The Young and the Restless' Peter Bergman and 35 years of Jack Abbott

Peter Bergman on The Young and the Restless

On The Young and the Restless, Peter Bergman took on the much-loved role of Jack Abbott back in 1989, taking over from the late Terry Lester, and he’s never looked back.

However, in an interview with Soap Opera Digest, he didn't think his role would last as he was a recast and had enormous shoes to fill.

Y&R’s Jack Abbott for 35 years

Commencing the role in November of 1989, Bergman got the chance to play a character with classic one-liners and memorable jabs. Almost no one else does sarcasm and snark like Jack Abbott.

The list of scene-stealing lines and challenging storylines is longer than that feud between Jack and Victor Newman (Eric Braeden), but these memorable moments would make any ranking list, including the emotionally perfect scene when Jack proposed to Phyllis (Michelle Stafford) in the episode that aired on September 10, 2001.

Phyllis didn't know if Nick or Jack was the father when she was pregnant with Summer. At first, they all believed Jack was the father, thanks to a DNA test, but years later, they found out that Sharon had actually switched the results so that Nick wouldn't find out he had a child with Phyllis. Bergman's level of emotion during the storyline was incredible for viewers to witness.

More recently, Jack and Diane feigned a breakup, fooling everyone to get their son Kyle away from Victor. Their public fights were incredibly real, and Jack's contempt and attacks were astounding.

There has been plenty of drama for Jack, like when Patty shot him and then skipped town only to return in 2009 with a new face courtesy of...Victor, in yet another attempt to get back at Jack.

Jack Abbott also gets to deliver some of the show's funniest lines on The Young and the Restless, and, more often than not, they involve the one and only Victor Newman. Once, when he told Sharon that Victor was missing, she wondered if something bad had happened. Jack quipped:

The Moustache? I doubt it. You could drop a nuclear bomb on Genoa City; only Victor and the cockroaches would survive.

Jack’s relationships and heartbreaks

Jack has had many relationships, affairs, and marriages throughout his time in Genoa City, but there are a handful that were perhaps the most meaningful.

Jack and Phyllis’ marriage began to fall apart when it was revealed that Jack was Kyle's (Michael Mealor) father. Ultimately, that wasn't what drove the final wedge between the pair though: Phyllis' affair with Nick was what did them in.

After Victor got Jabot, Jack thought it was a great idea to marry Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott). Jack stood by her through her addiction, but tragically, the loss of their baby was one thing the marriage couldn't survive.

Jack and Diane Jenkins (Susan Walters) have survived many situations, but her faked death of 10 years probably tops them all. Reunited, they still deal with the aftereffects of her disappearance and Victor's constant attacks from every angle.

Watch full episodes of The Young and the Restless on weekdays on CBS or stream on Paramount Plus.