What is the name of House's best friend in House, M.D.?

House's best friend in House, M.D. is Dr. James Wilson.

Wilson is an oncologist and the chairman of Princeton-Plainsboro's Department of Oncology. He is usually portrayed as compassionate, socially skilled, and more willing than House to consider how patients and colleagues feel. That contrast creates one of the show's central relationships.

Robert Sean Leonard played Wilson throughout the series. Wilson often acts as House's confidant, moral counterweight, and occasional accomplice, even when he strongly disapproves of House's behavior. Their friendship survives professional disputes, personal betrayals, and major changes in both men's lives.

The character's specialty is also significant: as an oncologist, Wilson regularly confronts serious illness and mortality, while House focuses on diagnostic puzzles. Some viewers confuse Wilson's first name with House's or remember him mainly as House's roommate in later episodes, but his canonical full name is James Evan Wilson.