Henrietta "Hetty" Lange is the current Operations Manager for the Office of Special Projects (OSP) located in Los Angeles, California.
She also oversees the Backroom Support Personnel, tasked with providing everything the Agents may need: from micro-surveillance cameras to cars. It was later revealed that she had been assigned to the Los Angeles Field Office prior to December of 2008.
Pre-Series[]
Henrietta Lange was born on February 29, 1948, after WWII, in a Refugee Camp in Bucharest. Prior to her being born, her parents spent two years in a German Death Camp. her father died two months before she was born and her mother died two days after. After the death of her parents, she was raised by a Romanian family named Pavlenco while she was in the Refugee Camp.
Hetty joined the CIA while she was still in college on December 12th of 1963.
Hetty first Met Clara Callen in 1966 in Langley, Virginia. She liked Clara right away. Clara had been recruited to the CIA then returned to Romania as a student (as her cover), and Hetty was to be her Handler. For more than a year, everything was fine, but then something happened and she vanished (The Death of Her Father). Six years later, she reappeared, desperate to get out of Romania with her children, G. and Amy Callen. She contacted Hetty through prearranged channels. They both agreed to meet on the Beach. At the last minute, The CIA ordered Hetty to abort the mission. While waiting for Hetty on the Beach an Assassin working for The Comescu Family later killed Clara while another man distracted young G. Callen by giving him a toy soldier. After the death of Clara Callen, both of her children get sent into the Foster System. While Amy Callen got lost in the System, G. Callen was bouncing around from one home to another (37 Foster homes to be exact) and while G. Callen is bouncing around Hetty was observing and watching his progress. While G. Callen was a teenager and began to continuously get in trouble, Lange "rescued" him and took him under her wing. She worked with and trained G. Callen. After she adopted and trained G. Callen she started adopting more children and training them. A few examples of agents that Hetty mentored are Sullivan, Lauren Hunter & Grace Stevens.
Hetty’s first undercover assignment out of the CIA Academy was Saigon, Vietnam in 1968 as a Journalist. Her assignment was never clearly stated in the series but it was inferred that her assignment was to get close to the Prime Minister of Vietnam, Hồ Chí Minh.
After the Vietnam War Hetty was recruited into the CIA Clandestine Unit that was formed with Intelligence Operatives from different parts of the U.S. Government. Members include The Head of the Unit & CIA Officer, Henrietta Lange, CIA Officer, Harris Keane, Navy SEAL, A.J. Chegwidden, Navy Admiral, Sterling Bridges, Navy Captain, Charles Langston, CIA Officer, Owen Granger Later Joined The Clandestine Unit. The CIA Unit was tasked with rescuing Intelligence Operatives with Non-Official Covers that the U.S. Government left behind when they backed out of Vietnam after the Vietnam War. So after they finished their mission, they went their separate ways when they came home in 1978.
At the time of the Iranian Revolution in 1979, a SAVAK Operative that was a friend of Hetty’s named Hosein Khadem denounced The Shah and joined the Revolution. So when Ruhollah Khomeini came to power, he changed sides and became her foe.
In 1980 Hetty started working with an NSA Special Agent Named Larry Basser. They did a few missions together over a duration of 7 years. some of the missions Hetty and Basser worked on together include Berlin, Moscow & Islamabad. The last mission Hetty & Basser worked together was in Islamabad 1987 where Basser saved Hetty’s life.
Hetty, Owen Granger, Victor Potter & Barry Brooks all met in Afghanistan in the 1980s (Most Likely in 1987). After that, they formed a Joint CIA/NCIS Task Force for about 15 years. The Joint CIA/NCIS Task Force‘s last mission together was in Karachi 2002.
Hetty used a Kalinga Headhunter/Assassin Named Tuhon for Wet-Work Operations (Assassinations) During the Cold War (1947–1991) and they came to be friends.
In 2007, Tuhon Led a Coup to overthrow the Equatorial Guinea Government; it failed. Hetty sent two sets of Agents, the first agent she sent in to rescue him was killed within 24 Hours. The second set was Sam and Callen and afterward's she promised to retire.
NCIS: Los Angeles Season 2[]
In the Season Two Finale, it is revealed that Hetty has familial ties to The Comescu Family, and possesses the same tattoo as the mysterious man who gave a toy soldier to Callen as a child. In the Episode: Lange, H., it was revealed that Hetty is not a member of The Comescu Family but in fact, had spent decades trying to infiltrate their ranks to protect Callen. At the end of the episode, it was shown that she had been shot and had then fallen to the ground, ending the episode with a cliffhanger, leaving her fate unknown.
NCIS: Los Angeles Season 3[]
In Season Three, it was also revealed that Hetty knew Callen's Mother Clara, who she had handled when they were both working for the CIA. She had been unable to save her from the Vendetta between her family and The Comescus but had managed to track down her son and get him out of an Orphanage and into Foster System although it was hard for Callen as he was a difficult child. She also doesn't know anything about Callen's Father. In Episode: Backstopped, having survived the shooting and then taken time off to recover, Hetty officially returned to work, resuming her duties as Operations Manager of OSP. In the Season Three Finale, Hetty resigns from the Operations Manager position after Callen is arrested and Lauren Hunter and Mike Renko are both murdered.
NCIS: Los Angeles Season 5[]
In Season Five, Hetty shows proficiency in NCP Coding and reveals that she attained a Degree in Computer Science at UCLA in 1969. When Nell points out that it is the same Year and Place the Internet was invented, Hetty plays Coy, suggesting that Hetty may or may not have been involved in the Invention of the Internet.
NCIS: Los Angeles Season 9[]
In Season Nine, sometime following the events of the Season Eight Finale, Hetty got word of the survival of one of her former CIA Unit members named Keane via Dang, a notorious Human Trafficker and high-profile criminal, and secretly went to Vietnam to investigate. After finding him and ultimately reconciling with each other, Dang then revealed he had ulterior motives for holding Keane and revealing his location: specifically, he intended to lure Hetty out to be subject to ransom and make himself money, and intended to kill Keane afterward. He then nearly fed Keane to his pet Tiger, although he ultimately relented. Afterwards, Keane was stowed away at another part of Dang's Camp, with Dang lying to Hetty by claiming that Keane had been killed, although his survival was ultimately confirmed by a Joint Operation combining The Office of Special Projects Team as well as Hetty’s former CIA Clandestine Unit during her Vietnam days, with Keane and Hetty both making it out of Vietnam.
NCIS: Los Angeles Season 10[]
In the Season Ten Premiere, following the events of The OSP Team's Off-The-Books Mexico Mission (Unsanctioned), Hetty Called a retired U.S. Navy Admiral Hollace Kilbride to help assist in Rescuing Them and later disappears again, Leaving everyone Wondering where she is. However, Hetty secretly contacts Callen, informing him she will be gone for some time, but eventually, after being absent for almost the entire season, Hetty finally returns on the day of Deeks and Kensi's wedding and officiates the ceremony. She doesn't appear for an episode, but is soon seen in Rogers' office. She expresses her opinion on the office being too much like a cage. When Nell comes to explain the situation with her ill mother, Hetty shows she's already familiar with it. She then offers Nell help in trying to convince her mother to take the treatment, for which Nell is very grateful.