Brad Carlton
| Brad Carlton | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Young and the Restless character | |||||||||||||||
| File:DonDiamont.jpg Don Diamont as Brad Carlton (2007) | |||||||||||||||
| Portrayed by | Don Diamont | ||||||||||||||
| Duration | 1985-1996, 1998-2009 | ||||||||||||||
| First appearance | 1985 | ||||||||||||||
| Last appearance | September 17, 2009 (Appeared to his drowning daughter Colleen) | ||||||||||||||
| Created by | William J. Bell | ||||||||||||||
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Bradley "Brad" Carlton (born George Kaplan) was a fictional character on CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless. Actor Don Diamont has played the role since 1985 (he departed the show in 1996 and returned on July 28, 1998[2]). Diamont was temporarily replaced by Russell Todd in 1993. The character has also appeared on The Bold and the Beautiful briefly in 1993. In December 2008, it was announced that Diamont had been released from his contract.[3] His final air date was on February 5, 2009.[4]
Character history
He was first introduced as the Abbotts' pool boy, but caught the eye of the youngest Abbott daughter, Traci (Beth Maitland). The two were married twice, with the second marriage producing a daughter, Colleen. During his second marriage to Traci, Brad was held captive in a cage by his unstable ex-wife Lisa Mansfield (Lynne Harbaugh). After he divorced Traci, Brad was tricked into marrying the wealthy widow Cassandra Rawlins (Nina Arvesen) after a ski trip to Aspen. Brad eventually arrived back in Genoa City and planned to divorce Cassandra, but in route to finalize her divorce plans Cassandra was struck by a truck and killed. Brad inherited her fortune and her estate. Throughout his on and off relationship with Traci, he had feelings for her sister Ashley (Eileen Davidson). Finally they married, and he adopted her daughter, Abby (Hayley Erin). Ashley was pregnant with his child but lost the baby in a car accident. They split up, and he married Victoria Newman in November 2006.
Known as a "playboy" and often referred to as a "gigolo", Brad has also had flings with Lauren Fenmore (Tracey E. Bregman), Jill Abbott (Brenda Dickson, later Jess Walton), Diane Jenkins (Alex Donnelley), and Olivia Winters (Tonya Lee Williams), and was briefly engaged to Nikki Newman (Melody Thomas Scott). In one 1994 storyline, Brad had a heart attack during a passionate night with Lauren. Ex-wife Traci showed up to visit, and when she saw Lauren at the hospital, a vicious catfight ensued.
The consummate opportunist, Brad rose to prominence in Genoa City's business world somewhat quickly, with his relationship with the Abbott family definitely giving him a foot in the door. He stepped on a lot of toes over the years, particularly Victor Newman (Eric Braeden) and his ex-brother-in-law Jack Abbott (Peter Bergman). Brad's anger boiled over in 2005 when Jack refused to instate him as CEO of Jabot. Brad stormed out of the office and soon took a job at Newman Enterprises.
In 2006, Brad married Victor's daughter, Victoria, to her father's dismay. For the duration of their marriage, Brad continued to fight his feelings for Victoria's now ex-sister-in-law, Sharon (Sharon Case). During this time he also had an affair with Sharon. Upon Victor's initiation of a background check on Brad, it was discovered (in a retcon storyline after almost twenty years of being on the show) that Carlton was not who he had initially claimed to be. Brad's real name is George Kaplan, and he assumed the identity of a friend who died in an accident in order to hide from the people who killed his family.
The 2006 story arc involved Brad–George's past catching up with him, as his mother, Rebecca Kaplan (Lorna Raver), had to help find an artifact that was stolen from its rightful owners by the Nazis who had put Rebecca to work in a concentration camp cataloguing stolen art. In the Sept 21, 2007 episode, Brad revealed that he was a follower of Judaism.[1]
Victoria became pregnant with his child but lost it shortly thereafter. Brad and Victoria subsequently divorced. Shortly thereafter, Victoria discovered that she was pregnant again, but the father turned out to be J.T. Hellstrom (Thad Luckinbill) with whom she is now married. After the collapse of Clear Springs, Victoria got struck by falling debris, and was in a coma for months. After waking up, Brad let the cat out of the bag about Victor firing Nick from Newman Enterprises. After the divorce, Brad still tried to be with Sharon, several times, but it failed. He eventually gave up, and one day in the hallway asked a passing co-worker to dinner.
Frustrated and angered at his inability to advance at Newman Enterprises, Brad joined Jabot Cosmetics in May 2008 as Chief Operating Officer. At Jabot Brad has become somewhat of a confidant–spy for Chancellor Industries CEO Jill Abbott. Brad has also had a somewhat difficult relationship with David Chow (co-CEO of Jabot). Because of his dislike for David Chow, who has admitted to a problem with compulsive gambling, Brad has repeatedly invited David to card games, lent him large sums of money to pay off gambling debts, and given him tips on horse races in a successful effort to take advantage of David's gambling addiction and to gain leverage over him.
Following the death of his wife Sabrina, Victor disappeared to Mexico only to be declared dead by Mexican authorities after an apparent boating accident. As stipulated in Newman Sr.'s new will, the lion share of his estate is bequeathed to his son Adam who is now going by his birth name Victor Adam Newman Jr. Newman Jr. embarks on radical changes within the company assuming the position of Chairman of the Board and installing Brad Carlton as CEO of Newman Enterprises and right hand man in "expanding Newman globally" . Victor Jr. fires long time Newman employees Neil Winters and Victoria Newman while making an enemy of the executor of the Newman estate Michael Baldwin. Having schemed, back stabbed and betrayed to get ahead, it appears that Brad Carlton has finally achieved the executive position he has coveted for so long. Shortly after being hired by Adam to be CEO of Newman Enterprises, Victor Newman returned and fired his son for the rage of power he had during his absence. Victor also reinstated Neil Winters to CEO. Later that week Neil asked Brad to step down as CEO of Newman because if he didn't then he would sue Brad for hacking into Newman Enterprises personal files and taking them to Jabot Cosmetics. Brad agreed and stepped down as CEO.
When Sharon's marriage started to crumble again, Brad got another chance to approach her especially after Phyllis had called him and tried to make him seduce Sharon so she would stay away from Nick. Brad eventually revealed to Sharon that Phyllis sent him after her and Sharon wasn't able to forgive Brad. Brad followed Sharon to Jack's cabin where he apologized and explained how much he still loves her, but she wasn't able to return the feelings. He left the cabin and on the road home he found Noah Newman (Kevin G. Schmidt) drowning in a lake after falling through the ice. He managed to pull Noah out of the water and back onto the ice, but tragically fell in himself and was swept under the frozen lake by the current. He drowned and his dead body, frozen in the ice, was discovered by a young boy. Brad appeared to Colleen when she was almost dying the same way as he was.
References
- ^ Newman Enterprises
- ^ The Young and the Restless recap (July 28, 1998) - Soapcentral.com
- ^ Don's exit, January 2009
- ^ The Young and the Restless recap (February 5, 2009) - TV.com