First appearance: 1983
Portrayed by: Marla Adams
Formerly married to: John Abbott, Marcel Mergeron (widowed)
Children: Jack, Ashley, and Traci Abbott
From CBS Soaps In depth
Dina left John before the Abbotts arrived in Genoa City, and he was forced to raise their three children on his own. Thankfully he had the help of housekeeper Mamie Johnson, so the kids turned out okay! Dina arrived in Genoa City the widow of a wealthy cosmetics baron named Marcel Mergeron. She hoped to keep her identity secret as she attempted to buy Jabot Cosmetics but failed. During this time, it was also revealed that John was not really Ashley’s father, Brent Davis was. But Dina was by son Jack’s side when he was shot by Patty.
Involved with painter Eric Garrison, Ashley was shocked to find a painting of Dina among his things signed “All my love, Eric.” Furious that her mother and Eric had been lovers in the past, Ashley broke it off and fell in love with Marc Mergeron, who turned out to be Dina’s stepson. Ashley was further traumatized when a dying Brent insisted on confessing that he was her real father!
Dina was so enraged at Brent for revealing the truth that she tried to shoot him, but missed and hit Katherine, instead! Victor found Ashley at a diner where she had no memories and was calling herself Annie and brought her home to recuperate with him and Nikki. As her life returned to normal, Ashley vowed that John would never know he wasn’t her real father, a secret everyone kept until his death.
Over the years, Dina has been living in Paris running Mergeron Cosmetics, though she has made occasional visits to Genoa City, such as attending her dear friend Katherine’s funeral in 2008. But now with Mergeron Cosmetics up for sale, Dina is once again a part of the Y&R canvas, and will likely bring plenty of family drama with her!
I am betting ,that Brent is both Graham and Ashley’s father!
I would not rule our Alzheimer’s yet. They can regress and remember past really well but be out of whack with reality. Besides don’t let reality spoil a good story line, the writers will want us guessing for a while longer I think
I remember her mysterious entrance. The Abbott children kept bringing up their mother. This was my introduction to the “talk about a character all of a sudden then the character appears” troupe. This was when Jill was married to John and was very insecure. I remember Dina’s friendship with Kay and one scene in particular. I remember the scene where Dina encouraged Kay to have cosmetic surgery when Kay was having concerns about aging. Several months later Kay had her first face lift and it mirrored the actress’ real life surgery. Dina and Kay did not like Jill for different… Read more »