The Young and the Restless Wayback: Remember Gloria

Soap opera history is filled with “haves” and “have nots” — and Gloria Fisher from The Young and the Restless falls into the latter category. Once the social-climber set her sights on John Abbott, the Jabot Cosmetics family — and the show in general — was never the same!

Calling Gloria
Michael Baldwin’s well-meaning mother re-entered his life and the attorney took pity on her, allowing her back into his life. This put Gloria into the orbit of John Abbot, who was unaware that Gloria was the mother to both Michael and Kevin.

It appeared that John and Gloria’s marriage was going to be short-lived but John had an accident at home and Glo’s sincere reaction to John’s plight managed to soften even her harshest critic – John’s son, Jack.

Terrible Tom
Gloria’s life went into a tailspin after Tom Fisher, Kevin’s dad, AKA “Terrible Tom,” showed up in Genoa City, intrigued that his ex-wife had landed a wealthy husband. John ended up going to jail for Tom’s death.

Tired of being treated poorly by her stepchildren, Gloria purposely tainted a new product of Ashley’s, using it on herself to avoid any suspicion. John was released early for health reasons but soon died after suffering a stroke.

The Abbott kids blamed Gloria for the ordeal that brought on their dad’s early death. Jack tossed Gloria’s belongings into trash bags and threw them – and her – out of the house.

A Case For Love
The widow Abbott set her sights on wealthy (and recently widowed) district attorney Will Bardwell. Marrying Will brought Gloria money – and a “get out of jail free” card – as Will opted not to pursue charges against Gloria for her role in the face cream debacle (a woman, Emma Gibson, died after using it).

Will died, but then his twin, Jeff, showed up and Gloria wed him. She donated half her fortune to charity and Jeff took the other half, leaving Gloria penniless once more! Jeff came around and offered Gloria his heart – and millions in cash.

A River Runs Through It
Gloria reunited with Lowell, Michael’s father, and his past as an activist in the 1960s (when he was called “River”) was revealed. Back then, Lowell had tried to diffuse a bomb that ended up killing someone and he had to go on the run for years.

Michael came upon a tape that had Gloria turning on Lowell, but he forgave her. It turns out that Lowell wasn’t totally benevolent – he’d stolen millions around the time of the bombing. Still, Gloria’s testimony kept him out of jail.

A Slow Burn
Jeff sought revenge against Gloria for testifying for River by burning his own face with her tainted face cream. Jeff divorced Gloria. She got a break when Michael proved that Emma Gibson had passed away from something totally unrelated to her using the cream. Financially, though, Gloria took a big hit in a civil suit.

Gloworm
Jeffrey bought Neil’s club Indigo for Gloria. The club was renamed – what else? – Gloworm. He ended up not being able to commit to her and left town after draining Gloworm of its funds. Later, Jeff made his way back to Gloria, stopping her wedding to Angelo stating that the mobster had forced him to steal from Gloworm and break things off with her.

The next thorn in Gloria’s side was Anita Lawson, who claimed to still be legally wed to Jeff. Sadly, Gloworm was lost in a fire and Gloria moved to Europe to promote a new line. She returned to Genoa City later and worked at Jabot as its receptionist, having a brief and surprising romance with Jack, her former stepson!

But when Jack was ousted from the CEO seat, she lost her job as his executive assistant. Now that Jack’s back as CEO, as well as Kevin back in town, here’s hoping that Gloria won’t be too far behind. The Young and the Restless (YR) airs weekdays on CBS. Check your local listings for airtimes.