Marla Adams, the Daytime Emmy-winning soap star, has passed away. She was 85, according to Josh Griffith, producer and head writer on The Young and the Restless.
“On behalf of the entire company of ‘The Young and the Restless,’ we send our deepest sympathies to Marla’s family,” said Griffith in an official statement. “We’re so grateful and in awe of Marla’s incredible performance as Dina Mergeron as both Marla and Dina made an unforgettable mark on ‘Y&R.’”
Born in 1938, the prolific soap opera actress first got her start acting in the daytime drama genre in 1968 as Belle Clemens on the show The Secret Storm. She would remain on that show until 1974.
Adams first appeared on The Young and the Restless in 1982, playing the Abbott family’s matriarch Dina Abbott Mergeron. She was the onscreen mother to the Abbott siblings, Ashley Abbott (Eileen Davidson), Traci Abbott (Beth Maitland), and Jack Abbott (Peter Bergman).
She continued to appear on and off throughout the following years, returning full-time in 2017.
It was later revealed that her character was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, a storyline that scored her a Daytime Emmy Award in 2021.
Adams appeared in more than 40 titles throughout her career, including The Bold and the Beautiful, Days of our Lives, The Golden Girls, Hart to Hart, The Love Boat, and the feature films Gotcha! alongside Alex Rocco (see image above) and Beneath the Leaves.
She is survived by her children Pam Oates and Gunnar Garat, her grandchildren and her great-grandson.
