Eric Forrester

Eric Forrester is a fictional character from the American CBS Daytime soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful, played by John McCook. He made his debut screen appearance on March 23, 1987, the show's first episode. The character appeared briefly on The Young and the Restless in 1993, 1995, 1996, 2005, 2008, and 2013. McCook had also played Lance Prentiss from 1976 to 1980.

Backstory

Eric and his wife, Stephanie, are co-founders of the Los Angeles-based fashion house, Forrester Creations, with Eric as its lead designer. They have five children: Ridge, Thorne, Kristen, Felicia and Angela. Two different retcons have taken away two of his children. The Angela that Eric meets in 1988 proves to be an imposter who replaced the real Angela when she died in an accident years before. In 2001 it is revealed that the biological father of his firstborn, Ridge, is billionaire shipping magnate, Massimo Marone.

Forrester Creations was first started with a $50,000 loan from Stephanie's father, John Douglas, despite his disapproval of her marriage to Eric. With Stephanie working on the business side and Eric on the creative, Forrester Creations becomes a great success, both in prestige and profits. For a time, those profits are eaten away by a far less prestigious rival, Spectra Fashions, which makes knock-off fashions all too similar to Forrester designs.