Though it looked like we may have seen the last of Dina Abbott Mergeron (Marla Adams) on The Young and the Restless this week, series star Beth Maitland reminded viewers in a recent interview that anything can happen in soaps.
Dina Abbott Mergeron died on the show this week
The story arc for a longtime The Young and the Restless cast member came to a close as Marla Adams made what seems to be her last appearance on the show as Dina Abbott Mergeron has died.
Dina is the first wife of John Abbot and is the mother Jack, Ashley, and Traci Abbott. First on the show in the 1980s, Adams portrayed the role regularly from 1983-1986. The actress continued to appear over the years for several guest appearances until before rejoining the show in in a regular recurring capacity in 2017. Dina has developed Alzheimer’s disease in her most recent years on the show and that was a major storyline for the Abbott family on the show.
In a goodbye video released by CBS, Adams officially gave her goodbye to the long-running daytime soap opera. In the video, Adams says that the role of Dina stands out to her out of all the rest. “Of all the characters I’ve played, from The Secret Storm to Broadway, this has been the most astonishing, amazing part I’ve ever had the privilege to play,” she said.
Peter Bergman, who plays Jack, also spoke about what he learned from Adams, telling the veteran actress herself. “You taught us to remember to be grateful and it has been a valuable lesson I will take long after you leave here today,” he told her. “Thank you for all you gave in bringing Dina to life. You really left your mark.”
Beth Maitland also speaks on Marla Adams’ exit
In an interview with TV Insider, Beth Maitland, who plays Traci Abbott, spoke about Adams leaving the show and her storied career.
“Marla is pretty signature for creating the first ‘rich bitch’ on daytime,” she said. “Belle [Adams’ character on The Secret Storm] was the first wealthy, dominating villainess. Marla made that a signature thing. Because Marla had played Natalie Wood’s best friend in Splendor in the Grass, and they had stayed friends, R.J. [Robert Wagner, Wood’s husband] had her in an episode of Hart to Hart. She was one of three beautiful, elegant women dressed all in white. At the time, I was working as a casting assistant on that show. Marla and I have talked many times about that connection between us before we went on to play mother and daughter on Y&R.”
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Maitland also talked about how this actually may not be the last time that we could see Adams on the show.
“I want to make it clear how much she’ll be missed on set,” she said. “But…you never know. People on our show have come back as someone’s conscience or an angel. So, we don’t know for sure that it’s over. But she’ll be missed tremendously. I’m glad that we’re still friends and we’ll still see each other for socially-distant lunch dates.”
The Young and the Restless airs weekdays on CBS.