William Bardwell

Infobox soap character
name = William Bardwell
series = The Young and the Restless
portrayer = Ted Shackelford
(2006-2007)
first = 2 February 2006
last = 18 July 2007
cause = Deceased
creator =



caption1 = Ted Shackelford as William Bardwell (2006)


caption2 =


caption3 =
nickname = Will
alias =
gender = Male
born =
death = 18 July 2007
(complications due to a stroke)
age =
occupation = District Attorney
title =
residence = Genoa City, Wisconsin
parents =
siblings = Jeffrey Bardwell
(identical twin brother)
spouse = Miranda Montgomery
(dissolved by her death)
Gloria Fisher
(married at time of death)
romances = Ashley Abbott
(dated)
Jill Abbott
(dated)
children =
grandchildren =
grandparents =
aunts/uncles = Ross Bardwell (uncle; deceased)
cousins =
relatives =
color = #C3B091
color text =

District Attorney William 'Will' Bardwell is a fictional character in the CBS soap opera "The Young and the Restless", portrayed from February 2, 2006 until July 18, 2007 by actor Ted Shackelford. On August 8, Shackelford began portraying Jeffrey Bardwell, William's twin brother on "Y&R".

Character

In February 2006, John Abbott (Jerry Douglas) finally remembered what happened the night Tom Fisher (Roscoe Born) was shot - that it was in fact he, and not his daughter Ashley (Eileen Davidson) who pulled the trigger. Determined not to let his daughter take the rap for a crime he committed, John called in D.A. Will Bardwell and told him everything. Will was suspicious at first, believing that John was merely trying to protect his daughter, but a lie detector test revealed that John was telling the truth. John was sentenced to seven years in prison.

He then investigated the tainted Glo-Again face cream, which resulted in a death. Since no new evidence and leads were found, the case became cold.

In June 2006, Jill Abbott (Jess Walton) decided to join an online dating agency and was shocked to discover that Will was her anonymous date. Will was involved in a love triangle between Jill and Gloria Fisher (Judith Chapman), whom he met at a grieving spouse support group (John had since died of a stroke.) Gloria's interest in him is certainly strengthened by her knowledge that he is sole heir to a multibillion-dollar oil fortune. He also dated Ashley for a time. Before appearing on the show, William was married to a woman named Miranda, a well-known fashion editor. When he slept with Jill in December 2006, it was his first physical relationship since his wife's death several years earlier.

In June 2007, William married Gloria. New evidence arose in the Glo-Again scandal and most of Jabot Cosmetics employees were subject to DNA testing. Soon after, he suspected Gloria was the culprit. She was very hesitant to give a DNA sample for the case. After much persuasion, Gloria finally gave her DNA sample. She got her son Kevin Fisher to get a fake sample. Upon handing her sample over, she performed a sleight of hand trick with her sample, switching it with the fake. Of course, her test came back negative. However, when dining out, William watched Gloria's friend Evan Owen do the same trick. He figured it out and feared for the worst. When meeting Gloria at the club, William staged a hug in which his watch got caught in her hair. Pulling the hairs he needed for her DNA sample, he ran the test anonymously. It was positive.

He confronted Gloria with the test results and she admitted it. However, during their argument, William suffered a stroke. While William was in hospital, Michael Baldwin and Kevin were able to get Gloria's test results. An unknown copy, however, remained at the lab, where Detective Maggie Sullivan found it. She then took over William's cases and was determined to find out who was the positive match.

William died on July 18, 2007 of complications of the stroke. Shortly after, Gloria found a letter saying that his uncle's company had recently left $50 million to William, which was then given to Gloria. She decided to use some of the money to throw him a wonderful celebration of his life. At his wake, his twin brother Jeffrey showed up and expressed to Gloria how sorry he was that they didn't spend more time together.