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Marla Adams, who famously portrayed Abbott family matriarch Dina Abbott Mergeron on “The Young and the Restless” for 37 years, has reportedly died. She was 85.
The Emmy Award-winning soap opera actress died in Los Angeles on Thursday, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
“We send our deepest sympathies to Marla Adams’ family,” the show’s official X account (formerly Twitter) wrote on Friday. “We’re so grateful and in awe of Marla’s incredible performance as Dina Abbott Mergeron as both Marla and Dina made an unforgettable mark on Y&R.”
‘THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS,’ ‘GENERAL HOSPITAL’ STARS DISH ON WHY SOAP OPERAS REMAIN SO POPULAR
Representatives for “The Young and the Restless” did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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Before Adams — born in Ocean City, New Jersey in 1938 — began her career in daytime television, she first appeared on Broadway in “The Visit” in 1958 and in the 1961 film, “Splendor in the Grass” alongside Natalie Wood.
Marla Adams died in Los Angeles on April 25. (Priscilla Grant/Everett Collection)
It wasn’t until 1968, when Adams made her official debut on daytime TV as Belle Clemens on CBS’ “The Secret Storm” and years later, in 1982, as Dina Abbott Mergeron on “The Young and the Restless.”
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“I was the b—- of daytime,” she told Ocean City’s Daily News Source in 2016. “I played a good b—-.”
Adams played her “Young and the Restless” character off and on over the course of nearly four decades. After her three-year contract was up in 1985, the actress returned to Genoa City in 1991, 1996, 2008 and again from 2017 to 2020. Towards the end, her character — living with Alzheimer’s disease — died in an October 2020 episode.
“Of all the characters I’ve played, from ‘The Secret Storm’ to Broadway, this has been the most astonishing, amazing part I have ever had the privilege to play,” she said in a 2020 tribute to her character.
“I’ve had the most wonderful life, this little gal from Ocean City,” she said in a 2016 interview.
Christina Dugan Ramirez is an entertainment writer for Fox News Digital.
