Character Biography

Jackie is Pete's second ex-wife and is mother to their adopted son Bert. She represents everything that Diane is not. She's eccentric, spiritual, new-age-y, and completely unpredictable. For example, she celebrates every holiday of every religion so as not to confuse Bert. Of course, it's behavior like this that confuses everyone else in the family.

Even though she and Pete are now divorced, Jackie is seemingly always in Pete and Kate's lives. She's been known to garden in their yard, use their pool, and nurse them when they're sick. Simply put: she doesn't understand boundaries, which can get on their nerves.

Jackie would describe herself as "an entrepreneur/inventor" and often boasts about the many businesses she's started. They include a pickle business, a homemade jewelry business, and teaching acupuncture to the elderly. In her spare time she's a professional real estate agent. While Jackie is prolific in starting businesses, she is incapable of seeing them through. The same could be said of her dating life, where she's unable to commit to anybody.

Even though she struggles to keep her own life in order, Jackie is always there for her son Bert. He is, and will always be, the most important person in her life.