Scrubs/Perry Cox

Perry Cox
Scrubs
Actor	John C. McGinley
First Appearance	1x01 - My First Day
Series Billing	Billed
Episode Count	168
Notable Episodes	2x15 - His Story

Basic Information

Perry Cox is an attending physician at Sacred Heart Hospital. He is John "JD" Dorian's bitter and sarcastic mentor. Dr. Cox commonly refers to JD by various girls' names, or by calling him "Newbie." He also calls other characters by various nicknames. Cox does have a soft side, and is proud of JD and his progression in medicine, even if he only shows it at crucial times.

Perry Cox shows a lack of respect for superiors such as Dr. Bob Kelso, and will not accept career help from others. This has led to a lack of advancement within the medical profession for Dr. Cox.

Dr. Cox was married to Jordan Sullivan, and has a son, Jack. They had divorced prior to Jack's birth, but Ted had learned that they were not actually divorced. They later truly divorced, as they felt the marriage was ruining their relationship. Dr. Cox had a strong friendship with Jordan's brother Ben prior to his death.

Perry has a sister named Paige, who is a born-again Christian. Their father was an abusive alcoholic, and their mother was an enabler. Their mother did not stop their father from beating them as children. Perry's abusive and traumatic childhood could help explain his intimacy issues and his marriage with Jordan. He also goes to therapy.

Cox is a hockey fan, and often is seen wearing a Detroit Red Wings jersey while watching sporting events.

Trivia

• The role of Perry Cox on Scrubs was written with him in mind, the script called for a "John C. McGinley type."

• The running joke of Dr. Cox calling J.D. girl names originated from when the writers noticed John C. McGinley doing the same to Zach Braff on set.

• The Detroit Red Wings jersey Dr. Cox wears was given to John C. McGinley by his friend and current Red Wing, Chris Chelios.

Quotes

• Lady, people aren't chocolates. Do you know what they are, mostly? Bastards. Bastard-coated bastards with bastard filling; but I don't find them half as annoying as I find naïve, bubble-headed optimists who walk around vomiting sunshine. (4x07 - My Common Enemy)

• I would like to make special mention of one intern here: John Dorian. Smart kid, he's extremely confident, and his enthusiasm - and his determination to always be better - is something I see in him twenty-four hours a day. He cares. Probably cares too much. But he's definitely somebody you don't want to lose. (1x08 - My 15 Minutes)

• I don't necessarily buy all this new-agey crap. One time I saw my mom knock my father unconscious with a frying pan. And d'you know what I did? I kept right on going with my birthday party.

• And you, you neurotic, one-woman freakshow, take your blah-blah to the blah-blah-ologist, because if you are so stupid to confront the chief of medicine over some quasi-offensive endearment, then you've just gotta go ahead and replace the captain of your brainship, because he's drunk at the wheel.