Victoria Newman is a fictional character from The Young and the Restless, an American soap opera on the CBS network. Created by William J. Bell, she is currently portrayed by Amelia Heinle. Victoria was born onscreen in 1982 and was portrayed by child actress Ashley Nicole Millan for her first eight years. Having been rapidly aged to a teenager, Victoria returned to the soap opera and was portrayed by Heather Tom. Tom portrayed the character into her early adult years and remained in the role for thirteen years. Due to creative differences, Tom left the soap opera in 2003 and Heinle, who debuted as Victoria on March 21, 2005, was cast in the role.
Melody Thomas Scott is an American actress best known for playing Nikki Newman on the soap opera The Young and the Restless.
Victor Newman is a fictional character from the American CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless. He has been portrayed by Eric Braeden since 1980. Initially a guest character who was to last for eight to twelve weeks, Victor has evolved into the soap opera's leading male figure. Created by William J. Bell as a "despicable, contemptible, unfaithful wife abuser", the character was planned to be killed off and never heard of again. However, after Bell saw Braeden's performance, he decided to sign the actor onto a contract. Braeden was hesitant to work on a soap opera, but eventually signed a contract, and has remained on the series as a regular cast member for over 40 years. The character is widely described as a ruthless villain, while loving to those he holds dear. Over the years, he has also been the center of several controversial plots and relationships.
Nikki Newman is a fictional character from the American CBS daytime soap opera, The Young and the Restless. Created and introduced by William J. Bell in 1978, the role was portrayed by Erica Hope, before Melody Thomas Scott took over in 1979. Introduced as a stripper, the character became well known for her relationship with businessman Victor Newman, a union that developed into a supercouple pairing that has spanned over four decades. She shares two children with Victor, Victoria and Nicholas Newman. In 2013, she reveals that she had previously given up a child for adoption, who is later discovered to be Dylan McAvoy. The character has also had several other notorious relationships, including Paul Williams, Jack Abbott, and Brad Carlton. Scott is considered an icon in the soap opera genre.
Paul Williams is a fictional character on the American CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless. Paul was introduced to the show on May 23, 1978, and has been portrayed by Doug Davidson until 2020. Initially, Paul was a "bad boy", who had a romance with Nikki Reed, giving her an STD. The relationship ended, but the two have remained friends since. After a year on the series, Bell gave the character a proper backstory, surname and family. This included his notoriously unstable sister Patty Williams. After a failed marriage to April Stevens —who gave birth to his daughter Heather Stevens —focus turned towards Paul's career as a private investigator, as well as his relationship and eventual marriage to and later divorce from Lauren Fenmore. Paul's string of unsuccessful romances with women—including his ill-fated bride Cindy Lake, and Cassandra Rawlins, the wife of one of his clients—continued. Over the years, Paul continued to become heavily involved in various storylines as a private investigator.
Jack Abbott is a fictional character from the American CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless. The character was introduced in 1980 being portrayed by Terry Lester. Lester departed from the series in 1989 and was replaced by Peter Bergman shortly thereafter. Bergman relocated to California after successfully auditioning for the part. His first episode aired on November 27, 1989. Jack is known for his longstanding feud with the Newman family patriarch, Victor Newman as well as his romances with Diane Jenkins, Nikki Newman, Phyllis Summers, and Sharon Newman. Jack has represented the Abbott family as the patriarch since the 2006 passing of his father, John Abbott.
Ashley Abbott is a fictional character from The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful, two American soap operas on the CBS network. She has been most notably portrayed by Eileen Davidson, who originated the role on June 11, 1982, before departing in 1988. Brenda Epperson portrayed Ashley from 1988 to 1995, before Shari Shattuck portrayed the role for the next three years, until Davidson's return on March 19, 1999. Davidson was nominated in 2003 for Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, and she later won that award in 2018.
Nicholas Newman is a fictional character from the American CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless. Created and introduced by William J. Bell, he was born onscreen in 1988 as the second child of supercouple characters Victor and Nikki Newman. Portrayed by a set of twins and later two child actors for his first six-year period, the writers of the series decided to rapidly age the character to a teenager in the summer of 1994. That June, Joshua Morrow began portraying Nick, and has remained in the role ever since. The character was reintroduced with the purpose of developing a relationship with another character, Sharon Collins, who was introduced around the same story arc. The pairing, which yielded three children, Cassie, Noah and Faith Newman, proved popular with viewers. They are regarded as a prominent supercouple by the soap opera media.
Sharon Newman is a fictional character from The Young and the Restless, an American soap opera on the CBS network, currently portrayed by Sharon Case. Created by William J. Bell as a love interest for Nicholas Newman, the character debuted on June 27, 1994. Before Case took over in September 1994, the character was portrayed briefly by Monica Potter and then by Heidi Mark. When first introduced, Sharon was a young girl from the poor side of town; her early storylines included being raped by Matt Clark and the revelation that she had given up a child for adoption. Nick and Sharon married, had a son named Noah, and later won custody of Cassie, the daughter she had as a teenager. Their marriage faced a number of problems, including infidelity on both sides. Following Cassie's death in an automobile accident, Nick cheated on Sharon with Phyllis Summers, resulting in a pregnancy which ended their 11-year marriage.
John Abbot is a fictional character from the American CBS Daytime soap opera, The Young and the Restless. He was the patriarch of the Abbott family, one of the core families introduced to the series in 1980. After a brief portrayal by Brett Halsey, the role was portrayed by Jerry Douglas. After the character's onscreen death, Douglas has continued in the role as a hallucination to various other characters. John's children are Jack, Traci, Ashley, and Billy Abbott.
Phyllis Summers is a fictional character from The Young and the Restless, an American soap opera on the CBS network. The character was created and introduced by William J. Bell, and debuted in the episode airing on October 18, 1994. Phyllis was originally and most notably portrayed by actress Michelle Stafford, until 1997, when Stafford was replaced by Sandra Nelson. Nelson continued in the role until 1999, when the character left; upon the character returning in 2000, head writer Kay Alden rehired Stafford. Stafford has been praised for her portrayal, for which she has won two Daytime Emmy Awards, but left the series after nearly sixteen years, with the character being written into a coma; Stafford last appeared on August 2, 2013. The role passed to Gina Tognoni, who debuted on August 11, 2014, and continued for nearly five years until she departed in June 2019, when Stafford re-claimed the role.
Nicholas and Sharon Newman are fictional characters and a supercouple from the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless. Nick is portrayed by Joshua Morrow and Sharon is portrayed by Sharon Case. The characters of Nick and Sharon first met in 1994 and soon became involved. They were faced with a range of problems, such as their different levels of class, Sharon's ex-boyfriend Matt Clark, and Sharon's secret past: she was pregnant three years earlier and gave up the child, Cassie, for adoption. The couple married in February 1996, and after having a son, Noah, Sharon was reunited with Cassie. Nick grew to love Cassie and became her adoptive father. Sharon's best friend Grace Turner developed an obsession with Nick and slept with him twice. In the following years, the couple dealt with the return of Matt Clark and infidelity on both sides among other obstacles, which Nick and Sharon managed to eventually move past.
Diane Jenkins is a fictional character from the American CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless. The role was first portrayed by Alex Donnelley, who debuted in April 28, 1982. Diane was initially a two-day bit role, but was developed into a long-term character. Donnelley left the role two years later, returning briefly in 1986 before returning again fully in 1996. In 2001, Donnelley left again in what was supposed to be a storyline-dictated departure, however, the role was later recast with Susan Walters. After three years, Walters chose to drop to recurring status in 2004, but wasn't seen again until a brief guest appearance in February 2010. Seven months later, the role was recast a second time with Maura West, who took over in October; she exited in August of the following year. In March 2022, Walters returned to the role.
Leanna Love is a fictional character from the CBS soap opera, The Young and the Restless. She was portrayed by Barbara Crampton, who departed from the role in 1993. Crampton returned from 1998 to 2002 and again from 2006 to 2007. In March 2023, Crampton returned to the show to celebrate the show’s 50th Anniversary.
Adam Newman is a fictional character from The Young and the Restless, a soap opera on the CBS network. Adam was created by William J. Bell as the son of Victor Newman and Hope Wilson and was introduced on April 24, 1995. Adam left town two years after his birth and was raised in Kansas by his mother, growing up without knowing that Victor is his father.
Tucker McCall is a fictional character from The Young and the Restless, an American soap opera on the CBS network. Introduced by former head writer Maria Arena Bell, the character debuted during the episode airing on December 2, 2009, portrayed by William Russ. The character was slated to be a new businessman and billionaire, leading to speculation that Tucker would become a replacement character for icon Victor Newman, as Braeden's future with the series was in jeopardy at the time. However, Tucker ended up being a new character who would be revealed as Katherine Chancellor's long lost son. Russ was let go shortly after his debut because producers wanted to take the character in a different direction, resulting in the hiring of Stephen Nichols as his replacement.
Genevieve Atkinson is a fictional character from the American CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless. Created by former head writer Maria Arena Bell as the mother of Cane Ashby, the role was portrayed by Genie Francis, who is widely known for her three-decade long portrayal of Laura Spencer on the ABC soap opera General Hospital. Francis was excited to join The Young and the Restless, expressing disappointment in her former daytime role and saying that her fan base would "follow whatever she does." She made her first appearance during the episode airing on May 27, 2011.
