Actress Marla Adams, whose career stretched from the 1960s to a recent return to “The Young and the Restless,” has died at age 85.
Starting in 1982, Adams played Dina Mergeron the delinquent mother and ex wife in the Abbott family on “Y&R.” She was a viper. She had many runs on the show but in 2016 she returned as Dina, with Alzheimer’s, and gave such a deep performance that she was nominated for a Daytime Emmy in 2018 and won the award for Supporting Actress in A Drama in 2021.
The Y&R Instagram says: “On behalf of the entire company of The Young and the Restless, we send our deepest sympathies to Marla’s family after her passing. 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.”
Adams made her Broadway debut in 1958 and continued on to a long resume in theater. She became a TV veteran, appearing in other soaps over the years and almost all the prime time shows in the 60s and 70s. She was so popular on CBS that when she wasn’t on “Y&R,” she did five years on a soap called “Capitol” and another year on “The Bold and the Beautiful.”
What a great career! Marla Adams will be missed.
