The Young and the Restless star Lauralee Bell honors her late father Bill Bell on the 20th anniversary of his passing

The late, great William J. Bell, co-creator of The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful, passed away 20 years ago today, April 29, 2005. His daughter, Lauralee Bell, who continues to play Christine on the top-rated soap, honored her father on social media.

The Young and the Restless's Lauralee Bell honors her dad

"Can't believe we said goodbye 20 years ago today," Lauralee Bell shared on Instagram stories along with a photo of herself and her father and four red heart emojis. "Love & miss you!"

William J. Bell passed away 20 years ago from Alzheimer's disease. Bell began his career in soaps working for Irna Phillips, the woman who created radio series and ushered them into television. Bell first wrote for Guiding Light before moving on to As the World Turns.

He and Phillips co-created Another World, which ran on NBC from 1964 to 1999. The two also teamed up for the short-lived nighttime soap opera, Our Private World, which starred ATWT's Eileen Fulton as Lisa.

In 1966, Bell left Phillips' employ to become the head writer of Days of our Lives. Within five years, he brought the formerly struggling serial to the No. 1 spot in soaps. Bell's next step was to create his very own serial, which he did with Y&R.

The Young and the Restless origins

It was a no-brainer for CBS to want to get back into the soap business with Bell, given his success with Phillips and ATWT. "As soon as Bud [Grant, CBS, Vice President, Daytime] said, 'Bill Bell,' I said, 'Make the commitment,'" the late Fred Silverman, CBS, programming executive, said in "The Young and the Restless Life of William J. Bell" (Sourcebooks, 2012).

Bell remained as a consultant at DAYS for a few years, but his main focus was Y&R. In 1980, CBS took the show to the hour format. Bell's workload increased further when he and CBS teamed up again to launch The Bold and the Beautiful in 1987.

Bell continued to helm Y&R through the 1990s. Key storylines during that decade included the George Rawlins Murder Mystery story, Victor's (Eric Braeden) return from the dead after everyone thought he'd died in a carjacking, Neil (Kristoff St. John) and Dru's (Victoria Rowell) romance, and so many more tales that endeared the show to viewers.

At the annual Y&R press luncheon at the Rainbow Room in New York (held the day before the Daytime Emmys), Bell announced his retirement as head writer. He turned the job over to his longtime co-head writer, Kay Alden.

In his speech, Bell focused not so much on his characters and shows, but on his partnership with his wife, Lee Phillip Bell, who co-created Y&R and B&B with her husband.

"After all these years," Bell said, "we now need some time together, time to take a deep breath or two and reaffirm a love that was never, ever in question."

Bell continued to serve as Y&R's senior executive producer and executive story consultant until his passing in 2005. He was honored at both the Creative Arts and Daytime Emmy ceremonies a few weeks later.

"The death of William Bell is not just a loss of a great writer and producer," Susan Flannery (Stephanie, B&B; ex-Laura, DAYS) said on the Daytime Emmys broadcast. "But it portends the passing of a great era as well. Storyteller, poet, dream — Bill was all of these things. He was a dream catcher, a weaver of tales like poets of old. He enlightened, educated, and he entertained millions in our global village...Such a storyteller shall not pass this way again."

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Soap Central remembers the late, great William J. Bell on this anniversary date of his passing.

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