is also fascinated with electronics, and was the cameraman for iCarly in "iWill Date Freddie" when Freddie briefly left to be cameraman on Valerie's web show. He is seen in the episode "iNevel", holding Nevel and sneezing on him to make him tell Carly, Sam, and Freddie on video that he didn't mean what he said on his Nevelocity review for iCarly. He is then seen in "iDon't Want to Fight", when he buys Peacock feather tissues from Rip-off Rodney. Jeremy is never seen after Season 1.

Wendy (Mary Ann Springer) is one of Carly and the gang's friends on the show. She was seen in "iReunite with Missy", where she told Carly that Freddie gave up a six-month cruise so that Missy would not bother Sam anymore, and in "iDate a Bad Boy", where she came to Carly's home to study. In "iTake on Dingo", she was the first one to hint Dingo Studios ripping off of them, because her little brother was watching a show on Dingo, Totally Teri. She then made an appearance in "iFight Shelby Marx". Wendy is known to gossip about the newest things around the school. She can be seen in the background of Ridgeway when the bell rings. She is never seen after Season 2.

Wesley (Colin Spencer) is one of Freddie's friends. He is very skilled in beat boxing, which he frequently does, much to other people's annoyance. He helps the iCarly gang in iGot Detention by creating a distraction so that the webcast can continue. Wesley doesn't appear in any episodes after Season 1.

Kathy (Ashley Argota) is a girl at Carly's school seen in "iHave a Lovesick Teacher." She was the one who told Carly, Sam, and Freddie that Ms. Ackerman's boyfriend broke up with her, before Spencer dated her. Kathy is not seen or mentioned after this episode.

Tareen (Libe Barer) is a girl who talks fast but is friends with Carly and the gang. She was seen in "iSpy a Mean Teacher" and "iDon't Want to Fight". Carly stated that she feels as though she needs to "take a nap" after every time she speaks with Tareen. Tareen is not seen after Season 1.

Ripoff Rodney (Christopher David III) is a student at Ridgeway who sells random items for obscene prices. He was seen selling burritos in "iGot Detention", sells Jeremy (Germy) a box of tissues made of peacock feathers, and he traded Sam tickets to see Cuttlefish (a fictional band) for the iCarly t-shirt Carly made, in "iDon't Want to Fight". He is never seen after "iGot Detention".

Duke (Doug Brochu) is a psycho student in Ridgeway who likes to wrestle. He appeared in "iHatch Chicks" as Freddie's lab partner, and in "iLike Jake", when Freddie got pushed around while Duke and his friend were fighting. He is incredibly strong, as he was shown capable of lifting and moving a refrigerator as well as being able to burst his head though a wall. He also appeared in "iSpy on a Mean Teacher." Duke is never seen after Season 1.

Tasha (Nicole Anderson) is a girl at Carly's school who only appeared in "iNevel". Sam, Carly, and Freddie did not like her, and Sam even said, "I wanna do bad things to that chick." Sam then pushes a cart that has Freddie sitting inside it in her direction, and a loud crash is heard off screen. Tasha is never seen nor mentioned in any other episodes.

Jocelyn (Cynthia Dallas) is a rude senior who appears in "iMake Sam Girlier". She is seen bullying the students in Ridgeway and torturing them (e.g. holding a younger student by his legs for not saying "bless you" after she sneezed). Later in the episode, she loses a fight against Sam in the Groovy Smoothie. Jocelyn is never seen or mentioned probably because she has graduated.

Jonah (Aaron Albert) was Sam's boyfriend in "iHate Sam's Boyfriend." He was shown to be just as obnoxious and rude as Sam, a personality which made Sam fall in love with him. Sam broke up with Jonah after he tried to kiss Carly. Jonah also ruined Spencer's claymation movie, making him cut it down to only 10 seconds long, when it was originally supposed to be 10 minutes long. Sam got revenge by wedgie bouncing Jonah on iCarly. He is never seen or mentioned after that, but he was seen in in the background in the episode iOMG when Freddie was testing out the mood app.

Jake Krandle (Austin Butler) is Carly's first love interest in "iLike Jake". Also, almost every other girl in Carly's school has a crush on Jake, too. When Carly invites him over to sing on iCarly, the iCarly gang realizes he has a terrible voice. Freddie fixes the problem by digitally altering his voice to make it sound better, and Jake gets back together with his girlfriend the next day. He is never seen nor mentioned after this.

Magic Malika (Skyler Day) only appeared in "iSpeed Date" as a date for Freddie to the Girls Choice dance. She had a very odd and ridiculous personality. She is a great magician, supposedly making a ball of paper vanish, making herself vanish and make Gibby appear, and making Freddie's cellphone float in the air.

Pete (Graham Patrick Martin) is Sam's love interest in "iMake Sam Girlier". He praised Sam for being tough and aggressive during her birthday party, which made Sam want to change into a more girlier image. Pete tells her later on that he prefers dating a girl who can kiss well and beat someone up when she needs to, rather than dating a "daffodil." Pete is never seen nor mentioned after this. Also it is never stated what happened to his relationship with Sam.

Shane (James Maslow) was Carly and Sam's crush in "iSaw Him First", who Carly and Sam found very attractive. He fell down an elevator shaft after he tried to storm out of the room after he got tired of Carly and Sam's arguing over him. He was shown to survive with major injuries. It's possible he's not seen nor mentioned because he is recovering. It is also shown after Carly kisses him he has a reaction and moves a little. He is played by James Maslow who is more recently seen as a main character in the Nickelodeon TV series Big Time Rush as James Diamond.

Shannon Mitchell (Annamarie Kenoyer) was Gibby's crush in "iWin a Date". In turn, she appeared to have a crush on Freddie, but Freddie wanted nothing to do with her. The iCarly gang set her and her friends up to be on a blind date for a chance to go out with Gibby, but after Shannon showed up alone, Gibby chose the wrong girl (Carly). Then, they go on a triple date at The Cheesecake Warehouse (a parody of The Cheesecake Factory) with pairs Carly and Gibby; Sam and Reuben; and Freddie and Shannon. This made matters worse, since Shannon kept obsessing over Freddie. After Gibby acted like himself in front of her, she left The Cheesecake Warehouse and is never seen after this.

Shawn (Matthew Moy) is a friend of Carly, Sam, and Freddie who is also part of the Mathletes club with Freddie in "iMeet Fred". He also appeared in "iHave My Principals," "iFight Shelby Marx" and "iBelieve in Bigfoot". He also appears to have a crush on Carly from iHave My Principals.

Taryn is a girl who was seen in "iPilot" as the trumpet player on a pogo stick. Carly and Sam chose her to be one of the students to perform on the talent show, but Ms. Briggs rejected Taryn because she did not consider her act as "talent". She is not seen after this.

Simon Kendall^[16] (Simon Bernal) was the guy who could squirt milk out of his eye. He appeared in "iPilot" and "iCarly Awards".

Nate Garner^[17] (Spencer Boldman) was invited to a dance by Carly, when about to invite him, accidentally spat in his eye. Sam ended up telling everyone, and even tweeting about it to all of iCarly's Twitter followers. He is not seen after this episode.

Brennan Yubberly (Brennan Mejia) was one of those auditioned for the talent show in "iPilot", in which he could say anything backwards. Brennan has not been seen nor mentioned after this episode.

Rebecca Berkowitz (Katherine M. Ellis) was a girl seen in the extended version of "iSaw Him First". In the version on television, only her name was stated by Sam. She was later mentioned by Nate, claiming she already asked him to the dance before Carly, but Carly thought he turned her down because Carly accidentally spit in his eye. It is not known if she will make another appearance or will be mentioned.

Other characters[link]

Officer Carl (Christopher Michael) is a police officer that appeared in "iWant More Viewers" and "iMove Out". He arrests Spencer in "iWant More Viewers" due to a sign that he and Freddie made, that malfunctioned and caused a series of accidents, spelling out "Pee on Carl." He later appears in "iMove Out." He refuses to arrest the petographers for vandalizing the iCarly studio because they took pictures of his daughter's bunny for free. He then gives Carly a ticket for their car seat prop not having a front license plate. Carly angrily replies that it is a prop and Carl exclaims "So are you!" He also still hasn't forgotten about the sign's malfunction. He hasn't made any more appearances since then.

Aspartamay (Jack Black) is Spencer's video game rival in "iStart a Fan War". He and Spencer come face-to-face at Webicon. At the end of the show, Aspartamay was "killed" by Carly by stealing his jewel revealing that it's his life force. He sings a song before his "death" and falls to the ground.

Pam Puckett (Jane Lynch) is the mother of Sam Puckett (and her sister Melanie) who appears only in "iSam's Mom". During the first three seasons, she was mentioned in almost every episode, but had never been seen in person. Whenever Sam mentioned her, it was either something negative, or something that would gross out people. She is described as "poor", "desperate", and "hostile". Generally, she is indeed hostile to Sam, in which, Sam is hostile in the same manner. It is shown in "iSam's Mom" that she is somewhat desperate since she asks a stranger if he would like to marry her. She likes Melanie more than Sam, seeing the highly noticeable difference between the two. This gets on Sam's nerves when she compares her to Melanie, which causes another argument. She is notably known in the series for "frequent dating" (something mentioned by Sam in nearly every episode) and "driving issues", as shown in "iMust Have Locker 239". It is also revealed that she has a love interest for Italian men, as mentioned by Sam in "iGot a Hot Room" so this means Sam and Melanie could be half Italian. At the end of "iSam's Mom", they make up and reconcile their differences.

Krustacia (Irina Voronina) is Spencer's date in the episode "iSell Penny Tees". She is a foreign woman from Uzbekistan. She speaks no English at all, so Spencer has to use hand motions to communicate with her. In the end of this episode, Gibby invites his Uzbek bus driver named Foogtor to Carly and Spencer's loft to teach Spencer Uzbek. It turns out Foogtor's brother is the one who can translate. Krustacia and Foogtor walk out of the loft. Krustacia and Foogtor are never seen again after that.

Gordon Birch (J. D. Walsh) and Jodi Flooger (Rakefet Abergel) are a couple from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. They only appear in the special "iDo". Gordon asks Jodi to marry him live on an iCarly episode, Jodi says yes, and Gordon wants to sing Miranda Cosgrove's song "Shakespeare". He tries to sing it both on iCarly and at the wedding but both times, he got nervous and urinated on himself. At the wedding Carly sings the song for Gordon. Spencer walks in on iCarly when Gordon proposes to Jodi. Jodi immediately falls in love with Spencer after already telling Gordon she would marry him. Jodi loves the song Gordon wrote for her, so at the end of "iDo" she decides to marry him. Jodi and Gordon are not seen after iDo probably because they live half way across the country.

Note: At the wedding, Carly and Sam are the bridesmaids, and Freddie is Gordon's best man.

Harper (Leon Thomas III) is the leader of the band that played in "iCarly Saves TV." He played the piano on the TV show and sang a song on guitar on the webshow. Leon Thomas III appears as Andre in "iParty with Victorious" in which they only say that Tori looks like Shelby Marx but they don't say that Andre looks like Harper.

Greg Horvath (Kevin Symons) is the CEO of the DAKA Shoe Company (also mentioned in Drake and Josh) in "iPromote Techfoots". He hires the iCarly kids to endorse their new athletic shoe, the Techfoot, on their webshow. After the kids discover that the shoes have many defect, they try to get the company to recall their product, Instead, Horvath threaten to sue iCarly for breach of contract. Spencer put his three days of law school to work, and discovered a loophole in the contract, which requires the iCarly gang to only say "positive" things about the Techfoots. The kids then proceed to highlight all the shoe's defect on the show, in a sarcastic but positive matter. Realizing that he has been outsmarted, Horvath is forced to buy out the kids' contract. If he refused, he would be countersued for tricking the kids into advertising the faulty shoes.

Shelby Marx (Victoria Justice) appears in "iFight Shelby Marx". She is the youngest champion in the CFC and becomes a friend of Carly, Sam and Freddie. After Nevel tricks her into believing Carly was badmouthing her, she, Freddie, Carly, Gibby and Sam get their revenge on him. Victoria Justice later made an appearance in "iParty with Victorious".

Ginger Fox (Betsy Rue) only appears in "iFix a Popstar". She is a parody of actress Megan Fox and singer Britney Spears. She was once a Pop Music Award-winner but is revealed to have lost her talent and gone crazy, throwing forks at people when she is angry. Ginger has a 6-month-old son named Billy, is divorced, and tries to teach her rabbit to do tricks, but never does. Ginger fired her director because "he kept telling [her] what to do". The iCarly crew were hired to make a music video for her comeback, and despite Ginger's lack of talent, they were successful, which left the iCarly group shocked, but not her fans. She is not seen after this but her songs can be heard in the background of iCarly and Victorious. Also her songs are sung by cast members of both shows.

The Shadowhammer (Aaron Aguilera) is a criminal who appears in "iSam's Mom". He had never been caught on video because he sneaks in before robbing a place and disables the cameras. This changes when Freddie uses his spy glasses and catches him, but when T-Bo and a newscaster talk about how he did, Freddie worries that the Shadowhammer will find him and beat him down. Spencer fixes the problem by changing the sign in his apartment to 8H instead of 8D. At the end of the episode, the Shadowhammer looks for Apartment 8D, and leaves when he sees the sign at Freddie's apartment reading 8H. It is not known what happens to the people who really reside in 8H and what happens to him.

Mrs. Papperman (Wendy Braun) is Nevel's mother. She is only seen in "iNevel," in which she forced Nevel to remove a bad review he wrote about iCarly. Only her voice is heard in later episodes, including "iRue The Day" and "iFight Shelby Marx".

The Dorfmans (Dalton O'Dell, Shane Partlow, Casey Williams and Stephanie C. Allen) are Carly's nerdy cousins whom she despises due to them being uncontrollably annoying. They only appear in "iFence", where Carly asks Sam to eat with her while they visit, but as soon as Sam meets them herself, she hates them too. Carly tells her to stay since Spencer is not home yet and she cannot spend two hours with them, but Sam claims it cannot be that bad. Carly was forced to make a green-colored vegetable pudding for them, which tasted horrible to her. They aren't mentioned probably because Carly and Spencer don't like them.

Kyoko and Yuki (Ally Maki and Harry Shum, Jr.) are two Japanese webstars antagonists whom iCarly competed against in iGo to Japan. They attempted to ruin iCarly's chances of winning the iWeb Awards by stranding them in the middle of nowhere. Ultimately, iCarly makes it to the awards and retaliates by sabotaging their presentation, winning the awards and revealing their evil plan in the process. As a result, they are arrested for kidnapping. Maki and Shum, Jr., like their characters, is of Asian descent, with Maki of Japanese descent and Shum, Jr. of Chinese descent.

Mystery Girl is a little girl (Anna Clark) who appears in "iSpace Out". Spencer thought she was a figment of his imagination because he missed Carly so much, but at the end of the episode, Carly could see her too. The girl did not do anything to Carly and left the apartment. It is not known what her true name is and why only she appears to Carly and Spencer.

Gunsmoke (Anthony Vitale) is a bodyguard who appears in "iSam's Mom". Mrs. Benson hires him to protect Freddie when she worries about the Shadowhammer. However, he tends to get overprotective, as shown when he grabs Carly when she enters the apartment, and breaks Spencer's snow-cone machine thinking that it had something dangerous in it. He claims to have fought in three wars and is fond of Full House. His name is a pun on the TV/Radio show "Gunsmoke".

Marta Trundel^[18] (Kit Pongetti) is Lewbert's former girlfriend. Carly, Sam, and Freddie try to reunite Marta and Lewbert in "iFind Lewbert's Lost Love", only to find out that they broke up because of Marta's obsessiveness and that she is the presumed cause of Lewbert becoming what he is today in the show. It is unknown if she gave up on Lewbert and dated Spencer or if she left and was being given a restraining order from Lewbert.

Wade Collins (Alex Schemmer) is a British-Canadian aspiring singer and a shouter who refers to Americans as "hobknockers." Due to interference by the iCarly gang, he lost the final round of America Sings (parody of American Idol). The group offered to make a music video for him, only to discover he is a nasty, egotistical jerk. He steals the video after it is complete, but the iCarly gang gets revenge by showing everyone what an awful person he is and telling them where he is staying where he is presumably beaten senseless. His music video is given back to iCarly. He is mentioned again in "iFix a Popstar", where its revealed the music video they made for him was one of the top ten most watched videos of all time.

Doug Toder (Daniel Samonas) is Spencer's old arch rival in "iFence". He challenged Freddie to a fencing competition, only to be beaten by him and Ms. Benson. He is never seen again after this.

Veronica (Valerie Azlynn) was Spencer's date in "iMake Sam Girlier", but their relationship happened only because of his tuxedo. She returns in "iEnrage Gibby", to express condolence when she thinks Spencer is dead, and as she starts to regret breaking up with him, Spencer ruins the moment by jumping out and shouting "You CAN hold me!" She then leaves in disgust and horror.

Detective Stuart 'Spanky' Stimbler (Ryan Bollman) is a childhood rival of Spencer. His name refers to the fact that he likes to spank unsuspecting people as a joke. He has a son and works for the Seattle Police Department. He and his partner use Carly and Spencer's apartment as a stakeout in an attempt to catch a video pirate. When the investigation was over, Spencer was able to trap Stimbler's son in a plastic transparent tube, and handcuffed Stimbler himself to the couch. Spencer then proceeded to get revenge by spanking Stimbler on the buttocks with one of his brooms. Stimbler is never seen again nor mentioned, probably because Spencer hates him.

Tasha (Emily Ratajkowski) is Gibby's girlfriend. She had a minor role in "iSpeed Date" and a major role in "iEnrage Gibby". In "iEnrage Gibby", Gibby temporally breaks up with her after believing that she was cheating on him with Freddie when he sees her on top of him, causing him to go crazy and plan to fight Freddie for revenge. After Freddie proves to Gibby that he was not trying to steal his girlfriend and that she had just tripped (proved by the lets watch food rot camera), Gibby and Tasha reconcile and walk away and the iCarly gang could not believe that Tasha liked Gibby.

Harry Joyner (Oliver Muirhead) is Spencer's favorite sculptor, and appears in "iHeart Art." According to Joyner, he has made a sculpture out of every substance known to man, and when he met Spencer for the first time, he was planning to make a human sculpture. When meeting Spencer, he saw many of his famous pieces, and then commented that "he didn't love them," and stated they were "amateur-ish at best". Spencer was heartbroken and considered giving up art. Carly went to Joyner and demanded he apologize to her brother. At first, he declined, remarking that he has no time for this, but when Carly points out how Spencer became depressed with Harry's vision over his art, Harry feels guilty and decided to go tell Spencer the real reason that he made the remarks (that he was "jealous" of Spencer's sculptures because they were "better than anything that he has done in a real long time"). They made amends and started to make a sculpture of a jaw for a local dentist, which was where Spencer worked before Joyner's apology. Joyner has never been seen or mentioned again.

Amber Tate (Rachel G. Fox) is a spoiled child actress that appears in "iCarly Saves TV", where she acts mean to the iCarly gang and her dog vomits on Freddie.

Nora Dershlitt^[19] (Danielle Morrow) is a psychotic, lonely, and crazy fan of iCarly. She appears in "iPsycho" (Season 3), where she kidnaps Carly, Sam, and Freddie, calling them her "angels," after they helped her become popular with the kids at her school. She apparently has a crush on Freddie as shown by having him be forced to kiss her through the glass of a room she trapped them in. Although Nora kisses a girl (Daniella Monet) from her school willingly, according to creator Dan Schneider, Nora was actually kissing her on her cheek. Nora has a pet chicken named Maurice, a Richard Nixon mask, and a medieval hatchet. Gibby has a lengthy fight with her and she seems to be able to keep up with him until his younger brother Guppy releases the iCarly gang and Sam finishes her off by pressing a pressure point in her shoulder (the fictional Vulcan nerve pinch) and knocking her out, where Nora waits for her arrest. She only did all this because her family abandoned her and she had no friends except for her chicken. Because of this, despite the fact that she kidnapped them, Carly still felt sorry for her. She was mentioned several times in "iStart a Fan War" as the reason that the iCarly gang missed last year's webicon. She returned two seasons later in the sequel, "iStill Psycho", having been paroled from the past incident, but what happened in "iPsycho" repeated itself, and with her equally-psychotic parents by her side, until Mrs. Benson and T-bo came to their rescue. Nora was arrested again, and her parents will be joining her as she's serving her sentence.

Griffin (Drew Roy) is a bad boy that Carly dates in "iDate A Bad Boy". Griffin steals Spencer's motorcycle and Spencer takes him under his wing. Carly is not happy about Griffin hanging around the loft until she falls for him, which Spencer forbids. At the middle of the episode, Carly and Griffin fight, but it is revealed that it was just a trick to get Spencer to think she is over him. They officially break up at the end of the episode after Carly and Sam make fun of his obsession with Pee-Wee Babies and he overhears them. He returns in "iBeat the Heat", where he is more eccentric then ever as he tries to kiss Carly and comes to the Shays' air conditioned loft because his Pee-Wee Babies cannot be in extreme hot or cold air or they will become misshapen. This makes Sam upset and tells him he "needs to stop obsessing over his dumb little Play Pretties" and she throws one of them out of anger.

Sasha Striker (Lorena York) was the world's best Pak-Rat (parody of Pac-Man) player who appeared in "iStage an Intervention". When Spencer becomes obsessed with Pak-Rat (not wanting to stop playing until he defeats her record), the iCarly gang track her down via their web-show. She is quite beautiful, compelling the reporters covering Spencer's attempt to beat her score to try and ask her to be their girlfriend (she ignores all of the requests). After Spencer defeats her, they flirt and kiss for a few seconds, and she is never seen again.

Jackson Colt (Terrell Lee) is a top 10 MMA fighter and appears only in iLook Alike. He has a son named Kevin Colt and is very sensitive when he does not get what he wants. He is a fan of Carly's comedy on the show, especially Random Dancing.

Hazel (Sherry Weston) is an elderly woman that Gibby met while riding down the street on his bike in "iDo". Once he sees her, he asks her if she can help him retrieve a five-dollar bill that he spotted in a tree. She accepts the offer, but only after Gibby promises her they will go get coffee afterwords. She helps him get the bill by letting him get on her shoulders. After retrieving the bill, she falls down and Gibby drives off and forgets about her. She is last seen on the ground mumbling "Are we still going to get coffee?".

Cal (Jake Siegel) was Carly's assistant in "iGo Nuclear". He was helping her with a school science project during Green Week in Mr. Henning's class, so she would not have to serve the "Root & Berry" retreat. He was actually a criminal because he built illegal nuclear projects using black market uranium. His true self is not revealed until the end of the episode, when three police officers found out who he was after asking where he got his haircut in the Groovy Smoothie. He then bolts out of the shop and the officers reveal his criminal acts, forcing Carly to attend the "Root & Berry" retreat.

Mitch (Danny Woodburn) appears in "iChristmas." He is the guardian angel who granted Carly's wish for Spencer to become normal. When this affects her entire life, however, she soon regrets it and wants everything changed back. Having learned her lesson, Mitch returns Carly's life to normal. In the end, Carly sees a vision of Mitch earning his "wings" (in this case, a bucket of chicken wings).

Melanie Puckett (Jennette McCurdy) is Sam's identical twin sister and appears in "iTwins". According to Sam, she is a straight "A" student, follows all the rules, and goes to a fancy boarding school. She is the total opposite of Sam and even has a crush on Freddie, much to Sam's dismay. Freddie, however, does not believe Melanie is real and thinks that Sam is just pretending to be her, so he asks Melanie out on a date. Due to his beliefs no matter what anybody says, Sam and Carly eventually agree with Freddie, but Sam and Melanie are then seen in the loft elevator together. She is mentioned again in "iThink They Kissed", when Freddie is talking about if he might have kissed someone before. In "iSam's Mom", while Sam is fighting with her mother, Pam asks why she can't be more like Melanie. She is never seen again because she goes to a boarding school and is never mentioned by Sam because she can't stand Melanie.

Fleck and Dave (Daven Wilson and Joey Luthman) are two young teenage boys who cohost a web show, and appear in "iQuit iCarly." The two are good friends, but have very differing opinions, such as the personalities of Carly and Sam. This comes to a head when Fleck paints Dave's dad's car purple for a bit in one of their shows featuring the iCarly gang. An argument breaks out which results in Fleck and Dave separating. Carly and Sam try to patch the problem, but Fleck and Dave both make Sam and Carly think about how the two treat one another. This results in the separation of Carly and Sam. When Spencer helps Sam save Carly's life, they all become friends again. In the end, the four webshowees, along with Freddie, make a fake movie trailer called "The Blowing."

David Archuleta (David Archuleta) made his first appearance is "iRocked the Vote" competing with Wade Collins. David won the vote on "America Sings" (A parody of American Idol) thanks to Sam and Carly.

Cort and Ashley (Daniel Booko and Teresa Castillo) are two teenagers hired as interns in the episode "iHire An Idiot". Cort was hired unrespectively by Carly and Sam without Freddie's approval. Ashley was another intern hired by Freddie without Carly or Sam's permission, and this leads to Carly and Sam trying to get him to fire Ashley. Freddie proclaims that Carly and Sam have to fire Cort first and then he will fire Ashley, but this does not happen until the end of the episode. At the end of the episode, it is revealed that Cort was kicked out of college because he was claimed to be dangerously stupid. Also, it is revealed that, unlike Cort, Ashley works at the Brilliance Bar at the local Pear Computers store (Freddie makes her act stupid to trick Carly and Sam into firing Cort). Cort is later mentioned in "iOMG". It is hinted that Cort and Ashley later dated after the end of "iHire an Idiot".

Steven Carson (Cameron Stewart) is Carly and Tori's ex-boyfriend on "iParty with Victorious." Carly searches Steven's name, and after she sees a picture of him with his arm around another girl (Tori Vega), Carly, Sam, Freddie, Gibby, and Spencer go to Kenan Thompson's party to find out if Steven is cheating. In disguise, Carly sees Steven give Tori a charm bracelet and says "It's one of a kind, just like you." then kisses her which is exactly what he did with Carly. After the iCarly gang take off their disguises, Tori walks in searching for Steven, and upon seeing iCarly exclaims "Oh my gosh iCarly! Do you know how inlove I am with your show?" the Carly replies "No, but I do know how inlove you are with my boyfriend." Carly explains everything to Tori and they agree they need to get revenge on Steven. When Steven walks into the closet where he and Tori are supposed to have there 100-day kiss, he in surprised to find Kenan Thompson who blows a loud horn in his ear, Carly, and Tori who are doing a live iCarly webcast and announce that Steven is both of their ex's and tell everyone that he is a no-good cheater.

Goopy Gilbert (Jeremy Dozier) is an extreme Seddie fan best known for shouting "SEDDIE!" He is first seen in "iStart a Fanwar" as a Seddier in the crowd. In "iLost My Mind" he is the second videochatter debating whether or not Sam and Freddie should be together. Gilbert apparently still lives with his mother due to her shouting to him that it was dinner time. He loves spaghetti and his bedroom is decorated with pictures of Sam and Freddie.

Michelle Obama (Michelle Obama) made an appearance on "iMeet the First Lady" in season five.

Rex Powers from Victorious has appeared in 3 episodes of iCarly. He has appeared in "iParty with Victorious", "iBloop 2 Electric Bloopoo", and "iApril Fools".

Character appearances[link]

This table lists main characters and recurring characters, and records the number of appearances of each character in each season. They are listed in order of first appearance.

Guest appearances[link]

References[link]

Esau Mwamwaya is a singer from Lilongwe, Malawi. He is best known for his collaboration, The Very Best with London based DJ/production duo Radioclit. His music has been described as an Afro-Western mix of dance, hiphop, pop and the traditional music of Malawi.

Esau Mwamwaya was born in Mzuzu, Malawi, but grew up in the capital, Lilongwe, where he played drums in various bands.^[1] He played with numerous artists including Masaka Band and Evison Matafale.

In 1999 he moved to London and while running a second-hand furniture shop in Clapton, East London, Esau sold a bicycle to the producer from the band Radioclit, Etienne Tron. Radioclit's studio was on the same street as Esau's shop, and eventually, Esau became friends with both Tron and Johan Karlberg aka Radioclit.^[1]

In 2008, the three men worked together to create a project known as 'The Very Best', releasing a critically lauded free mixtape through the label GREEN OWL(^[1]) in collaboration with other indie artists, including M.I.A., Vampire Weekend, Architecture in Helsinki, BLK JKS, Santigold and the Ruby Suns. The songs are sung in Chichewa, the national language of Malawi.^[2]

On the heels of the mixtape, The Very Best produced their first full-length album, Warm Heart of Africa, released digitally in August 2009 and released physically in October 2009 by GREEN OWL and Moshi Moshi. The album features collaborations with Ezra Koenig and M.I.A.

The Very Best is also featured on a track on Crookers debut album, Tons of Friends.^[3]

Winner of 9th Annual Independent Music Awards: World Beat song for "Warm Heart of Africa" featuring Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig

Discography[link]

The Very Best[link]

• Esau Mwamwaya and Radioclit are the Very Best (2008)
• Warm Heart of Africa (2009)
• Super Mom (2011)
• MTMTMK (2012)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Warm Heart of Africa Review
• Warm Heart of Africa Review/Recensione on QuelloCheSento(Italian Language)
• The Very Best Interview

Katy Perry
Katy Perry at the Logie Awards in 2011
Background information
Birth name	Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson
Also known as	Katy Hudson
Born	(1984-10-25) October 25, 1984 (age 27) Santa Barbara, California, U.S.
Genres	Pop, rock, dance, gospel
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, actress
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, piano
Years active	2001–present
Labels	Red Hill, Island, Columbia, Capitol
Associated acts	The Matrix
Website	Katyperry.com

Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson^[1] (born October 25, 1984), known by her stage name Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Perry grew up with gospel music, and during her first year of high school she pursued a music career as Katy Hudson, releasing her first studio album called Katy Hudson which failed to chart. She recorded a solo album later, which was never released. After signing with Capitol Music Group in 2007, her fourth record label in seven years, she adopted the stage name Katy Perry.

She first gained recognition with the release of her first mainstream album, One of the Boys in 2008, which spawned three Billboard Hot 100 top-ten songs—"I Kissed A Girl", "Hot n Cold" and "Waking Up In Vegas". Perry supported the album with her Hello Katy Tour. In 2010, her third studio album, Teenage Dream (2010), which topped the Billboard 200 chart, and spawned five number one singles—"California Gurls", "Teenage Dream", "Firework", "E.T." and "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)"—Teenage Dream was the only album (after Michael Jackson's Bad)—to do so, and the first female in history to achieve this milestone. She embarked on the California Dreams Tour, which grossed nearly $60 million worldwide.^[2] Perry re-released the album under the name of Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection on March 26, 2012, and the re-release has already spawned the number-one single "Part of Me".

Perry is the only artist to spend over 52 consecutive weeks in the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100, and has since heightened this to 69 weeks.^[3] As of 2012, Perry has been nominated for eight Grammy Awards. She was named 2011's "Artist of the Year" by MTV.^[4] She has sold 37.6 million digital tracks in the United States and 11 million albums worldwide.^[5] Perry was a guest judge on the seventh series of The X Factor UK and the ninth season of American Idol. She has released fragrances "Purr" and "Meow". She ventured into film, voicing Smurfette in the 2011 film The Smurfs. Perry was married to British comedian Russell Brand from 2010 to 2012.

Early life[link]

Perry was born Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson in Santa Barbara, California^[6] to Keith, a West Coast scenester in the 1960s,^[7] and Mary Hudson (née Perry), an evangelist who grew up in Southern California and had a "tempestuous" first marriage in Zimbabwe.^[7] Perry has Portuguese, German, Irish, and English ancestry.^[8][9][10] She is the second child of two pastors.^[11] She has an older sister named Angela Hudson and younger brother named David Hudson.^[12] Perry's mother's aunt and uncle were screenwriter Eleanor Perry and director Frank Perry.^[7] Perry was incorporated into her parents' ministry^[11] and sang in their church between the ages of 9 and 17.^[13] She grew up listening to gospel music,^[14] was not allowed to listen to what her mother called "secular music",^[13][15] and attended Christian schools and camps.^[11] As a child, Perry learned how to dance in a recreation building in Santa Barbara. She was taught by seasoned dancers and began with swing, Lindy Hop, and jitterbug.^[16] She took her GED after her first year at Dos Pueblos High School and decided to leave school in the pursuit of a career in music.^[17] Perry initially started singing "because [she] was at that point in [her] childhood where [she] was copycatting [her] sister and everything she [would do]."^[17] Her sister practiced with cassette tapes, while Perry took the tapes herself when her sister was not around. She rehearsed the songs and performed them in front of her parents, who suggested she take vocal coaching. She grabbed the opportunity and began taking lessons at the age of nine and continued until she was sixteen. She later enrolled in at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, and studied Italian opera for a short period of time.^[17]

Career[link]

1999–2006: Career beginnings[link]

Perry performing on her guitar, an instrument she learned to play when she was just starting her record career

When Perry was 15, her singing in church attracted the attention of rock veterans from Nashville, Tennessee, who brought her there to polish her writing skills.^[18] In Nashville, Perry started recording demos and was taught by country music veterans how to craft songs and play guitar.^[13][15] Perry signed to the Christian music label Red Hill, under which she recorded her first album at the age of 15.^[19] Performing as Katy Hudson, she released a self-titled gospel rock album in 2001.^[18] She supported this album with The Strangely Normal Tour, accompanied by Phil Joel, LaRue, Luna Halo, Earthsuit and V*Enna.^[20] The album was unsuccessful as the label ceased operations at the end of 2001.^[19] She later changed her surname to Perry, her mother's maiden name, because "Katy Hudson" was too close to film actress Kate Hudson.^[18][21]

Perry performs at the 2008 Warped Tour

At the age of 17, Perry left her home for Los Angeles, where she worked with Glen Ballard on an album for Island Records.^[22] Growing up listening to mostly gospel music, Perry had few references when she began recording songs.^[13] Asked by the producer with whom she would like to collaborate, Perry had no idea. That night, she went with her mother to a hotel. Inside, she turned on VH1 and saw producer Glen Ballard talking about Alanis Morissette;^[13] Ballard produced Morissette's Jagged Little Pill, which had a "huge influence" on Perry.^[18] She expressed interest in working with Ballard to her initial collaborator, who arranged a meeting for her with Ballard in Los Angeles. Perry presented one of her songs to Ballard. Ballard then helped Perry develop her songwriting over the next few years.^[13] The album was due for release in 2005,^[18][19] but Billboard reported it also went nowhere.^[19] Perry was dropped by The Island Def Jam Music Group.^[7] Some of Perry and Ballard's collaborations included "Box", "Diamonds" and "Long Shot", were posted on her official MySpace page. "Simple", one of the songs she recorded with Ballard, was released on the soundtrack to the 2005 film The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.^[23][24] "Long Shot" and "I Do Not Hook Up" was later recorded by Kelly Clarkson for her 2009 album All I Ever Wanted.^[25]

Perry signed to Columbia Records in 2004. However, the label was not amenable with her vision, not putting her in the "driver's seat".^[19] Instead, one of Columbia's ideas was to pair Perry with the record production team The Matrix, who was working on an album, to serve as its female vocalist. Although the album was later shelved,^[26] she caught the attention of the music press: Her burgeoning music career led to her being named "The Next Big Thing" in October 2004 by Blender magazine.^[19] With no album project ongoing, Perry began recording her own. Eighty percent completed, however, Columbia decided not to finish it and dropped her from the label.^[19] While waiting to find another label, she worked in an independent A&R company called Taxi Music. In 2006, Perry was featured in the tail-end of the video to P.O.D.'s single "Goodbye for Now".^[27] She made a cameo appearance in Carbon Leaf's video, "Learn to Fly".

[edit] 2007–09: Commercial success with One of the Boys and MTV Unplugged

While in the process of being dropped by Columbia in 2006, the company's publicity executive Angelica Cob-Baehler enthusiastically recommended Perry to Virgin Records chairman Jason Flom.^[28] At the time Flom was leading a complete revival in fortunes at the label and looking to crown recent achievements by breaking a global pop act.^[28] Despite mixed reactions from fellow Virgin executives, Flom became convinced that Perry could be that breakthrough star, and at the start of 2007 extended discussions with Columbia resulted in Perry signing to the newly created Capitol Music Group, a merger between Virgin and Capitol. As part of the deal, the label secured the masters to the unfinished album, recorded while at Columbia, that would go on to form a significant part of her official mainstream debut album, One of the Boys.^[28]

The Columbia recordings were seen by Flom as being "very strong but lacking an undeniable smash or two that would work both at U.S. pop radio and internationally" and so one of the executive's first actions after completing the signing was to set up a collaboration between Perry and the writer-producer Dr. Luke.^[28] The results were the songs "I Kissed a Girl" and "Hot n Cold". Establishing her image was one of the immediate concerns of her management.^[19] A campaign was started in November 2007 with the release of the video to "Ur So Gay", aimed at introducing her to the music market. A digital EP led by "Ur So Gay" was later released to create online buzz and press story.^[11][19][29] This was a successful move that resulted in bringing Perry to the attention of Madonna,^[19] who mentioned her on KISS FM and KRQ's JohnJay & Rich morning show in Arizona. On March 10, 2008, she appeared as herself on the ABC Family television series, Wildfire, on the episode "Life's Too Short".^[30]

Perry during Hello Katy Tour on March 27, 2009

In the next step of promoting the album, Perry undertook a two-month tour of radio stations. The album's official lead single, "I Kissed a Girl", was released on May 6, 2008. Perry's A&R, Chris Anokute, told HitQuarters the song and its controversial theme had met with strong resistance at the label: "People said, 'This is never going to get played on the radio. How do we sell this? How’s this going to be played in the bible belt?'"^[29] Anokute said that they needed the support of one of the label's radio promoters to convince people to believe in the record; otherwise, Perry would have likely been dropped again. Capitol's SVP of Promotions, Dennis Reese, saw the vision and helped push the single on national radio. The first station to pick it up and take a chance was The River in Nashville. After playing it for three days they were innundated with enthusiastic calls.^[29] With the song climbing atop the charts, Perry embarked on the annual Warped Tour music festival, which her management used to "establish her as a credible performer and make sure she wasn't seen as just a one-hit wonder."^[19] The single was a commercial success, peaking at number one for seven weeks on the Billboard Hot 100.^[19] It has since become a major worldwide hit, topping charts in 30 countries,^[26] including Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom.^[31] On June 12, 2008, Perry appeared as herself on the daytime soap opera The Young and the Restless,^[30] posing for the cover to the June 2008 issue of the fictional magazine Restless Style.^[32] Perry also performed backing vocals on the song, "Another Night in the Hills" from Gavin Rossdale's 2008 solo album Wanderlust.^[33]

One of the Boys was released on June 17, 2008, to mixed critical reviews.^[34] The album has reached number nine on the Billboard 200,^[35] and has been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.^[36] Perry released her second single, "Hot n Cold", which became her second top three single in dozens of countries around the world, including the United States where it reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100,^[19] as well as topping the charts in Germany, Canada, and Denmark. After Perry wrapped up her appearance at the Warped Tour, she went on tours in Europe. She later launched her first headlining tour, the Hello Katy Tour, in January 2009.^[19] "I Kissed a Girl" earned Perry a nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 2009 Grammy Awards.^[37] Perry was nominated in five categories at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards, including Best New Artist and Best Female Video, but lost to Britney Spears.^[38] She won Best New Act at the 2008 MTV Europe Music Awards, which she co-hosted,^[39] and Best International Female Artist at the 2009 BRIT Awards.^[40] On February 9, 2009, both "I Kissed a Girl" and "Hot n Cold" were certified three-time platinum by Recording Industry Association of America for individual digital sales of over three million.^[41] The Guinness Book of World Records recognized Perry in its 2010 version as the "Best Start on the US Digital Chart by a Female Artist," for having her first two singles sell over two million digital copies.^[42]

Perry during the Hello Katy Tour in June 2009

The Matrix's self-titled debut album, which features Perry, was later released via the team's label, Let's Hear It, during Perry's solo tour. When the release date was scheduled, "I Kissed a Girl" had been charting well. Matrix member Lauren Christy spoke to Perry about the decision, but she wanted to hold the release until the fourth single of One of the Boys had been dispatched. Despite their communication, The Matrix was released on January 27, 2009, via iTunes Store.^[43]

In December 2008, Perry apologized to British singer Lily Allen for remarks in which she called herself a "skinnier version" of her, saying she meant it as a joke.^[44] Allen retaliated and told a British radio station that she "happen[ed] to know for a fact that she [Perry] was an American version" of her because their record company needed "to find something controversial and 'kooky'" like her.^[45] In January 2009, Perry embarked on her first headlining world tour, the Hello Katy Tour, visiting North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Beginning on January 23, 2009, and ending on November 28, 2009, the tour consisted of 89 concerts. During that time, Perry also opened select concerts for the band No Doubt, on their Summer Tour 2009.

On May 16, 2009, Perry performed at the opening ceremony of the annual Life Ball in Vienna, Austria.^[46] In June 2009, lawyers acting for Perry opposed the then-recent trademark of Australian fashion designer Katie Perry, who uses her own name to market loungewear.^[47] Some media outlets reported this as a lawsuit, which Perry denied on her blog.^[48] Katie Perry reported on her blog that at a hearing with IP Australia on July 10, 2009, the singer's lawyers withdrew their opposition to the trademark.^[49] During the summer of 2009 Perry filmed a cameo appearance for Get Him to the Greek; her scene, in which she kisses her future fiancé Russell Brand was cut, and does not appear in the final film. Discussing the issue with MTV, Perry hypothesized there may have been some fear that seeing the two make out would have taken viewers out of the experience.^[50] In 2009, Perry was featured on two singles: in August, a remix of Colorado-based band 3OH!3's song "Starstrukk" (the idea for the collaboration having come after Perry's tour that featured 3OH!3 as the supporting act, the song being released by iTunes on September 8, 2009); and, thereafter, in December, on "If We Ever Meet Again", the fourth single from Timbaland's album Shock Value II.^[51] In October 2009, MTV Unplugged revealed that Perry was one of the artists to perform for them, and that she would be releasing a live album of the performance, including two new tracks, "Brick by Brick" and Fountains of Wayne cover "Hackensack".^[52] The album, released on November 17, included both a CD and a DVD,^[53] and debuted at No. 168 on the US Billboard 200 chart.

[edit] 2010–present: Teenage Dream, film debut and The Complete Confection

Perry at 2011 MTV Video Music Awards

Perry appeared as a guest judge alongside Simon Cowell, Cheryl Cole and Louis Walsh during the Dublin audition stage of the seventh series of the British television show The X Factor on June 28, 2010.^[54] She was one of the many celebrities chosen to fulfil the role of judge whilst Dannii Minogue was on maternity leave. In May 2010, Perry released the first single from her second studio album, Teenage Dream entitled, "California Gurls". The single peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for six consecutive weeks.^[55][56] "Teenage Dream" was released as the second single from her album, and it also topped the Billboard Hot 100, becoming her third number one and second from the album. Teenage Dream was released August 24, 2010 and debuted atop the Billboard 200 chart with sales of 192,000 copies in its first week.^[57] The album as since sold over 2 million copies in the US, being certified Platinum by the RIAA. Following the album's release, the third single "Firework" was released and became the third consecutive single from Teenage Dream to top the Hot 100. With this, Perry became the first female in eleven years to have three consecutive number-ones from one album.^[58] In February 2011, Perry released the fourth single, "E.T.", a remixed version featuring Kanye West, that peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for five non-consecutive weeks.^[59] The music video for "E.T." was directed by Floria Sigismondi and features Shaun Ross as the main love interest. With "E.T." at number one on the chart of May 12, 2011, Perry became the first artist to spend 52 consecutive weeks in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100.^[3] In June 2011, Perry released the fifth single, "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)". A remixed version featuring American rapper Missy Elliot was released in early August.^[60] The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 on August 17, 2011, making Perry the first female and second artist (tied with Michael Jackson) ever to have five No. 1 singles from one album. Also, when the song reached number 1 in the Pop Songs airplay chart, "Teenage Dream" became the first album to have 5 number 1's from the same album on that chart. Additionally, when the song reached number one in the Adult Pop Songs airplay chart, the album become the first to have 4 number 1's from the same album on the chart.^[61] In October 2011, Perry released the sixth single, "The One That Got Away". It reached No. 3 on Hot 100, becoming the third album in history to produce six top five hit singles,^[62] and the seventh song from Teenage Dream to reach the top of the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs, the most by any album and setting a new record in the chart.^[63] Perry released a "The One That Got Away" remix featuring American rapper B.o.B. in December 2011. An acoustic version of the song was released in January 2012.^[64]

From February 2011 to January 2012, Perry embarked on an extensive world tour in support of Teenage Dream, the California Dreams Tour, playing 124 shows in Europe, Australasia, Asia, North America and South America and earning over $59 million.^[2] Perry made her perfume debut, releasing a fragrance named "Purr" in November. It is packaged in a cat-shaped bottle, and is available through Nordstrom stores.^[65][66] She followed it up with the fragrance's first flanker, "Meow".^[67][68]

Perry promoting her 2011 fragrance 'Purr'

In July 2011, Perry made her film debut in the 3D family film The Smurfs as Smurfette. The Smurfs earned $557,771,535 worldwide during its theatrical run. Perry appeared at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards on August 28, 2011. She was nominated for ten awards, received the most nominations of the ceremony and was the first singer to have four different music videos shown in various categories, eventually winning three of those, Video of the Year for "Firework", Best Collaboration and Best Special Effects for "E.T.". On September 17, 2011, marked Perry' 69th consecutive week in the Top 10 with single "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)".^[69][70] On September 23, 2011, she performed, along with Elton John, Brazilian Claudia Leitte and friend Rihanna, on the opening day of the 2011 Rock in Rio festival, which was extended to October 2.^[71] Perry performed for 100 thousand people, a show that received high praise from critics and audience alike.^[72]

On December 14, 2011, the annual list Forbes was elected the third singer who earned more than US$44 million, behind Lady Gaga (US$90 million) and Taylor Swift (US$45 million).^[73] On December 15, 2011, Perry was elected the Artist of the Year by MTV, for their performance on the charts worldwide and won the record during the year.^[4] On December 20, 2011, She released a Barbie doll that represents her style in 2012.^[74] On January 8, 2012, Perry was named the sixth best-selling digital artist of all time in the United States, having sold 37,620,00 million singles and albums as of 2011, according to Nielsen SoundScan.^[75]

In the week ending January 15, 2012, Perry became the first artist ever to have five songs sell over 5 million digital copies in the USA.^[76] Perry was once again recruited by EA Games to promote their new expansion pack The Sims 3: Showtime for their The Sims game franchise. The game content was based on Perry.^[77] Perry became the first person to have six songs top the Billboard Adult Pop Songs chart.^[78] In March 27, 2012, she re-released Teenage Dream under the title Teenage Dream: The Complete Confection on March 27, 2012. The lead single from the re-release (and seventh single from the Teenage Dream era overall) was "Part of Me", which released in February, debuted atop the Billboard Hot 100 chart.^[79] Perry has announced that she will release a part-biopic, part-concert film to be shown in 3D titled Katy Perry: Part of Me to be released on the 4th of July weekend of 2012 by Paramount Pictures.^[80][81] In April 2012, Perry performed in India for the first time at the opening ceremony of 5th edition of Indian Premier League, cricket match, in Chennai along with Indian actors Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra and Prabhu Deva.^[82][83][84] She performed her songs "Teenage Dream" and a remix version of "California Gurls".^{[85][83][86][87]} In April 2012, Perry stated that she was working on new music and changing her musical style, "My music is about to get real f—ing dark. You'd never see my face because my hair would be in it."^[88]

Artistry[link]

Musical style and themes[link]

Perry performing in 2009

Perry has a contralto vocal range.^[89] Perry's first album is of the Gospel music genre.^[11][19] She related that her perspective in music was "a bit enclosed and very strict", and everything she did was church-related.^[11] Her second album, One of the Boys, is described as "secular" and "rock," and reflects a departure from her religious musical roots.^[11] Her next album Teenage Dream featured more pop songs in the vein of Boys.^[16][90] In her childhood, Perry was introduced to the music of Alanis Morissette and Freddie Mercury, the late frontman of the British band Queen.^[26] In her tribute to Mercury on what would have been his 65th birthday, Perry stated; "Without you I wouldn't be making music or doing what I do because your lyrics inspired me as a 15 year old girl."^[91] Queen's song "Killer Queen" has inspired her to pursue a career in pop music after her first album.^[11] She also described that Morissette's album Jagged Little Pill as having influenced her music profoundly; even going on to work with Morissette's collaborator on the album, Glen Ballard because of that.^[18] Influence also came from a number of female pop rock singers, including Cyndi Lauper, Shirley Manson, Pat Benatar and Joan Jett, as "they came out with a vengeance."^[92] Perry also cited Madonna as another big influence, saying "I want to evolve like Madonna."^[93][94]

	"Part of Me" noicon A 22 second sample of Part of Me, a song with a pop rock influence, which is a common genre for Perry's songs.
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

Perry is artistically involved in her projects, especially in the writing process. Since she could play guitar, she would start writing songs at home and present it to her producers. Perry is mostly inspired by specific moments of her life. She said it is easy for her to write songs about heartbreak.^[13] Most of the themes in One of the Boys deal with heartbreak, teen adventure, and "puking into toilets".^[18] Perry's mother reportedly told British tabloid Daily Mail that she dislikes her daughter's music, calling it "shameful and disgusting".^[11][95] Perry said her mother was misquoted and told MTV that it was false information.^[95] Her songs "Ur So Gay" and "I Kissed a Girl" have received negative reactions from both religious and gay sectors.^[95] The songs have been respectively labeled as being homophobic and promoting homosexuality, as well as "lez ploitational".^[11] Musicians Pink, Kathleen Hanna and Beth Ditto criticized "I Kissed A Girl" as offensive to the LGBT community.^[96][97][98] MTV mentioned criticism suggesting that Perry is using "bi-curiosity" as a way to sell records.^[95] Perry responded to the controversy surrounding "Ur So Gay": "It's not a negative connotation. It's not, 'you're so gay,' like, 'you're so lame,' but the fact of the matter is that this boy should've been gay. I totally understand how it could be misconstrued or whatever ... It wasn't stereotyping anyone in particular, I was talking about ex-boyfriends."^[99] Perry has written several songs for other singers, including Ashley Tisdale ("Time's Up"), Selena Gomez & the Scene ("Rock God" and "That's More Like It"), Kelly Clarkson ("Long Shot" and "I Do Not Hook Up"), Jessica James ("Bullet" and "Girl Next Door"), Lesley Roy ("Slow Goodbye"), and Kady Malloy ("Wish You the Worst").

Public image[link]

Perry is known for her unconventional style of dress.^[16] It is often humorous, bright in color, and reminiscent of different decades, and she frequently uses fruit-shaped accessories, mainly watermelon, as part of her outfits.^[92] Perry's transformation into an artist began with fashion, inspired by American film actress Dominique Swain's portrayal in the 1997 film Lolita.^[18] She defines her fashion style as "a bit of a concoction of different things".^[16] Her fashion has caught the attention of designers.^[11][92] In June 2008, a publicity photo that showed Perry posing with a switchblade was criticized.^[100] The picture was defended as only an effort to give Perry a "sexy, harder edge".^[100] The criticism leveled at her was mocked by Perry who subsequently posed with a spoon instead.^[101] She was ranked 7th in Rolling Stone's global Queen of Pop poll in July 2011.^[102] Perry is also a gay activist. According to Dosomething.org, Perry had stated "I am a gay activist and I say that proudly. I voted no on Prop 8 (California’s Nov. 4, 2008, amendment declaring that marriage is defined as a union solely between a man and a woman), of course."^[103]

Personal life[link]

Russell Brand, Perry's estranged husband

Perry has had relationships with Gym Class Heroes frontman Travie McCoy, whom she met in a recording studio in New York,^[21] breaking up in December 2008;^[104] Relient K frontman Matt Thiessen, with whom she worked on her album Teenage Dream^[105] and British comedian Russell Brand.

Perry first met Brand in the summer of 2009 when she filmed a cameo appearance for Brand's film Get Him to the Greek. Although the cameo ultimately did not make it into the final cut of the movie, Perry later noted that the "scene called for me to make out with him...And on the way down the stairs after the scene, I was hopping like a bunny. I hop like a bunny when I'm happy".^[106][107] Perry and Brand began dating after meeting again several months later in September 2009 at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, where Brand, as host, remarked, "Katy Perry didn't win an award and she's staying at the same hotel as me, so she's gonna need a shoulder to cry on. So in a way, I'm the real winner tonight."^[108] The couple became engaged in December 2009 while vacationing in India.^{[109][110][111]} At the time, Perry stated that she had plans to take dual British citizenship. "One of the first things I'll do is apply for dual citizenship. I'm not too sure if I have to take a test as I've not had time to look into it. But England is like my second home".^[112] In an August 2010 interview with Rolling Stone, Perry also noted that, "I am sensitive to Russell taking the Lord's name in vain and to Lady Gaga putting a rosary in her mouth. I think when you put sex and spirituality in the same bottle and shake it up, bad things happen."^{[113][114][115]} Perry and Brand married on October 23, 2010, in a traditional Hindu ceremony near the Ranthambhore tiger sanctuary in Rajasthan, India, the same location where Brand proposed.^[116][117]