Mildred Pierce
Mildred is a hard-working single mother who does everything she can to provide the kind of lifestyle her daughter Veda wants. When her husband has an affair with another woman in town, Mildred kicks him out and begins working herself, baking pies and working as a waitress. Eventually, she builds a successful restaurant business and earns a lot of money. She is the epitome of the self-sacrificing mother, who wants to give her daughter, Veda, everything she never had. Her unfailing love for her daughter blinds her to her daughter's manipulations, even after Veda has had an affair with Mildred's husband and killed him.
Mildred is the protagonist of the film, the character with whom the viewer sympathizes. She is far from perfect, however, and part of the tragedy of the film is how we must watch her fall prey to the horrible behavior of her associates, and the way that she endures it like a martyr.
Wally
Wally is a real estate agent and friend to Mildred. He is smooth-talking, charismatic, and aggressive. He helps Mildred to find her first restaurant property and goes in as a business partner with her, helping her grow a successful franchise. While he is supportive of Mildred when he stands to gain financially from their association, he is also disrespectful of her boundaries and consistently tries to seduce her after she has told him she isn't interested. Additionally, he helps Veda con the Forresters out of money and gets her a job as a singer in his nightclub, a position of which Mildred disapproves. While Wally seems like a nice guy, and helps Mildred at various points in the film, he is also shallow and is always looking for the easy way.
Veda
Veda is Mildred's eldest daughter. She desires nothing more than to be of a higher social class and to accumulate all the status that established wealth can buy. She looks down on Mildred and loathes the fact that she works at and owns a restaurant to earn her money. Veda can be charming and attractive, but it is always with the aim of putting something over on someone and getting her way. She is manipulative almost to the point of sociopathy, and while she often tells her mother she will "change" and become a better person, she seems fundamentally remorseless and immoral.
Monte Beragon
Monte is a society playboy who comes from a wealthy Pasadena family, but who has squandered his family fortune and thus becomes dependent on Mildred for spending money. While he is charming at times, he is also capable of being wounding and cruel. He looks down on Mildred for owning a greasy spoon diner, but is quick to take her money, proving himself to be the worst kind of hypocrite. He even sinks so low as to have an enduring affair with Mildred's daughter, right under her nose.
Ida
Ida gives Mildred a job as a waitress when Mildred is in desperate need of an income. A tough and funny woman, Ida provides some comic relief to the ever-serious Mildred, often cracking one-liners and having an irreverent disregard for the more oppressive parts of life. She joins Mildred in helping her to manage her restaurants as they become successful, and maintains a cool judgment of Mildred's devotion to her daughter, Veda.
Bert
Bert is Mildred's first husband. He leaves her for another woman, Maggie Biederhof, ashamed of the fact that he can't support Mildred and their two girls. While he makes some big mistakes early in the film, he always shows up to do the right thing, helping Mildred reunite with her beloved Veda, and even taking the blame for Monte's murder when he didn't do it. From the start, Bert disapproves of Mildred's spoiling of Veda, but he also supports Mildred through her difficult times.
