The Young & The Restlessis one of the longest-running soap operas still standing from the era in which it premiered, and some of its longest-running cast members have been on board the show almost as long. The series premiered in 1973 and is still going strong.
The Young & The Restlesscenters on the Newman and Abbott families and their rivalry in the cosmetics industry. While the two families populate a large number of cast members, new characters also come and go. The cast members who have appeared in the show the longest have all been in at least 2,400 episodes of the series.
10Christian Jules Le Blanc As Michael Baldwin
1991-2025
When Christian Jules Le Blanc first began playing Michael Baldwin in 1991, the character was one of the bad boys of the soap. Michael is the kind of character who spent his younger years stalking and manipulating women. One of his most memorable storylines actually involved him burrowing through a woman’s wall in order to get to attack her.
That was in the early part of the character’s run, and Michael ended up in prison for a few years, accounting for his absence from the show between 1993 and 1997. Since 1997, however, the lawyer has been a mainstay on the long-running soap.
Le Blanc has won four Daytime Emmy Awards for Lead Actor In A Drama Series for the role.
After more than 2,000 episodes of the series, those bad boy ways are behind the character. Michael gradually had more of his backstory revealed over the years to demonstrate that the family he originally claimed he did not have was a large part of him becoming both violent and manipulative.
His most recent relationship in the series has mellowed him over the years. Michael has been paired up with Lauren Fenmore (Tracey L. Bergman), with whom he has a son, and their relationship, as well as fatherhood, has helped him turn over a new leaf.
9Michelle Stafford As Phyllis Summers
1994-2025
Soaps She Knowshas called her a “hurricane in high heels.” Michelle Stafford’s Phyllis Summers has been a part of the show for nearly as long as Michael Baldwin. In fact, she is one of his previous love interests. While Phyllis has been played by two other actors,Michelle Stafford originated the role and returned to it multiple times.
When Phyllis first debuted on the show, she was a groupie who claimed that her child was the son of a fictional rocker on the series. That rocker ended up marrying her, and the relationship between the two kicked off a long-time rivalry for Phyllis with his ex-wife that has stretched decades.
Stafford won a Daytime Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress In A Drama Series in 1997 and for Lead Actress In A Drama Series in 2004.
Like many of theYoung and the Restlesscharacters introduced in the 1990s, Phyllis is impulsive and a schemer. Throughout her time in the soap opera, she has a habit of falling for men who are in love with someone else, so her relationships often only last a few years before they end in vicious insults and backstabbing.
Stafford toldTV Insiderabout being one of the most hated characters in daytime TV in the 90s. She was in a Mardi Gras parade in 1995 and had viewers on the route yelling at her about her character’s choices:
They were hating me! I was in Louisiana at the Mardi Gras parade in 1995. You’re on the car and you’re waving to people and throwing beads, and they had security around me. Everybody kept saying, ‘Get away from Danny! Get away from Danny,’ and one of the security guys said, ‘I don’t know who this Danny guy is, but apparently you should not be around him.’
I loved it. You know, I never took offense at all. That was the job and she was hateful. This is before social media. I didn’t care what people said. I still don’t.
After more than 2,400 episodes, Phyllis has mellowed a bit over the years - but not completely. She still teams up with other female characters for a scheme now and then, but like her former love interest Michael, whom she maintains a friendship with,Phyllis mostly leaves the bad girl antics to the younger generation.
8Kate Linder As Esther Valentine
1982-2025
Kate Linder has played Esther Valentine sincethe character debuted as a one-line appearance in 1982. At the time, the character recurred as an unnamed maid in the Chancellor Mansion, and that status was maintained for several years.
It’s actually actor Jeanne Cooper, who played Katherine Chancellor, who is credited with giving the character the name Esther. She started calling her that, despite a name being unscripted, and it stuck. Esther worked for Katherine until the character’s death, and was even left a portion of the estate.
Linder is unusual in a soap opera because her character is primarily comedic relief, and because Linder also kept her day job. She continued working as a flight attendant while playing the character for decades (viaCanyon News).
Though Esther has been one of the most naive characters over the years on the soap opera, and most of her storylines revolved around Katherine initially, she has grown into her own character who provides more than just a few laughs.
When the series kills off Katherine, it’s Esther who provided the focal point of the show’s grief. She has also since been revealed to have a daughter, and, later, a grandchild with whom she has been reconnecting, helping to flesh out her character more.
7Amelia Heinle As Victoria Newman
2005-2025
Amelia Heinle did not originate the role of Victoria Newman. Victoria was actually born on the show in 1982 and was played by a child actor for eight years before the role was aged up to a teenager, and Heather Thom took over the role. When Tom left the series in 2003, the character was absent until Heinle was cast.
Because the Newman family is at the center of the soap opera, the Newman children have always been front and center in storylines. As a child, Victoria was often unhappy and jealous of others getting attention, causing her to act out and get sent to boarding school.
Most of her biggest storylines happened during her teen years - including her first marriage and divorce before she even turned 18.By the time Heinle took over the role, however, Victoria had been firmly established as a shrewd businesswoman who has no qualms about breaking the lawto get what she wants.
Heinle won a Daytime Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress In A Drama Series in 2014 and 2015 for the role.
With Heinle in the role, her longest relationships have been with the abusive JT and rival cosmetic company’s son Billy. She has also become a mom to four children and really grown up beyond the bratty teenager the series initially painted her as.
6Sharon Case As Sharon Collins
Sharon Case is actually the third actor to play Sharon Collins inThe Young And The Restless. Both previous actors played the character when she first appeared in 1994, but remained in the role for a combined total of three months. Case has been in the role ever since.
When Sharon made her debut in the soap opera, she moved to Genoa City as a teenager and enrolled in the same high school as Nick Newman. Nick and Sharon fell in love, eventually married, broke up, and got back together multiple times over the last 30 years.
Case won a Daytime Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress In A Drama Series in 1999 for the role.
Sharon has had some of the most tumultuous storylines in the show. More than one of her children has been kidnapped, she has been sexually assaulted multiple times, and she has wound up in multiple abusive relationships. Despite all of the hardships she has faced, Sharon is not inherently a schemer.
She has done some dramatic things over the years, like burning down the Newman Ranch and marrying her ex-husband’s father to help protect his fortune, but she is alsoone of the few daytime TV characters to be diagnosed with bipolar disorder and open a dialogue about it.
After appearing in more than 3,000 episodes, it seems like Sharon might have finally put her past with Nick behind her and is moving on with her life, but only time will tell since they are one of the show’s most iconic couples.
5Melody Thomas Scott As Nikki Reed Newman
1979-2025
Melody Thomas Scott began playing Nikki Reed less than a year after the character debuted onThe Young And The Restless. Though other actors have briefly played the part when Scott has been absent,Scott is one of the actors to have been on the show for the most years and the most episodes.
When Nikki was first introduced in the 1970s, she was an exotic dancer and a bit of a rebel who had a past as a call-girl. Her relationship withVictor Newman helped get her away from “the wrong side of the tracks” in Genoa City.
Though Nikki and Victor have been the soap opera power couple for the better part of the last 40 years, Nikki has also had rough relationships with other characters. Ultimately, Nikki and Victor always end up back together.
Nikki has periods in the show in which she has relatively tame arcs and appears as a supporting player in her kids’ storylines, but Scott has been vocal about getting bored with those stories. In the mid-90s, she even called her character’s storylines “a slump” when speaking withEntertainment Weekly:
We seem to be in a bit of a slump — all Nikki seems to do is have coffee and do needlepoint. She has beautiful clothes and her makeup is perfect and she never leaves her house. She used to sit here and drink — that was actually more fun. But needlepoint — I’m sorry.
After being on the soap for so long, she likely has plenty of pull when it comes to her character, so Nikki will never be completely free from the drama.
4Joshua Morrow As Nicholas Newman
Much like Victoria Newman, Nicholas was born in the 1980s, but was rapidly aged up to a teenager after being played by child actors for several years.When the character was aged up to a teenager, Joshua Morrow was cast in the role and has played the part ever since1994.
With over 3,800 episodes on screen, Nicholas had some tumultuous teenage years before seemingly settling down and getting married. Nicholas and Sharon were introduced around the same time with the goal of pairing them up, which is why they married young, but their relationship was fraught with tragedy.
After losing children and cheating on one another multiple times, the two have gone their separate ways. Nick’s ongoing indecision concerning his love for Sharon or Phyllis took up a good chunk of his storylines for years.
Though Nick has long been considered one of the “good guys” in a soap full of schemers, some of his high-achieving nature and his attempts to do the right thing are motivated by his need to stand outside his father’s long shadow. He isoften the hero of the show, even 30 years later, protecting his exes after their bad decisions.
3Peter Bergman as Jack Abbott
1989-2025
Though a handful of other actors have played the role of Jack Abbott, including Terry Lester, who originated the role in 1980,Peter Bergman is the best-known actor to hold the role, and the one who has played the part the longest- for nearly 4,000 episodes.
Part of that reason is because Bergman has been able to be Jack Abbott outside of the show as well. He appeared as the character in episodes ofThe Nanny,The King of Queens, and in a crossover forThe Bold and the Beautiful.
Melody Thomas Scott actually suggested Bergman for the role of Jack after learning the previous actor was leaving.
While initially, Jack was viewed as a villain, as the Abbott family often is compared to the Newmans, things are not always that clear-cut for him.Abbott has always been a man who follows his passion instead of logic. That can lead to making some enemies, like Victor Newman himself.
In a 1992 interview withThe Chicago Tribune, Abbott called the character “mercurial,” and that trait remains 30 years later. Though he often finds himself at odds with his family, he is fiercely protective of them, sharing that trait with Nicholas, which alsocontinues to put him at odds with the Newmans.
2Doug Davidson As Paul Williams
1980-2020
For close to 4,000 episodes and 30 years, Doug Davidson played Paul Williams. It’s a rare case of no other actor playing the role over that long of a time.
Williams wasoriginally introduced as a bad boy as part of Nikki’s storylines. The two had a brief relationship, and when it did not work out, they actually maintained a friendship in the show. Outside of Nikki, however, Paul had a habit of falling for volatile women.
His best-remembered relationship is with Christine Blair, a lawyer in the series. Their working life intersected as much as their personal life in the ‘90s since he was a private investigator, and he often worked for her or her firm, though the iconic couple parted ways multiple times.
Eventually, Paul also became a member of law enforcement, leaving his bad boy ways behind for good. He becomes the police chief and remarries Christine in one of his final storylines.
Though the actor did not leave the series until 2020, he did take on a reduced schedule beginning in 2018. While Williams had been a main supporting cast member of the series, he became a recurring guest star that year until his contract expired.
1Eric Braeden As Victor Newman
1980-2025
Eric Braeden is the face ofThe Young and the Restless. He has been since the 90s, despite not beginning his work on the show until 1980. Like Davidson,Braeden has played the role the entire time - for over 4,300 episodes.
Victor Newman was initially brought onto the show as a recurring character who was only going to stay for a few weeks, but the writers kept bringing the character back. Victor made his way to Genoa City on a business deal and slowly created a global business that has made his rivalry with Jack Abbott central to the show.
Braeden has been nominated for a Daytime Emmy for the show eight times, winning once.
Initially a rough man who could be angry and abusive, Victor has also proven himself to be incredibly shrewd in the world of business. He has also, despite dalliances with other women and even some other long-term relationships, always remained protective of Nikki. He has maintained a level of ruthlessness for 45 years while softening in his personal relationships.
Victor Newman will leave a huge legacy forThe Young And The Restlessif Braeden ever decides to leave the soap opera behind like otherY&Rcast members have in 2025.
