The Young And The Restless: Details About The Cast Only Superfans Know

It's no secret that streaming platforms now dominate screen viewership these days, but legacy media isn't going down without a fight, especially when it comes to soap operas. Case in point is the high-profile afternoon draw "The Young and the Restless," which is currently celebrating a half-century on the air, making it the third-most popular U.S. daytime drama on TV (after "Days of Our Lives" and "General Hospital"). Reaching that podium is hardly a walk in the park, however, since such a feat couldn't be remotely possible without a loyal television audience. At the core of those dedicated viewers is a superfan contingent that's so obsessive about the show and its cast — a weekday regimen without satisfying that "Y&R" fix would be unthinkable. Among those disciples is a subset of seniors who've been hooked by "Y&R" since Day One, years before the feuding family dynasties of the Abbotts and Newmans first entangled those continuous story arcs.

Together, they differ from more casual viewers who might remember Eric Braeden's appearance in the "Titanic"  blockbuster, Eva Longoria's two-year stint on "Young and the Restless" before finding prime-time success on "Desperate Housewives," and even hockey superstar Wayne Gretzky's brief cameo in one episode. But superfans are different, not only having the genealogy of the characters down pat, but also knowing every intimate detail of the folks who play them. Granted, some of that information might be trivial, but other factoids are fascinating enough to hold their own regardless of celebrity connection. Here's a look.

Using a refined charm and poker-playing tactics, Eric Braeden deftly steers his character, ruthless tycoon Victor Newman, through rough waters on "The Young and the Restless." It's as if locking horns against bigwigs came naturally to Braden, previously known under his real name Hans Gudegast when he first came to national attention during the '60s. Back then, Braeden played German Captain Hans Dietrich in the World War II drama "The Rat Patrol," an experience he hardly found endearing. He was incensed when told that the show's high brass felt his portrayal of Dietrich was "too sympathetic" and wanted him to wear an eye patch and sport a limp. "I said, 'Tell them to go f*** themselves, I won't do that,'" Braeden said to the Archive of American Television, preferring to depict Dietrich as a more conscientious conscript. "I will not play this caricature Nazi."

The show marked one of the last times the native German would work under his given name, changing it to Eric Braeden, and going after more protagonist roles in movies like "Colossus: The Forbin Project" and "Escape From the Planet of the Apes" before landing his "Y&R" gig.  "I think there was an enormous need in me as a German actor to show that we have feelings just like anyone else, that we have enormous conflicts just like anyone else, that we are very emotional people," he said to the Los Angeles Times.

Daytime drama stars may enjoy getting profiles in print mags like Soap Opera Digest or Soap Opera Weekly, but Sharon Case, who plays coffee house entrepreneur Sharon Newman on "The Young and the Restless," topped them all by becoming the first soap luminary to pose for the cover of a men's magazine. Back in December 2001, the blond actress graced the front of Brit mag FHM (an acronym meaning For Him Magazine), wearing a black bikini, with an additional spread featuring her in various lingerie items. Granted, "Y&R" doesn't likely grab a large viewership among dudes, but apparently the FHM editorial staff (which put on other covers celebrities like Halle Berry, Sarah Michelle Gellar, and Britney Spears) felt she had a look right enough to render readers cavalier about where she garnered her fame. 

Additionally, the photos were totally innocuous, given that the magazine (which folded in 2015, although an online version still exists) strayed from publishing risqué images, meaning that the pictorial fit right in with a no-nudity stipulation that Case ensures is in all of her contracts, (via Showbiz CheatSheet). The issue cropped up in 1997 when HBO asked her to star in "Breast Men," which, as the title indicates, contained a number of topless scenes. She turned down the part and opted to play a nurse with fewer lines but definitely with a lot more clothes on.

It's no secret that Cait Fairbanks, who plays musician Tessa Porter on "The Young and the Restless," is also an aspiring singer-songwriter in her own right. What isn't so well known is that Fairbanks and three other "Y&R" colleagues were up for a best original song Daytime Emmy in 2019 for co-writing the tune "How Could A Lie Feel So True" that aired during a 2018 episode. But when the nominations were announced, Fairbanks wasn't included in the writing credits; instead, the listing cited Cait Baunoch, her birth name. "It's kind of like my secret identity name — like Kim Possible!" she exclaimed to Soap Central. Those nomination lists have since updated her surname.

Nonetheless, Fairbanks wasn't expecting the nomination, since she told Soap Central the piece was written several months earlier. "It was a pleasant surprise, and I really love that I'm nominated in this particular category, because I really feel like I got to be part of the creative team, which is my dream," she said. While she didn't win that year, Fairbanks had another shot at Emmy hardware in 2022 for "Next To You," which she co-wrote during the pandemic. "The song is what I would want to hear from someone when I'm feeling down," she said to Daytime Confidential. This time, she lost to another "Y&R" writing team that co-wrote "Grateful for It All," but at least people recognized her name in the credits.

"The Young and the Restless" is hardly Amelia Heinle's first rodeo, since the actor who stars as Victoria Newman in the popular soap had previously graced the small screen in daytime dramas "Loving" and "All My Children." But she could easily have scuttled her entire soap opera career after a cab driver had taken her to the wrong address of an audition for her first outing, the since-canceled sudser "Loving." At the time, Heinle was fresh out of high school back in Phoenix and had moved to New York City, which was foreign territory to her. Back then, all the networks filmed their soaps in studios on 66 Street; Heinle was unsure which one was facilitating her audition. 

"And then I ended up going [to] 'One Life To Live,' 'cause it was confusing if you didn't know the right studio," she said to Soap Opera Digest. "I finally ended up at the 'Loving' studio ... and somehow I lucked into that role 'cause I had absolutely no experience." Reading for the part while soaking wet from the outside rain, she landed the part of Steffi Brewster, while wondering why she was picked for the gig. "I'm like, 'How did I even get this job?' I remember later I became friends with the casting director who was like, 'Well, you weren't the best of the actresses, but we just had seen that you had a good instinct,' or something like that."

Of all the characters on "The Young and the Restless," Kate Linder is probably the only player whose work not only puts her on the air, but in the air as well. For four decades, she's played Esther Valentine, the long-suffering maid who worked for matriarchal mogul Katherine Chancellor (portrayed by the late Jeanne Cooper). But even after landing the part, Linder kept her regular job as flight attendant for United Airlines. "In the beginning, I didn't tell anyone because I thought they would take me less seriously as an actress," Linder told Closer Weekly. "But then, as the years went by, I would meet viewers on the plane and have these wonderful stories. I thought that as long as I keep doing both jobs well, I would keep doing them."

Linder, who says she had always wanted to be an actor, took the airline job to keep herself financially stable while she auditioned for roles on her days off. These days, she's not as prominent in "Y&R," so she enjoys the flex time to keep working in both professions. But her profile is still large enough to be recognized by soap fans whenever she pushes the beverage cart down the aisle. "Many of them know I fly and are anxious to tell me how much they love the show," she said to CBS. "Others don't know and are extremely surprised when they find out that Esther is serving them in the air."

Despite his youthful appearance, Joshua Morrow has spent nearly 30 years portraying Nicholas Newman on "The Young and the Restless," an unexpected detour from his initial plans to get a teaching or coaching job. "I never grew up wanting to be an actor a day in my life," said Morrow to "Better Connecticut." "A lot of actors don't like hearing that, but it was just kind of something I fell into in college because frankly that's where all the girls were."

That all changed while attending Moorpark College in California, where he was first discovered, leading to modeling gigs with Nike and Teen Magazine. A part Morrow had in a college play drew the attention of an agent, who connected him with a few auditions. One of them panned out when the "Y&R" brass called him. At 19, and still living with his Mmm, Morrow hit screens with his debut as Nick Newman in 1994. But he still never shook the notion of going the education route, especially as a coach. During weekends, Morrow coaches his kids' soccer teams, an activity that occupies his mind about as much as prepping for his scenes at his day job. "I literally sit in my dressing room all day, making lineups and dreaming about matchups," he commented on "Better Connecticut."

As Phyllis Summers, whose personal stakes in scandals see her traverse that tenuous border between good and bad, Michelle Stafford's character frequently hits a few rough patches on "The Young and the Restless." But none of those escapades can compare to the real-life health scare she experienced when she was 18. Fresh into a modeling career at the time, she thought her runway dreams would be derailed when doctors discovered a tumor in her brain, requiring surgery. "I felt relieved because I finally knew what was wrong — and I knew that the tumor was not malignant," she said to Soap Opera Digest. "I don't want to sound glib, but it was a very good experience because it really kicked me in the butt." She shed a few pounds, dyed her hair red and became more relentless in her job searches. Fashion stints eventually led to TV, including her steady gig at "Y&R."

Years later, Stafford also found out she had fertility issues. Although she never married, Stafford still wanted to have children, so via surrogacy, she's since become the proud mother of a boy and a girl. Still, she admitted going through the process wasn't easy. "It was very, very hard for me, because I tried for so long to do it myself," she said to SheKnows. "Honestly, at the time it made me feel like a total failure as a woman."

A veteran among cast members of "The Young and the Restless," Jess Walton is the third actor to portray Jill Abbott when she first took on the role in 1987 and has been on the show ever since. But the soap opera world was abuzz when it was reported that Walton had left the show in 2009 over what some believed were health issues, but later turned out to be a refusal from producers to take a pay cut (via Soap Central). When negotiations broke down, the situation was so tense that the show even released a casting call for Walton's replacement with the successful candidate required to start immediately. 

But it didn't take long for Walton to have a change of heart and return to the fold. It turned out the state of the global recession at the time provided her enough insight to go back to work, especially in light of the news that same weekend that the long-running soap "Guiding Light" had exited the airwaves. "It had to do with my family and this economy," Walton said to Tulsa World (via Daytime Confidential). "I felt so bad that so many people have lost their jobs, that, all of a sudden, I thought: 'This is really silly. I have a wonderful job and I really think I owe it to myself and my family to continue on.'"