Dina Mergeron
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| Dina Mergeron | |||||||||||||
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| The Young and the Restless character | |||||||||||||
| File:Dinamergeron.jpg Marla Adams as Dina Mergeron | |||||||||||||
| Portrayed by | Marla Adams | ||||||||||||
| Duration | 1983-1986, 1991, 1996, 2008 | ||||||||||||
| First appearance | 1983 | ||||||||||||
| Last appearance | November 17, 2008 | ||||||||||||
| Created by | William J. Bell | ||||||||||||
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Dina Mergeron (formerly Abbott) is a fictional character on the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless. She was played by actress Marla Adams from 1983 to 1986 on contract. She returned for a guest appearance in 1991, 1996 and 2008.
John's first wife
Dina was the first wife of John Abbott. She is the mother of Jack (Peter Bergman); Ashley (Eileen Davidson) (her father was Brent Davis); and Traci Abbott (Beth Maitland). She is the grandmother of Jack's sons, Keemo (Philip Moon) and Kyle (Seth Stern); Ashley's daughter, Abby (Hayley Erin); and Traci's daughter, Colleen Carlton (Tammin Sursok).
Dina came from a professional upper-class society of Genoa City. It has been mentioned in many past conversations that she and Katherine Chancellor (Jeanne Cooper) were very good friends. A prime example came when they were having tea at the Chancellor Estate and remembered the day Dina and John asked Katherine to be Ashley's godmother a few days after she was born. It was revealed that it was Katherine who gave Ashley the middle name of Suzanne as a tribute to a former close friend of theirs in high school who had died because she was such a "beauty."
It has also been comically noted over the years that Joanna Manning, Neil Fenmore, Stuart Brooks, Katherine Chancellor, Gary Reynolds, John Abbott and Dina were quite close friends who had been to the same high school through their earlier years and developed that level of friendship beyond those years.
She left John some years prior to the Abbotts arriving in Genoa City, leaving him to raise Jack, Ashley and Traci on his own. Thanks to the help of his housekeeper, Mamie Johnson (Veronica Redd), he did a fine job.
In 1983, Dina, by now the widow of a wealthy cosmetics baron named Marcel Mergeron, came to Genoa City and tried to buy Jabot Cosmetics. She kept her identity hidden, but failed. When she was in town, the secret also came out that Ashley was not John's daughter. Dina was at Jack's side after he was shot by his first wife, Patty Williams (Andrea Evans).
When Ashley accepted Eric Garrison, a Parisian painter, marriage proposal, his belongings arrived from Paris. Ashley found among them a painting of her estranged mother which signed "All My Love, Eric". Ashley soon broke it off with Eric and fell in love with Marc Mergeron, who turned out to be Dina's stepson. Soon, former Genoa City Country Club tennis pro Brent Davis returned to town and began an affair with Dina's friend Katherine Chancellor. When he found out that he was dying he wanted to reveal that he had been Dina's lover and was Ashley's real father! Dina and Kay tried to talk him out of it, but Ashley was traumatized by the news when he told her, and ended up with no memory at a roadside dinner where she took the name "Annie" and worked as a waitress. When Brent and Kay returned from a vacation together, Dina confronted Brent about what he had done. Dina shot Brent but missed and Kay was shot instead. Jack figured out what had happened, and he and his then lover Jill Foster confronted Dina. Dina and John began a search for Ashley. A truck driver saw one of their fliers, figured out who "Annie" really was and offered her whereabouts to John for ransom. Victor Newman ended up finding her at the diner, and took her home to recuperate with him and Nikki at the ranch. Ashley forgave her real father just before his death, and vowed that John Abbott would never find out. Only Dina, Jack, Jill, Katherine, and Victor know the secret of Ashley's real parentage to this day.
She made infrequent visits periodically, but for the most part has remained in Paris, France, where she runs Mergeron Cosmetics. Recent mentions were when John mistook his wife, Gloria Abbott (Judith Chapman), as Dina; and when she and Mamie sent flowers to remember John, as they both were unable to attend the funeral. The same was done for her granddaughter Colleen's funeral, as she could not attend because she was on a cruise.
Dina made an appearance, after a 12-year absence, for her dear friend, Katherine Chancellor's funeral. She got a chance to meet her daughter-in-law, Sharon Abbott and be reacquainted with her children. After the funeral, Dina left to attend a charity drive in Palm Springs.