‘The Young and the Restless’ Tribute: Y&R Victor Newman – A Special Homage To A Genoa City Icon

“The Young and the Restless” Victor Newman [Eric Braeden] deserves a tribute all his own! It may be time for TPTB to devote an entire episode to Victor. Braeden has created quite the iconic soap opera character with his portrayal of the Newman family patriarch.

How would “Y&R” writers pay homage to The Moustache? Nefarious deeds too many too count would probably be the cornerstone of any compilation tribute to the great man. The many wives of Victor Newman must be included. A tribute to Victor would not be complete without the inclusion of Victor’s most long-standing rivalry with Jack Abbott [Peter Bergman], his closest confident Katherine Chancellor [late Jeanne Cooper], and the most important person in Victor’s life, the love of his life, Nikki Newman [Melody Thomas Scott.]

Victor, born Christian Miller, arrived in Genoa City a man of mystery in 1980 – and was originally meant to be a short-term character. “Y&R” creator William Bell intended for Newman to be a completely unredeemable villain. “The Young and the Restless” fans may not know this, but Victor was supposed to be an unfaithful wife beater!

Eric Braeden captured the audience and TPTB decided not to kill him off. Victor may have arrived in Genoa City for a short business trip, but he stayed and built the internationally renowned Newman Enterprises. And for 36 years Braeden has created a character we love to hate, hate to love, love to love and hate to hate. Victor elicits an enormous range of emotions doesn’t he?

How many times has Victor been married? First there was Julia [Meg Bennett] but the woman who catapulted Victor into one half of super couple status was Nikki Reed. Nikki and Victor’s love story deserves a tribute all its own. No matter how many times the couple betrays each other, no matter what comes between them, no matter whomever else they marry, Victor and Nikki always find their way back to each other.

The other women in Victor’s romantic orbit include Ashley Abbott [Eileen Davidson], Leanna Love [Barbara Crampton], Hope Wilson [Signy Coleman], Diane Jenkins [Alex Donnelley] and Sabrina Costelana [Raya Meddine] and even former daughter-in-law (twice over!) Sharon Newman [Sharon Case] – twice – and an assortment of other affairs and flirtations. And let’s not forget the odd and deceitful marriage to Meggie McClean.

And that’s just Victor’s marriages! Over the years he has romanced Eve Howard [Margaret Mason], Lorie Brooks [Jamie Lyn Bauer], Cassandra Rawlins [Nina Arvesen], Genevieve Atkinson [Genie Francis] and someone we didn’t even know about until recently, Elise Moxley [Jensen Buchanan]. But Victor always comes back to Nikki – who once was married to Victor’s sworn enemy Jack Abbott!

When it comes to enemies, Victor has had many, but none quite like Jack Abbott. Initially portrayed by Terry Lester, Jack and Victor were enemies from nearly day one. Victor was a self-made man with a worldwide conglomerate he built from the ground up. Jack, on the other hand, was waiting in the wings for his father John Abbott [Jerry Douglas] to turn the reins of Jabot Cosmetics over to him. The rivalry and jealousy continues today as one tries to outdo the other for control.

Jack Abbott and Victor Newman haven’t only done battle in the business arena, the alpha males have fought for the love of women too. Most notably, Diane Jenkins and Nikki Newman! Victor even used poor Patty Williams [Stacy Haiduk] to undermine Jack. And we all know how that ended! Patty shot Jack, he was paralyzed, ended up addicted to pain killers and Patty got shipped off to Fairview – several times.

When it comes to his children and grandchildren Victor can rule with an iron fist or love with an open heart, sometimes both at once. Abby Newman [then Emme Rylan], Nicholas Newman [Joshua Morrow] and Victoria Newman [Amelia Heinle] sued their own father and each one half-a-billion dollars! All was not forgiven on that one for a very, very long time!

“The Young and the Restless” wouldn’t be the same without Eric Braeden and his award-winning portrayal of Victor Newman. And so Soap Opera Spy pays special tribute to the actor and the character and we’re thrilled to know that neither Victor, nor Mr. Braeden, is going anywhere anytime soon. Long live Victor Newman!

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