Summary

• Shameless (US) centers around the chaotic Gallagher family in Chicago, led by dysfunctional alcoholic Frank Gallagher.
• The Gallaghers face poverty, addiction, and other issues, constantly getting into trouble but always sticking together.
• The series spans 11 seasons and explores the complicated relationships within the family, showcasing their resilience and love for each other.

The of the Gallagher family on Showtime's Shameless are a complicated bunch, and their family tree is even more complicated. Adapted from the UK version of the same name, Shameless (US) follows the shenanigans of the Gallagher family in the South Side neighborhood of Chicago during the 2010s. The series spanned a whopping eleven seasons from 2011-2021, equalling the run of its UK predecessor.

Though the Gallagher bloodline expands across generations, the Shameless series focuses primarily on the chaotic head of the family, Frank Gallagher, and his many offspring, as they try to stay afloat in the face of poverty, addiction, and mental illness. Everywhere they turn, the Shameless characters seem to get into trouble: getting too drunk, getting arrested, or getting into blowout fights with friends, strangers, and each other. But if there's one thing Frank's brood has taught during the best Shameless episodes, it's that Gallaghers are not to be messed with.

Margaret "Peggy" Gallagher

Played by Louise Fletcher

Peggy Gallagher, is the paternal grandmother of the Gallagher siblings in Shameless. Played by Louise Fletcher, Peggy is referred to as "Grammy" by her grandchildren, is the mother of Frank Gallagher. Along with Frank and his twin brother, Jerry, she had two other sons, Clayton and Wyatt, with an unnamed man. Frank's stories of his childhood paint his parents as rather abusive, claiming they preferred his brothers over him and treated them better.

At the time Shameless begins, Peggy is still in prison for blowing up a meth lab and killing two people. After she is released for health reasons, she shows up at the Gallagher house and wreaks havoc. She later reveals she has terminal cancer, and is eventually smothered to death with a pillow by Sheila Jackson, upon Peggy's request. She is also one of several Shameless characters in the Gallagher family who don't have an equivalent in the UK version of the show upon which it's based.

Francis "Frank" Gallagher

Played by William H. Macy

Frank Gallagher is the patriarch of the Gallagher family and an integral character throughout Shameless. He is the father of Fiona, Lip, Ian, Debbie, Carl, and Liam (though it is revealed early on in a surprise twist that he is not Ian Gallagher's biological father). Frank also has another daughter, Sammi, with his ex-girlfriend Queenie, though he kept her a secret from his family for years until he needed a liver transplant as a result of his chronic drinking.

Frank is a dysfunctional alcoholic who spends most of his time drinking at the local neighborhood bar, The Alibi Room, or else coming up with new schemes to acquire more money for booze. He is also a neglectful and incompetent father, rarely stepping up to his parental duties unless it serves him. Frank is often putting his children in harm's way, causing them to kick him out of the house and shun him off and on throughout the series. Toward the end of the series, he is diagnosed with dementia. Frank dies of COVID-19 in the Shameless series finale.

Virginia "Ginger" Gallagher

Played by Ellen Albertini Dow, Fake Ginger played by Gloria LeRoy

Ginger Gallagher is Frank's paternal aunt, the sister of Frank's father and the Gallagher sibling's grandfather, Mr. Gallagher. Ginger ed away from a cocaine overdose 12 years before the events of Shameless. However, Frank never told his family or the authorities that Aunt Ginger died. Instead, he buried her in the backyard of the Gallagher home (which Ginger owned) so he could keep the house and continue cashing her social security checks.

While not much is revealed about Ginger, it's implied (especially due to the fact she died of a cocaine overdose) that she was a Gallagher through and through, and likely was quite similar to Frank.

When the state comes looking for Ginger, the Gallagher's "borrow" a senile elderly woman from the seniors' home where their neighbor and friend, Veronica, works, to pose as Ginger, to avoid losing their house. Ginger is later declared legally dead with a fake body Fiona stole from the same nursing home. While not much is revealed about Ginger, it's implied (especially due to the fact she died of a cocaine overdose) that she was a Gallagher through and through, and was likely quite similar to Frank.

Patrick Gallagher

Played by Brent Sexton

Patrick Gallagher is Frank's paternal cousin. Played by Brent Sexton, Patrick only appears in two seasons of Shameless, appearing in season 3 and season 6. In the season 3 episode "When There's A Will", Patrick got into several confrontations with Fiona over ownership of the Gallagher home, and even manages to trick her into handing over ownership and making "Cousin Patrick" the Gallagher family's landlord.

Patrick then appears again in the season 6 episode "Going Once, Going Twice", and it's here that he shows he's just as bad as Frank when ti comes to managing finances, as he took out a substantial loan on the family home which he has no intention to paying back. Patrick has two sons, Desmond and Warren. Patrick is disliked by the rest of the Gallagher's after he beats them to forging Ginger's will, in which he grants himself ownership of her house, where the Gallagher's live.

Monica Gallagher

Played by Chloe Webb

Monica Gallagher is the ex-wife of Frank Gallagher and the mother of Fiona, Lip, Ian, Debbie, Carl, and Liam Gallagher. Monica is a character whose absence from her children's lives is just as impactful on the events of Shameless as the times when she's present. She and Frank have an interesting relationship, to say the least, as while the pair are often at each other's throats, there are also plenty of times they give in to temptation and attempt to rekindle old feelings.

Monica abandons her family before the events of the show take place, leaving her eldest daughter, Fiona, to pick up the slack. She is diagnosed with bipolar but rarely takes her meds. Despite her faults, she seems to have good intentions but always ends up disappointing her family with her empty promises. Upon her final visit, Monica remarries Frank before dying of a brain hemorrhage.

Samantha "Sammi" Slott

Played by Emily Bergl

Not all of Frank's children count themselves as Gallagher siblings, as he also has an estranged daughter who first appears in Shameless season 4. Sammi Slott is Frank's eldest daughter and only child with Queenie Slott, born several years before Fiona and the rest of Frank and Monica's children. Abandoning Queenie is, ironically, once of the most self-aware things Frank ever did, since he left because he felt he wouldn't be a fit father (which, as any of the Gallagher siblings can attest to, is 100% accurate).

Because she didn't find out he was her father until later in life, Sammi isn't able to see Frank's true colors right away

Because she didn't find out he was her father until later in life, Sammi isn't able to see Frank's true colors right away, blinded by her fantasy of having a perfect father-daughter relationship at last. This delusion is why she is the only one of Frank's children to take care of him while he is dying of liver failure. She ends up in prison for trying to shoot Mickey Milkovich, after he accidentally attempted to kill her.

Chuckie Slott

Played by Kellen Michael

Chuckie Slott is Sammi's only son and Frank's eldest grandchild. He is around 12 years old when he's first introduced in Shameless season 4, and audiences find him living with Sammi in a trailer (though, in season 5, he moves in with Sheila, and finds his way to his grandmother's house afterward in season 6).

Played by Kellen Michael, Chuckie is one of the minor recurring of the extended Gallagher family, though his appearances have been somewhat memorable, especially since they always seem to reveal something about characters like Frank or Carl. Chuckie is shown to be naïve and not very bright, which makes him an easy target for his uncle Carl to take advantage of for his drug deals. After he is released from juvie for running heroin with Carl, Chuckie eventually goes on to live with his maternal grandmother, Queenie.

Fiona Gallagher

Played by Emmy Rossum

Fiona Gallagher is Frank's eldest child with Monica, and his second-eldest daughter overall. While Emmy Rossum departed Shameless before the shwo concluded, she was perhaps the second most central character in the earlier seasons alongside Frank. Due to her mother's abandonment and her father's alcoholism and neglect, Fiona has been the primary caretaker of her younger siblings since she was a child.

After years of playing the role of a parent without legal rights, Fiona files for legal guardianship of her five siblings. Ultimately, the judge awards Fiona and Frank t guardianship of the kids, allowing Frank to keep custody while Fiona is left with the continued responsibility of providing for her family. While their character arcs eventually deviated, Fiona's narrative in the earlier seasons of Shameless somewhat mirrored her UK counterpart.

Fiona had her fair share of ups and downs, from successfully (and unsuccessfully) investing in real estate to doing prison time for accidentally exposing her infant brother Liam to cocaine and breaking parole. Fiona has had several love interests on Shameless, even briefly getting married once and almost tying the knot again shortly after. However, her romantic relationships are often sabotaged by her family duties or her intimacy issues as a result of her tumultuous upbringing. In the Shameless season 9 finale, Fiona decides to leave Chicago and her family behind to finally start a life of her own.

Phillip "Lip" Gallagher

Played by Jeremy Allen White

Lip Gallagher is the eldest son of Frank and Monica Gallagher. Lip is highly intelligent and knows it. He's just as book-smart as he is street-smart, but his arrogance tends to cause rifts between him and his loved ones, especially his older sister, Fiona. Lip and Fiona often butt heads over what's best for their family, but they always manage to make up in the end.

By the end of Shameless, he has one child with his girlfriend, Tami Tamietti.

Ever the ladies' man, Shameless but has a hard time expressing his true feelings to his girlfriends. He also loves to start fights which often get him in trouble, sometimes with the law. Lip is the first Gallagher child to graduate high school and the only one to go to college, though he gets expelled for drunkenly assaulting campus security. Like his father, Lip struggles with alcoholism. By the end of Shameless, he has one child with his girlfriend, Tami Tamietti.

Ian Gallagher

Played by Cameron Monaghan

Ian Gallagher is the second-eldest son in the Gallagher clan, though he is the only child who was not biologically fathered by Frank. It is revealed early on that Ian's biological father is Frank's brother, Clayton Gallagher. Ian is introduced as a disciplined teen boy in ROTC, who is also closeted. Gradually, Ian comes out to all his family and begins a secret relationship with Mickey Milkovich.

After illegally ing the army as a minor, hijacking a helicopter, and going AWOL, Ian begins showing signs of manic depression. He is formally diagnosed with bipolar disorder, just like his mother, after kidnapping Mickey's baby. He struggles with his diagnosis at first but can adjust eventually. By the end of Shameless, Ian and Mickey are married. Much like Fiona, Ian's character arc mirrors his the UK version of the character much more than many other of the Gallagher family in the earlier seasons of Shameless.