Gloria Fisher

Gloria Abbott Bardwell is a fictional character from The Young and the Restless, an American soap opera on the CBS network.

In the 1960s, Gloria Simmons was a naive 16-year-old girl living in Detroit, Michigan.

She met the charming River Baldwin (Michael Gross) in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and he dropped out of college to live in a hippie commune with Gloria.

Then, Gloria got pregnant, and she gave birth to their son, Michael Baldwin (now played by Christian LeBlanc).

River and Gloria became Vietnam War protesters, and River was accused of a bomb conspiracy that killed a janitor.

In reality, River tried to stop the bomb threat, but he was forced to flee to Canada in order to protect Gloria and Michael.

Thus, Gloria was left alone to raise her son for 10 years.

In the 1970s, Gloria still lived in Detroit with Michael, and she worked as a waitress at a diner.

There, she met Tom Fisher.

Gloria and Tom got married, and their son, Kevin Fisher, was born.

Terrible Tom, as he soon became known, was an alcoholic who often took out his anger on the boys.

When Michael was a teenager, he left home to escape Tom's wrath.

Gloria was too afraid to stop her husband, and Kevin was often beaten and locked in closets by his father.

When Kevin was old enough, he ran away from Tom, and he moved in with Michael.

Both brothers ended up in Genoa City; Michael became a prominent lawyer, but both boys got into their fair share of troubles.

Eventually, Kevin fled Genoa City, and he found Gloria in Detroit, living in the same apartment as before.

Kevin's criminal activity followed him there, and Gloria accompanied him back to Genoa City when he was found with her.

The role was originated by Joan Van Ark on April 6, 2004, who portrayed the role until 2005, with Judith Chapman assuming the role on January 17, 2005.

She is the mother of Michael Baldwin (Christian LeBlanc) and Kevin Fisher (Greg Rikaart).

She is known for attracting troublesome men, and being quite troublesome herself.

Gloria can be naive at times, always taking things to the extreme.

Known for her over-the-top personality, she owned and operated Gloworm, the hottest Genoa City club, until it burned down.

In March 2004, it was reported that former Knots Landing star Joan Van Ark would join The Young and the Restless as Gloria Fisher, mother of Michael Baldwin and Kevin Fisher.

CBS reportedly wanted a "big name" star to tackle the role of Gloria.

Van Ark debuted on April 6, 2004.

By December, news broke that Van Ark had decided to leave The Young and the Restless because she was unaccustomed to the rigors of daytime television, including the long work days and the fast turnaround on scripts and production.

Within weeks, the role was recast with Judith Chapman; Van Ark was last seen on January 7, 2005, and Chapman assumed the role on January 17, 2005.

In March 2011, it was announced that Chapman had been taken off her contract and bumped to a recurring status.

Gloria will attend a Forrester fashion show, where she makes "a beeline" for Eric Forrester (John McCook), whom she previously met at Victor (Eric Braeden) and Nikki Newman's (Melody Thomas Scott) wedding in 2013.

A show spokesperson commented, "expect some business talk and a little flirting."

In October 2014, it was announced that Chapman would appear as Gloria on the soap opera's sister series, The Bold and the Beautiful, with her scenes airing on November 20, 2014.

On October 21, 2014, Michael Logan from TV Guide reported that Chapman would cross over to The Young and the Restless' sister soap The Bold and the Beautiful on November 20.

In September 2015, Chapman stated on her Facebook page that she had "no idea" whether or not she would ever be asked back to The Young and the Restless, writing that she personally believed she would never return.

In November 2016, however, upon the installation of Sally Sussman as co-executive producer and head writer, Chapman was announced to be returning to The Young and the Restless the following month for an unspecified amount of time.

Upon her return, the actress stated: "This is all such a nice surprise. I had truly made peace with the idea that I would never be called back to the show."

She last appeared on October 1, 2018.

In September 2020, it was announced Chapman would again reprise the role; she returned October 20.

Gloria is known for her larger-than-life personality.

According to Chapman, "She makes gallons of lemonade when the world gives her lemons!"

Chapman also admires Gloria's resilience: "Somehow she just keeps finding the bright things. She gets very depressed of course, but the universe keeps throwing her a bone. I love that about her; that she's willing to pick herself up by the boot straps. Even though her intentions and her judgments are often times misguided. Gloria is not a malicious person, but she will certainly take every opportunity to improve her lot in life!"