Lowell Mather is a fictional character from the 90s TV-series "Wings." Appearing as one of the main characters in the series until the Fifth Season, he was played by Thomas Haden Church.
Bio[]
Lowell Mather is a long-time resident of Nantucket, whose family has lived on the island for five generations. Described as dim and eccentric mechanic/handyman, he works at the airport and is available to everyone when repairs are needed. Lowells' father would take him to look through the window of fancy restaurants and say, one day your going to serve these people. His mentor was local handyman Weeb Gilroy, who died in 1993 at the age of 90. They had worked together to rebuild and restore an old biplane together. It was his shop teacher, Mr. Connolly, who inspired him to become a mechanic. However, to other classmates, Connolly was considered a "freakin' psycho!."
After high school, Lowell ended up graduating from M.I.T. (Murray's Institute of Tools), but it took him two weeks to graduate. He later confesses that if he had another fifty-nine dollars, he could have become Doctor Mather. He eventually started working as a mechanic at Tom Nevers Field, but he eventually seems to be working almost entirely for Joe Hackett and Roy Biggins. Lowell sometimes seems to exhibit holes in his memory and a lack of reasoning and deductive skills, once claiming that while he is not an orphan, his brother is. He often has the innocence and gullibility of a child, but he also comes across as having extreme OCD, ordering Joe Hackett and Brian Hackett around on their culinary and housekeeping habits when he lived with them. He was once married to a woman named Bunny with whom he had several children, but they divorced after Lowell learned that Bunny was guilty of infidelity and sleeping around with several men.
Lowell has a large and eccentric family. He has a sister Trina who has twins and a brother which he thinks is an orphan. He had an Uncle Lowell who vanished and was later found in the well behind his house. His Aunt Frita could do an excellent chicken impersonation. Lowell claims to have actually found an egg once when she got out of her chair. His Uncle Hezekiah who never missed a day of work. His Uncle Willy lost his nose in an industrial accident. When his uncle died, Lowell rented a tuxedo for him to be buried in. He paid $112.50 per week until Fay Cochran made him go to the store and ask for a refund. He has a Cousin Bevo who has three thumbs, owns a local pet grooming shop. His great grandfather Snookie Mather set up the Mather Family Trust, he made "quite a fortune in the crash of 29". This wasn't a stock market reference, it referred to when Joe Kennedy crashed his Douzenburg into Snookies ice truck and paid him $100,000. When Lowell turns thirty-one and a half he receives $25,000 like all Mathers when they turn that age. Lowell uses the money to buy the wax Museum which he says is practically a license to print money.
At some point, Lowell married Bunny, another native on the island. His exact proposal at the time was, "We've been screwing around long enough. Let's make this thing legal." He and Bunny had two children and lived on a houseboat, which resulted in her getting bored and going on dates despite being married. They eventually separated after it was revealed to Lowell that Bunny was sleeping with other men; they eventually divorced. It's likely she was sleeping around even during the time they were dating.
After his divorce, Lowell allowed Brian Hackett to borrow his boat for an evening, and Brian ended up sinking it in an accident. Left homeless, Lowell was invited by Joe and Brian to stay with them. They soon learned that among his skills, Lowell had a surprising talent for cooking, creating for them breakfasts and lunches which they greatly appreciated. Unfortunately, with the meals, Lowell also revealed he was a control freak with a quick temper, but they loved his cooking so much they they tried to adapt to it. After about a year, however, his eccentricities and rules became unbearable for even the brothers to tolerate, and they kicked him out of the house and helped him to find his own place.
About a year later, after being sent to Boston to procure supplies for Aeromass, Lowell witnessed a Mafioso murder a man. When it was likely he would be threated by the Mafia, he was offered to enter the Witness Protection Program. Although it was hard for him to leave Nantucket and the people he knew all his life, Lowell decided he would prefer to go into hiding than let a guilty man get away scot-free, knowing he could murder again. After a heartfelt goodbye, Lowell removed his signature red cap and donated it to Joe. Joe and Brian then hung it on a nail in the hangar, along with a message not to touch it as it was a tribute to their friend and co-worker, where it remained as a memory of his devotion and friendship.
Trivia[]
- Lowell has lived on Nantucket all of his life. As a child, he was once trapped in an icy lake for five hours. He was in an issue of Time magazine for it.
- His mother had a fling with Communism back in the Fifties. She once never came to pick him up after his first day of kindergarten. Although he was not an orphan, he claims to have a brother who was.
- When it comes to women, he says he's a leg man, although he later says a woman's chest hair to be her sexiest body part.
- Though often perceived as an idiot, Lowell is actually very intelligent (often remembering random obscure facts from history or science). He can speak French (even though he might not realize it) and given the right situation he can be very helpful. These characteristics are similar to a savant, meaning Lowell could possibly have a neurological disorder.
- Lowell often mentions bizarre beliefs or random thoughts ("Lowellisms") that confuse or bewilder his friends, such as:
- He thinks there are only 42 weeks in a year.
- He believes that holes in the universe exist ("cosmic potholes") which cause people to disappear.
- He wonders if Mr. T is related to Mr. Coffee.
- He confuses Dylan Thomas, Bob Dylan, Bob Denver and John Denver.
- He considers Tom Petty to be the handsomest man in the world.
- In addition to his jobs at Tom Nevers Field, Lowell often goes to the junkyard to practice target shooting with the rats at the junkyard with his Cousin Bevo. Other strange hobbies include:
- He says he once put a whole kitten in his mouth.
- He names his golf balls.
- He likes sitting alone in the dark, calling it relaxing.
- According to Mather family tradition, he received a check for twenty-five thousand dollars when he turned thirty-one and a half. With the money he purchased a Wax Museum, but got his money back when the insurance covered it burning down. He called it "Lowell Mather's House o' Wax: The Waxiest Place on Earth" The fire resulted from sparks starting in the Dark Ages display. His business partner in the deal was named Knuckles.
- He almost always wears the same orange ball cap. It means a lot to him. The first time he fixed a crank case was in that hat. The first time Lowell Jr. threw up was in that hat. And the first time he was hit in the head with a brick was in that hat. However, he does sometimes go hatless in places where it was blatantly rude to wear a hat indoors, such as church, a fancy restaurant or Joe and Helen's wedding.
- Lowell has a great memory for events important to him. He says he's lived through several great fogs including: November of '82, April of '84, and August of '87.
- Lowell owns a video camera.
- He is allergic to ragweed, resulting in him sneezing if he gets in contact with it.
- His nicknames include "Slackass" (by Roy) among others.
- Lowell may have possibly been attracted to Casey. This is evident when he kisses her twice. At one point, he refers to her as "dumpling".
- Lowell is heavily inspired by a "Cheers" character named Gordie Brown, who was also played by Thomas Haden Church who guest starred in the "Cheers" episode, "Death Takes a Holiday on Ice."
- His last action prior to leaving Nantucket was to donate his signature orange ball cap to Joe and Brian for them to remember him by. Joe proceeded to hang the hat in the hanger (Lowell's former workshop) along with a message saying not to touch it in honor of their departed friend. It remains on the hangar set through the rest of the series.