Young and the Restless

Young & Restless Panic: Are We Fast Approaching the End of Victor Newman?

Young & Restless Panic: Are We Fast Approaching the End of Victor Newman?

The February 5 episode of The Young and the Restless has left fans concerned — and understandably so. The great and powerful Victor Newman discussed with daughter Victoria the inevitability of his passing. (Read the recap here.) He dodged a bullet with Ian Ward — metaphorically, not literally — and survived. But how many times can he or anyone cheat death?

On Reddit, viewers speculated that the fatalistic talk was a precursor to a storyline in which Victor passes away. Portrayer Eric Braeden, they noted, has had a rough go of it in recent years; he’s undergone a knee replacement, battled bladder cancer and lost his home of 45 years in the Los Angeles wildfires. And as for Victor… sheesh!

What hasn’t he been put through?

Over the Emmy winner’s 40+-year run in the role, the character has been shot, harpooned (in the groin, no less!), stabbed, poisoned and presumed dead often enough that the local paper always has his obit on standby. Victor seems indestructible. Thankfully, so does his portrayer. In a recent interview with TV Insider, he offered his assurance that he has no plans to retire. “I don’t want to,” he said simply.

Way back when the veteran actor joined the soap on the advice of friend Dabney Coleman, he was not a happy camper. He’d played one-dimensional villains often enough in primetime that he had no desire to keep doing so, no matter the medium. But Young & Restless co-creator William J. Bell changed Braeden’s tune by writing a backstory for Victor that afforded the Machiavellian mogul greater depth and a justification for some of his questionable tactics.

“At this point, I’m very, very fortunate,” Braeden said. “I disagree with a lot of what Victor Newman does, but the emotional components are there, and I agree with them completely. It’s easy for me to play. I love it.”

Now that you can rest assured that we won’t be losing Victor anytime soon, treat yourself to a photo-filled review of the tycoon’s life story in our updated photo gallery below.

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