Jennifer Gareis is back at The Bold and The Beautiful and on contract as Donna Logan. Her first scenes will air mid-October. Fittingly our Throwback Thursday highlight’s Jennifer’s character, Grace Turner, from CBS’ other soap, The Young and the Restless.
Grace Tuner first appeared in Genoa City played by actress, Josie Davis, in the summer of 1996. Jennifer Gareis, who is best known in the role replaced Josie in February 1997. We met Grace as then Sharon Collins’ best friend. Grace and Sharon were best friends from Madison, Wisconsin. Grace knew Sharon’s secret that Sharon gave birth to a daughter at the age of 16 and gave her up for adoption prior to moving to Genoa City.
Sharon fell in love and married Nick Newman (son of the self-made tycoon Victor Newman). Sharon got pregnant and had a son, Noah. Newborn Noah became sick so much so that he wasn’t expected to survive.
Grace Turner, as any best friend would decide to find Sharon’s first child and bring her to Genoa City to help Sharon with her impending grief. Grace and boyfriend, Tony Viscardi, went off in search of Sharon’s daughter. They found Cassie (Sharon’s daughter) who had been left in the care of Millie (her adoptive grandmother) by Alice Johnson her adoptive mother. Millie was having a difficult time raising the young girl and before you knew it Cassie was on her way to Genoa City with Grace and Tony.
Well, the wonders of medical miracles in daytime never cease to amaze. Baby Noah didn’t die. He lived. Yep, you already know where this is headed. When Grace and Tony returned to Genoa City and learned of Noah’s miracle, Grace decided to wait to tell Sharon about Cassie. She started raising Cassie under the guise of her being Tony’s niece. Grace began to love Cassie as her own and kept Cassie’s true identity hidden much longer than she planned. She eventually came clean. Sharon was livid with Grace for keeping Cassie away from her. But she was so happy and grateful to have her daughter back, in the end, she forgave Grace.
You know how the saying goes with friends like these who needs enemies. See Grace Turner. Grace set her eyes and all her other body parts on Nick. One-night Nick came home drunk and mistook Grace (always a point to ponder) for Sharon and Grace was more than willing to pinch hit for “Mrs. Newman”. Nick and Grace did the do.
When Nick sobered up and realized what he had done (wink wink) and what Grace allowed him to do, he freaked out. He made Grace promise not to tell Sharon about their romp in his drunken haze. Grace agreed not to tell but quickly capitalized on her leverage. She manipulated Nick into hiring her as his assistant at Newman Enterprises.
Then Grace really turned on and up the heat. She was on a mission. She wanted round two. She was relentless. She tempted, taunted and teased Nick. She let Nick know in no uncertain terms what she wanted and that she could satisfy him in ways Sharon never could.
Grace took off her clothes, she rubbed her and Nick down with ice. She pulled every temptress trick in the book. What was a man to do? What man could resist the sultry seductive bombshell that was Grace Turner? Nick, rarely known for having met a woman he could resist, finally succumbed to his desires and slept with Grace again when they were on business in the mile-high city.
Sharon showed up in Denver to surprise Nick. And oh, what a surprise she got when she overheard Nick and Grace discussing their sexual exploits from the night before. This led to one of the many many many Shick break-ups. Grace’s next conquest was bedding Michael Baldwin before leaving Genoa City. Grace became Nick’s constant stand-by “booty call’. And the arrangement seemed to suit them just fine.
Grace’s next extended stay in Genoa City came in 2003 when she came calling looking for her man, Cameron Kristen. During a contract dispute with Sharon Case, Sharon Newman spent time off screen. During that time Sharon became involved with sleaze bucket Cameron. He and Sharon had a brief affair but woefully his idea of “afterglow” was to beat poor Sharon.
To Sharon’s horror, Cameron rolled up in Genoa City to do business with Newman Enterprises via Nick. Sharon was scared to report Cameron to the police for fear of losing Nick if he found out about the affair (this was one of Shick’s numerous periods of reconciliation.)
Cameron continuously threatened to expose their affair. At his request, Sharon met him at a sleazy motel on New Year’s Eve. He attacked Sharon and she hit him over the head with a champagne bottle, knocked him out and hid his body behind a dumpster (fearing she had killed him). Sharon later came and moved the body. But then the body went missing from the trunk of the car where Sharon had put it. Grace in typical fashion was relentless in the pursuit of “finding” her man. She hounded and preyed upon Sharon’s already fragile state with accusations.
Before the storyline was over Sharon discovered that; Cameron was alive, the dead body that was thought to be Cameron’s was actually Frank Barritt (Cassie’s biological father), Cameron killed Frank and was trying to frame Sharon for the murder and Cameron and Grace were in cahoots. What did Sharon ever do to Grace to deserve this? Grace ultimately testified against Cameron who was sent to jail. In exchange, Grace wasn’t prosecuted.
It was a long time before we would see Grace again. Nick summoned Grace for help. Grace was more than ready to see Nick again. Hoping it would be like old times; she greeted him in a knockout black teddy. Nick who had to be aroused, told Grace it wasn’t that kind of party. He was there for information.
He showed Grace Mariah Copeland’s picture who was a dead ringer for the deceased Cassie. Nick explained he was there to find out more about the day Cassie was born. Grace told Nick that Grace and Doris were both kept out of the delivery room by Nurse “Helen”. Surprisingly that was the only thing Grace gave Nick during the visit. The information provided to be useful and was key in the discovery that Mariah was indeed Cassie’s twin sister.
Grace wasn’t done. You have to give her major points for her persistence. In her next visit to GC she tried again to turn back the hands of time. Nick resisted again.
Before it’s all said and done it’s a good bet Grace will try again. Nick is an itch she just loves to scratch!
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