Jack Abbott has been a Genoa City staple for more than 40 years. Originated by Terry Lester in 1980, Peter Bergman took over The Young and the Restless role in 1989. Here are some fun facts about the now-patriarch of the storied Abbott family who runs their cosmetics company, Jabot.
To celebrate the soap’s 50th season, Y&R recently shared a cute little video of Bergman with four things you may not know about Jack, which you can see below. In it, he points up and down to the four fun facts about the character, and we’ve added a bonus fifth fact.
1. Jack’s been married to a total of six different women over the past 42 years. Those women include Patty Williams, Lindsey Wells (Lauren Koslow) — which ended up invalid, Nikki Reed Newman (Melody Thomas Scott), Luan Volien (Elizabeth Sung), Phyllis Summers (Michelle Stafford), and Sharon Collins (Sharon Case). Of course, a few of these women he was married to more than once.
2. He delivered his ex-wife, Phyllis’s baby in an elevator. That baby was Phyllis’s daughter with Nick Newman (Joshua Morrow), Summer Newman (Allison Lanier), who is now married to his son with Diane Jenkins (Susan Walters), Kyle Abbott (Michael Mealor).
3. He’s famously called “Smiling Jack Abbott.” While that nickname began with Lester’s version, it was reiterated when Bergman took over the role with his big smile — as his first line was, “Smiling Jack is back. No more Mr. nice guy.”
4. Jack also infamously is great at throwing chairs through windows in dramatic fashion. He did it during an argument with Victor Newman (Eric Braeden) in the heyday of their feud, and he said, “have a seat on me.” More recently, Jack also threw a chair through a window at Jabot during a huge argument with his sister, Ashley Abbott (Eileen Davidson), when he berated her for disgracing their father, John Abbott (Jerry Douglas).
5. Jack had two sons. Keemo Abbott (Philip Moon), who later changed his name to Hao Nguyen II after their estrangement. Keemo is Jack’s son with Luan, and now Keemo’s daughter, Allie Nguyen (Kelsey Wang), is in Genoa City after her father’s death. Then, there’s Kyle, who is his son with Diane.
What are some of your favorite memories of Jack Abbott? Let us know in the comments below.
The Young and the Restless airs weekdays on CBS. For an in-depth look at the show’s history, click here.
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