Whitney Ellsworth is a character created by David Milch for the acclaimed Western TV series Deadwood. He is portrayed by Jim Beaver. Ellsworth, the only name he is known by for most of the first two seasons, is introduced in the first episode of the series as a hard-drinking and -whoring prospector, a man of no discernible hygiene but of good nature. He befriends the prostitute Trixie after she is beaten by Al Swearengen. He lives primarily, at first, at his gold claim with his dog, and it is near that claim that he witnesses the murder of Brom Garret, a naive Eastern speculator. He is asked by Sheriff Bullock to help the widow Alma Garret when the claim her husband was tricked into buying becomes a real bonanza. He is smitten by the beautiful young widow and takes a kindly interest in her and her adopted daughter Sophia, although he can never bring himself to reveal to her what he knows of her husband's death. He becomes the foreman of her mine and her protector. When the arrival of Sheriff Bullock's wife puts an end to Mrs. Garret's love affair with the sheriff, Ellsworth tries to protect her from her own inclinations that might reveal the affair to Mrs. Bullock. Mrs. Garret discovers she is pregnant by the sheriff, and Trixie convinces Ellsworth to offer himself as a husband in name only. The much more presentable Ellsworth reveals his own loss of a wife and child and proposes to Mrs. Garret, who eventually accepts his offer. They are married in a ceremony which reveals not only Ellsworth's given name, but his own deep feelings for Alma, who herself still loves Sheriff Bullock. Once settled into a household with his new wife and her ward Sophia, Ellsworth blossoms into a family man. But his platonic relationship with his wife takes a dark turn when she returns to her former drug habit. When Alma approaches Ellsworth with seeming romantic intent, he is at first happily stunned and shy. But he realizes suddenly that she has drugged herself in order to approach him, purely from sense of obligation and pity. As a result, he leaves her, believing that it is his presence which causes her to resort to drugs. He continues to manage her mine and to tend to Sophia, and he tries to prevent her dealings with George Hearst, the mining magnate whose ruthless attempts to take over all mining in Deadwood jeopardize not only Alma's position but her safety. Ellsworth, who had years before worked for Hearst and had come to despise him, makes an enemy of the rich man. In an attempt to intimidate Alma into selling her mine, Hearst has Ellsworth murdered. The devastated and shocked response of the town to the killing provides the catalyst for the town's showdown with Hearst. Show less «