Jack Abbott (The Young and the Restless)

Infobox soap character
name = John Abbott, Jr.
series = The Young and the Restless
portrayer = Terry Lester
(1980-1989)
Peter Bergman
(1989-)
first = 1980
last =
cause =
creator = William J. Bell



caption1 = Peter Bergman as Jack Abbott
image1_size = 210px



caption2 = Terry Lester as Jack Abbott (1980s)
first = February 4, 1980
nickname = Jack
Jackie
(by John and Ashley)
Smilin' Jack
(self-imposed)
Jacko
(by Brad)
alias =
gender = Male
born = October 10th 1953
death =
age = 54
occupation = Former Partner in "Restless Style" online/print magazine
Former Wisconsin State Senator
Former owner of Jabot Cosmetics
Former CEO and Partner in NVP Retreats
Former CEO of Chancellor Industries
Former CEO of Jabot Cosmetics
Former President of Jabot Cosmetics
title =
residence = The Abbot Mansion 603 Glenwood Dr.
Genoa City, Wisconsin
parents = John Abbott, Sr.
(father, deceased)
Dina Mergeron
(mother)
siblings = Ashley Abbott
(maternal half-sister)
Traci Abbott Connolly
(sister)
William "Billy" Abbott
(paternal half-brother)
spouse = Patty Williams
(divorced, 1982-1984)
Lindsay Wells
(invalid, 1985)
Nicole "Nikki" Reed Newman
(divorced, 1990-1992)
Luan Volien Abbott
(dissolved by her death, 1995-1996)
Phyllis Summers Newman
(divorced, 2001-2003)
Sharon Newman
(current, 2007-)
romances = Jill Foster Abbott
(affair)
Diane Jenkins
(dated)
Marilyn "Mari Jo" Mason (dated)
Carmen Mesta
(lovers; deceased)
children = Keemo Volien Abbott
(son; with Luan)
Kyle Jenkins Abbott
(son; with Diane)
grandparents = Robert Abbott
(grandfather, deceased)
aunts/uncles =
cousins =
nieces/nephews = Colleen Carlton
(niece)
Abby Carlton
(half-niece)
Robert Carlton
(half-nephew, deceased)
color = #C3B091
color text =

John "Jack" Abbott, Jr. is a fictional character on the soap opera "The Young and the Restless". The character is the oldest son of the Abbotts, one of the core families that was introduced to the show in the early 1980s. Jack was played by Terry Lester from February 4, 1980 until September 22, 1989 when he resigned from the show and was replaced by current portrayer Peter Bergman. The character briefly appeared on "The Bold and the Beautiful" in 1998.

Character Background

John "Jack" Abbott, Jr. is the oldest son of John Abbott (played by Jerry Douglas) and Dina Mergeron (Marla Adams), Jack was once Genoa City's resident playboy, but has matured greatly over the years. At various points in his career he has been CEO of NVP Retreats, Chancellor Industries, Newman Enterprises, and Jabot Cosmetics; from fall 2006 to spring 2007 he also owned Jabot (secretly done through a shell company, "House Of Kim"). Jack is currently worth 10 billion dollars, thanks to his father

In the beginning, Jack romanced Jill Foster (then played by Brenda Dickson) (who would later become his stepmother) and Diane Jenkins (then Alex Donnelley), before marrying Patty Williams (Andrea Evans), primarily for revenge against her father, Carl (Brett Hadley). When Patty discovered the truth it caused her to miscarry, and subsequently shoot Jack in the back. When Jack discovered it was Patty who shot him, he decided not to press charges, acknowledging that he brought it on himself.

In the 1990s, Jack became involved with Mari Jo Mason (Diana Barton), but disowned her upon discovering that she was the one who shot Victor. Diane returned to town, and she and Jack became engaged, before she left him and married Victor. Victor and Diane's marriage did not last long, and Diane reunited with Jack; however she dumped him when she found out he was merely using her in his war against Victor.

Relationships

Jack vs. Victor

One of "Y&R"'s key plot elements over the years has been Jack's bitter rivalry with tycoon Victor Newman (Eric Braeden). Perhaps the most memorable Jack/Victor moment was when Victor had a seizure and Jack walked out of the room, leaving him for dead. Jack married Victor's ex-wife, Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott), in the late 1980s. The marriage was short-lived, as Nikki continued to obsess over Victor. Nikki miscarrying Jack's baby was the final nail in the coffin.

Jack and Phyllis

In 2001, Jack romanced Newman Enterprises employee Phyllis Summers (Michelle Stafford). They married, but Diane's (now played by Susan Walters) return to Genoa City, and the revelation that her infant son, Kyle, was Jack's, threw the marriage into turmoil. Jack and Phyllis fought Diane for custody, with Diane ultimately winning. Jack and Phyllis divorced in 2003, but remained close, until 2006, when Phyllis became pregnant as the result of an affair with Jack's former stepson, Nicholas (Joshua Morrow). Ironically, he ended up aiding Phyllis in the birth of her daughter, as they were stuck in an elevator during an ice storm. He remains close to the family and seems to have a soft spot for Nick and Phyllis' daughter, Summer.

Jack/Sharon/Brad triangle

Jack began dating Nick's ex-wife Sharon (Sharon Case), and in March 2007 he asked her to marry him. Sharon accepted the proposal and they married on April 23. Sharon was ecstatic with the way Jack had treated her son Noah Newman. But Brad Carlton, whom Sharon had an affair with while she was still married to Nick was not ready to accept this. Through about a year and a half, Brad has tried to break the pair up. In early 2008, Sharon had announced that she was leaving Jack, and she and Noah were moving out. They later rekindled, no thanks to Brad, who tried to break them up until in January 2008, when Sharon phoned Jack (after Brad followed her on business to Detroit) and said "I really think he heard me this time".

Storylines

In 2006, after a series of traumatic events, including his being ousted from Jabot as a result of a lawsuit, the death of his father and his having learned of Phyllis and Nick's affair, Jack became extremely bitter and began obsessively plotting against a number of individuals who he felt had wronged him, including Katherine (Jeanne Cooper), Jill (who fired him from Jabot) and his stepmother Gloria (Judith Chapman) (whom he blamed for his father's murder conviction and imprisonment), as well as his longtime adversary Victor.

Senator Abbott

In the spring of 2007, Jack ran against Nikki in a race for a vacated Wisconsin state Senate seat, but after a few mistakes. Phyllis and Sharon used a nanny cam to catch Nikki kissing David Chow (Vincent Irizarry) on tape, released that footage on the Internet, and through that Jack ultimately won the election. Jack had a rocky career as a senator, and ultimately resigned in December 2007 because of various events that ultimately led to a senatorial ethics hearing including Victor Newman's public release of a private conversation between Jack and Ji Min Kim . It had been revealed previously that he had lied as a senator, and during the hearing it also came to light that he changed his father's will to not include his widow Gloria; in the end, he resigned his senatorial seat.

"Restless Style"

After Jack resigned from the Senate and Nicholas Newman was fired from his job at Newman Enterprises, they got together and decided to start a new Internet & print magazine. They asked Phyllis to join them, and Sharon requested to work with them later. They named the project "Restless Style". Nick bought a dilapidated warehouse, which turned into a money pit, as the headquarters for "Restless Style" and financed it and his share of the venture on money borrowed from his trust fund, which he normally could not receive until he turned 40. They have hired Daniel as a photographer assistant and general go-for, and Amber begged to be hired as receptionist. Victor labeled it foolhardy, and is sure it's going to fail. Recently, Jack has made the magazine sell very many copies due to exposés of Jill Abbott and Sabrina Newman.

Currently, Jack is working secretly with his former stepmother, Gloria Abbott Bardwell to buy out Jabot and let he, Gloria, and Jeffrey Bardwell be the owners of the cosmetics company.

Nick bought out Jack's share of Restless Style after receiving a line of credit from his father Victor Newman. Jack is also working with Adam Newman to get revenge on Victor.