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DeDe’s new look

DeDe Pritchett (née Williams) was Jay Pritchett's ex-wife, the mother of Claire Dunphy and Mitchell Pritchett, the grandmother of Haley, Alex, Luke, Lily and Rexford and the great-grandmother of Poppy and George.

Biography[]

Before the show[]

When she and Jay first got married, they moved into a small house in the Valley. They didn't have any money back then yet she would go out of her way to get a certain crunchy crusty bread from a French bakery which was hard on the outside but soft and warm on the inside. She would say that it was just like Jay.

She was known to appreciate a good sandwich and make amazing ones herself.

DeDe and Jay were married for 35 years before getting divorced prior to the start of the series. After growing apart, and she said that wanted to "look for something else" ("Princess Party"). Jay said that he wanted to divorce her early on, but was persuaded by a trip to Disneyland with their kids to keep the family together at least until they grow up ("Disneyland"). DeDe later expressed guilt over breaking the family apart, and having the need to prove something every time she visited them.

It had been heavily implied that DeDe may have been mentally ill due to her somewhat manipulative, inappropriate and sometimes aggressive ways. Jay also said she once killed a cat which she didn't remember, but she did find her pet cat Frances buried in her old home. ("Arrested").

DeDe had two sisters BeBe and CeCe, the former of which was said to be attracted to Jay ("Valentine's Day 4: Twisted Sister").

DeDe was more accepting of Mitchell's sexual orientation than Jay was when he first came out. Among her children, she was closer to Mitchell as she often asked him to do things she didn't want to ("Crazy Train"), and refered to him as "my beautiful boy."

The Incident[]

About a year before the start of the show, during her ex-husband Jay and Gloria's wedding, DeDe got drunk and caused a scene during her wedding toast, broke things and destroyed the wedding cake while being hauled out by Mitchell, Cameron and Phil. They later referred to it as "The Incident".

Soon after the incident, DeDe claimed to have taken a "new journey" by practicing meditation and was planning to move to French Canada with the man she had been seeing.

DeDe married her new boyfriend Jerry in Season 7.

In "Good Grief", DeDe was revealed to have gone on a trip with her Woman's Group. On the third night, DeDe wandered away from the group and encountered a pack of starving timber wolves. She long believed that she could communicate with animals so using a mixture of howls and barks, she convinced them to look for food elsewhere.

Later, she ignored a "thin ice" sign and plunged into a water body but was saved by one of the wolves.

She then deeply insulted a tribe of Inuits by interrupting a sacred dagger dance. She was also briefly swallowed by a whale.

On the trip's final morning, DeDe had apparently passed peacefully in her sleep. She was found in her room as a smile graced her smile graced her face as her hands clutched 10 pages of suggestions for the hotel staff.

Personality[]

DeDe was portrayed with little redeeming qualities. Although she was still considered part of the family, DeDe seemed to be in unpleasant terms with the other members; she was aggressive towards Gloria, often trying to physically attack her, was passive aggressive towards Cameron about his weight ("The Incident"), and was often critical of Claire's appearance and homemaking skills.

In regards to Mitchell, DeDe had a habit of being extremely manipulative, often using him as a means to an end.

However, she seemed to be very good friends with Manny as they wrote letters to each other's talking about their personal issues and common interests ("Arrested"). DeDe was also an author and poet.

According to Mitchell and Cameron, she tricked them and took control of every detail of their life without them knowing about it .

Relationships[]

Ex-Husband[]

Jay[]

DeDe and Jay were married to each other in the past and were obviously very happy together. One time, Jay wanted to divorce her after a specific fight they had when Jay taped over Dallas to record an NFL game that, ironically, featured the Dallas Cowboys) but was inspired by an animatronic Abraham Lincoln exhibit at Disneyland to stick things out until Claire and Mitchell reached adulthood.

However, Jay and DeDe are on excellent terms, even after their divorce. In "Princess Party", Jay consoled DeDe after she felt foolish to have been involved with Claire's ex-boyfriend Robbie where Jay also says that he didn't have the guts to end their marriage, with Dede replying "That's because you're a decent man." and in "The Incident", that they had grown apart for years and DeDe 'left to find herself'.

Family[]

Mitchell[]

DeDe was closer to her son, Mitch, than her daughter. He would come running to her while Claire would tattle to her dad.

She would use him to break bad news when she didn't want to do it herself. Such as when she asked him to tell Claire that she had not been placed at the family table during Dede's wedding.

One Halloween, when he was having a hard time fitting into high school, DeDe took Mitchell for ice cream in West Hollywood and accidentally took him to his first gay event.

She would manipulate him into doing things by using reverse psychology.

DeDe would also use Cam to manipulate Mitch. She once emailed him suggesting how sad it was that he had to live alone in a small apartment with a broken leg. The same day, she told Mitch that it was too soon to move in with someone. This caused the both of them to move in together.

Claire[]

DeDe appeared to be quite critical of her daughter, Claire. This most likely stems back to when Claire was an out-of-control wild teenager. DeDe annoyed Claire very much, with Claire, in return, being spiteful towards her mother. Dede was also especially critical of Claire's appearance (her blouse, on one instance in "The Incident").

However, this criticism most likely came from the fact that Jay never helped her with their children when they were little which caused Dede to become so crazy, as stated by Gloria in "Arrested".

In "Crazy Train" Dede angered Claire again by arranging for her daughter not to sit at the family table at her wedding.

When she died, Claire voiced her pent-up resentment of how Mitchell had a better relationship with her mother before voicing her guilt how the last time she spoke with her she expressed anger at her. However, Mitchell soon revealed that Dede called her later. In Dede's final message to Claire, she apologized for the argument they had. Dede also expressed her pride in how Claire was raising her children and ended it by telling her she loved her. Having realized her mother did love her, Claire broke down in tears and told her mother she loved her too.

Rivals[]

Gloria[]

Initially, DeDe had animosity for Gloria because the latter married the former's ex-husband. DeDe was seen being aggressive towards Gloria during the former's first two appearances and attacking her. She even whispered to Gloria on her wedding day that when she dies, she will come back to haunt her as a ghost. Gloria even used DeDe's toothbrush on Stella.

This antagonism continued until "Arrested" where she sees that Gloria is pregnant which causes DeDe to think of her as less trophy, more human. DeDe also found it fantastic that her ex-husband was going to be a father again at his age and also it seemed to have fixed her 'telescopic uterus'. They both bonded over Jay-bashing when DeDe revealed that he never helped her when Claire and Mitchell were babies (only for Jay to reveal that back then they were living paycheck to paycheck and that the reason he wasn't around is because he was working all the time) as well as making fun of the Pritchett pet dog Stella. Gloria was sympathetic, stating that she understood why Dede became so crazy, to which Dede answered "Right?"

After DeDe's death, Gloria thought she was being haunted by a lifelike figurine DeDe had gotten made of herself (it was later revealed to be a prank by Lily to honour her nana's memory). It was then that she thanked DeDe for raising such amazing children and shaping Jay into the man Gloria fell in love with.

Extended Family[]

Phil[]

Her relationship with Phil was kind of unknown, but in "Princess Party", Phil felt that DeDe never liked him and was always wishing that Claire married her high school boyfriend Robbie, but it seemed that she does like him after DeDe and Robbie were seen making out.

The first time Phil dropped Hayley to school, DeDe consoled him in the car because she knew it was a hard day for him.

Cameron[]

Cam appeared to have some baggage with DeDe, because she was passive aggressive towards him about his weight, which was made evident when Cameron says that she got him an exercise machine for Christmas and he gave her "a gorgeous pair of diamond earrings".

The first time she met him, she threatened to murder him if he ever made Mitchell unhappy. She even went into graphic detail and described how she'd hide his body. Another time, she overheard him talking about wanting to drink dandelion wine so she got him a homemade bottle and they sat there, drinking and swapping stories about growing up in the boondocks.

DeDe would use Cam to manipulate Mitch. She once emailed him suggesting how sad it was that he had to live alone in a small apartment with a broken leg. The same day, she told Mitch that it was too soon to move in with someone. This caused the both of them to move in together.

Manny[]

DeDe appears to be good friends with Manny, as they were huge fans of spoken word and exchanged letters with each other.

Grandchildren[]

Haley[]

Of all her grandchildren, DeDe's most specific relationship was with Haley. They had a very close relationship, specially when it came to getting back at Claire for not letting Haley go to the places she wants (because of Claire fearing Haley will end up like her) and also Haley enjoyed listening to her grandmother's stories of Claire's past.

Lily[]

DeDe manipulated Mitchell and Cam into adopting Lily by sending Cam adorable pictures of Asian babies while, at the same time, telling Mitch that America has already taken a lot from the Vietnamese and that it's not a good idea to take a baby from there as well.

Aside from that, they were not really seen interacting.

After she died, Lily wanted to honour her nana's memory by messing with Gloria. So she made Gloria believe that she was being haunted by a lifelike figurine DeDe had gotten made of herself.

Other Grandchildren[]

DeDe's relationship with her other grandchildren is unknown, but Alex described her an an “amazing” person who didn't care about society's expectations, implying that Alex admired her.

She also seemed to have enjoyed seeing Luke and died before ever meeting Rexford.

Appearances[]

Season 1[]

Season 2[]

Season 3[]

Season 4[]

Season 5[]

Season 6[]

Season 7[]

Season 8[]

Season 9[]

Season 10[]

Trivia[]

  • She always used to bring her own ice cubes to restaurants.
  • She had an aunt who taught her how to make dandelion wine.

Gallery[]

1665B22D-CC41-409C-90D1-36FB119D7897
ved Modern Family  characters
Main characters
Phil DunphyClaire DunphyHaley MarshallAlex DunphyLuke DunphyDylan MarshallJay PritchettGloria PritchettManny DelgadoJoe PritchettMitchell PritchettCameron TuckerLily Tucker-Pritchett • [PETS]: LarryStella
Recurring characters
Frank DunphyDeDe PritchettJavier DelgadoPepper SaltzmanSalAndy BaileyRonnie LaFontaineAndrewLonginesRonaldo
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