Mary Camden-Rivera

Played by actress Jessica Biel, Mary Camden-Rivera is a fictional character from the longtime WB/CW drama 7th Heaven. Born in 1982, Mary is the oldest daughter of seven children born to Eric and Annie Camden, growing up in fictional Glen Oak, California.

Childhood and teenage years

By the time she was 14, Mary was an aspiring athlete with an immense love for basketball. As the months progressed, she seemed to rise in both ability and confidence until an accident that took place before the end of her freshman year in which she was hit by a car, critically injuring her knee. She spent months of recuperation afterwards and seemed to be on the right track for the most part. She had a series of different boyfriends and began dating Wilson West, a man with a child from a previous relationship, who would become a more serious person in her life.

Mary had always seemed to be more level-headed and practical than Lucy, but had an adventurous side which would lead to frustrations with her sister. During the next two years Mary would deal with mature themes involving gossip, teen pregnancy, self-mutilation, premarital sex, homelessness, and alcoholism, among others. By Season 4, problems in different subjects like math caused the basketball coach to impose a lockout on her and the remainder of the team and, after a secret conspiration, the team decided to enact their frustrations by vandalizing the school gym, something that got all of them caught and arrested, Mary included.

Through a special program for first offenders, Mary was able to evade serious punishment by doing community service, which was where she met Robbie Palmer, the second serious boyfriend she would have after breaking up with Wilson in season two.

New York years

Mary fell into further trouble. She could not hold down a job, being fired from everywhere from the pool hall to a book store. She bought a car while working at the pool hall but lost her job over phone time. While working for Pete's Pizza she befriended Frankie and Johnie, a young married couple with a daughter. They got her involved in drugs and alcohol and she was stopped one night on her way home by a police officer but only got a warning. After borrowing money from her baby brother's piggie banks, her trouble caught up with her. Her parents learned that she had been caught drinking while sitting for Erica, her cousin; about being pulled over by the cops; her loss of another job; and her debt. In the end they decided it was best she go to New York for they could not give her the attention needed. She would live with her grandparents, Colonel and Ruth Camden, work at a homeless shelter in the fall, and start college with Ruth in the winter. She left home angry at her entire family, whom she saw as betraying her and refusing to speak to her father. In time, she calmed down and returned home to her father's birthday party.

She became involved again with Wilson who was going to school in New York but decided to train as a firefighter. She started training with Ben Kinkirk and she kissed him, which Wilson walked in on and they broke up. She returned home to California for a time, but on a trip to New York with Lucy she revealed she was moving back, and training to be a flight attendant. She began dating Ben again though this did not last. She moved to Florida for a time, where she dated a much older pilot but she eventually was reintroduced to Carlos Rivera. Carlos and Mary were married shortly after Lucy wed and revealed her pregnancy and the marriage to her family at the same time. Her parents visited at the birth of her son, Charlie Miguel, named in honor of her and Carlos' late grandfathers. They eventually divorced and Carlos took Charlie back to Puerto Rico when Mary gave her son up. It was announced by Carlos when he attended Simon's marriage that the two were back together and that Mary was expecting twin girls. Though Mary was not at Simon's wedding she was able to still see her family the next day as she finally graduated college the same day as Matt and Sarah. She named her twin daughters Emma and Grace.

Parents/Grandparents

• Eric Camden (father)
• Annie Camden (mother)
• John Camden (paternal grandfather)
• Ruth Camden (paternal grandmother)
• Charles Jackson (maternal grandfather; deceased)
• Jenny Jackson (maternal grandmother; deceased)
• Ginger Jackson (maternal step-grandmother)

Siblings

• Matt Camden (brother)
• Sarah Glass-Camden (sister-in-law)
• Lucy Camden-Kinkirk (sister)
• Kevin Kinkirk (brother-in-law)
• Simon Camden (brother)
• Ruthie Camden (sister)
• David Camden (brother)
• Sam Camden (brother)

Aunts & Uncles

• Lily Jackson (maternal half-aunt)
• Julie Camden-Hastings (paternal aunt)
• Hank Hastings (paternal uncle by marraige)

Cousins

• Erica Hastings (paternal first cousin)
• Unnamed Hastings (paternal first cousin)

Marital Status

• married to Carlos Rivera (second time)

Significant others

• Jeff (dated briefly)
• Richard (dated briefly; reunited briefly to go to high school dance together)
• Jordan (dated secretly after he and Lucy broke up)
• Michael Towner (briefly dated)
• Robbie Palmer (dated; engaged briefly)
• Wilson West (dated; engaged)
• Ben Kinkirk (dated)
• Carlos Rivera (dated; engaged; married; divorced; remarried)

Children

• Charles "Charlie" Miguel Rivera (Son, with Carlos Rivera) [born 2004]
• Emma Rivera (Daughter, with Carlos Rivera) [born 2006]
• Grace Rivera (Daughter, with Carlos Rivera) [born 2006]

Trivia

• Mary was actually kicked out of the house because Eric and Annie could not handle her anymore
• Mary had a very serious high school/adult boyfriend named Robbie Palmer, whom Jessica Biel actually dated.