This is a list of characters from The WB/The CW (1996–2007) family drama, 7th Heaven.
Overview
= Main cast (credited) = Recurring cast (4+) = Guest cast (1-3)
The Camden family
The Camdens are made up of Eric and Annie and their seven children: Matt, Mary, Lucy, Simon, Ruthie, Sam, and David.
Eric Camden
Rev. Eric Camden (played by Stephen Collins) was raised in Binghamton, New York by his parents, Colonel John Camden and Ruth Lynch. Based on the episode "Halloween" (season 1), it appears that Eric was born in 1954 (which would make him 42 years old at the time). According to the episode "One Hundred" (season 5), his birthday is in January. Eric attended college for five years and graduated from Cobell Seminary. Shortly thereafter, he married and began a family with Annie Jackson. He has one sister, Julie Camden-Hastings, who ends up marrying the doctor that delivered Eric and Annie's oldest (Matt), as well as the youngest (Sam and David) children. After his heart-bypass operation, he decides to leave the ministry and even stop attending church. He renews his faith and returns to church in time to marry Kevin and Lucy (near the end of season 7). He had three cardiac episodes in seasons 4, 7 and 11 and survived.
Annie Camden
Anne "Annie" Camden (née Jackson) (played by Catherine Hicks) is the wife of Eric and mother of Matt, Mary, Lucy, Simon, Ruthie, Sam, and David. She has a half-sister named Lily, through her father, Charles Jackson. Her mother is Jenny Jackson. During her college education, Annie studied everything from art to business and economics, and in later seasons returned to school to earn a degree in early childhood education.
Though she has chosen to be a stay-at-home mother, Annie is a jack of all trades. She balances a family of nine on a minister's salary, is a plumber, builder, seamstress, cook, and much more. She also serves, from time to time, as the treasurer for the church.
Annie is the backbone of her family. The mother of seven, she is often the one who the children come to talk to, often over milk and cookies. She tries, with her husband, to instill strong morals in her children. She is noted as hoping Ruthie will not follow in her footsteps or of her two other daughters and marry too young. She hopes Ruthie will take the time to travel first.
Annie is the only daughter of her parents. Her mother, Jenny, dies early in the first season from cancer, a death that strikes Annie hard. Harder yet is her father's quick bounce to a relationship with Ginger. During one episode, Annie leaves the church after her father brings Ginger to service. Mary chases her and is struck by a car. Annie accepts Ginger slowly and Ginger and her father wed. Her father has Alzheimer's disease and Annie spends more and more time with him in Arizona before he dies. Annie is quoted in later seasons as saying that she likes Ginger a lot more now that her parents are back together. In an early season, Annie learned of an illegitimate daughter her father had with his high school girlfriend. She eventually meets this half-sister, Lily, and the two form a relationship over time.
In 2009, she was included in Yahoo!'s Top 10 TV Moms from Six Decades of Television for the decade 1996–2007.
Matt Camden
Matthew "Matt" Camden (played by Barry Watson) is Annie and Eric's firstborn. In the beginning of the series, Matt is a junior in high school and he is born in 1980. In the first season, he started out 16 years old. Matt sacrifices his school time to help others; if they wished to remain anonymous, he would respect that and not even tell his father. During high school, he bounces from job to job, including tutor and Dairy Shack delivery driver. He is not always a star student, but he manages to graduate at the top of his class and get accepted for a White House internship in Washington, D.C., with First Lady Hillary Clinton. He returns to Glenoak for college, rooming with friend and fellow "P.K." John Hamilton. Matt's new uncle, Dr. Hank Hastings (who had actually delivered him), helps him get a job in the hospital cafeteria; during his time there, he decides to become a doctor. His uncle Hank is the main inspiration why he wanted to become a doctor. He ends up working at a women's clinic with Hank, beginning by helping save the life of a woman who could not get anyone but Matt to take her symptoms of an ectopic pregnancy seriously.