Jill Foster Abbott

Jess Walton as Jill Abbott Atkinson

**Jill Foster Abbott Fenmore** (previously **Chancellor**, **Reynolds**, **Brooks**, **Thurston**, **Sterling** and **Atkinson**) is a fictional character on *The Young and the Restless*, portrayed by Jess Walton since June 1987. The character was originated by Brenda Dickson in 1973 and remained until 1980 before returning in 1983 until 1987. In the interim, Deborah Adair portrayed Jill.

On April 4, 2019, it was announced that Walton will once again return to Y&R, this time for the Neil Winters tribute episodes, she will first appear on April 25.

## Biography

Jill is the birth daughter of Neil Fenmore and Unknown woman. She was born September 29, 1957, the same day as Tucker McCall, the son of Katherine Chancellor Murphy. She was the adopted daughter of Bill and Liz Foster. She has two adoptive brothers, Snapper and Greg, and one half sister, Lauren Fenmore.

When she was young, Jill was working as a manicurist and a hairdresser. Later, she became friends with Katherine Chancellor and was employed as her paid companion. Jill and Katherine's friendship turned to animosity as they fought over men, including Katherine's husband Phillip Chancellor II. Jill and Phillip engaged in sex resulting in a pregnancy. Phillip divorced Katherine and planned to marry Jill. While giving Phillip a ride in her car, Katherine begged him for a second chance.

He refused. She slammed her foot down on the gas pedal and the car plunged off the road and over a cliff. Phillip was rushed to the hospital where, on his deathbed, he married Jill. The marriage was declared invalid thanks to Katherine who then kicked the Fosters off of the Chancellor Estate. She offered Jill $1 million in exchange for the baby she was carrying. Jill agreed in order to ensure a better life for the child.

She later rejected the offer and had the money returned after giving birth to her son, Phillip Chancellor III in 1976.

### Derek Thurston and Joseph Thomas

The next man Jill and Katherine fought over was Derek Thurston. Jill got Derek drunk and then married him. Derek eventually fell in love with Jill, though, which nearly drove Katherine to suicide. Katherine convinced Derek to stay with her, albeit in a platonic relationship, for one year. Jill then became romantically involved with Stuart Brooks. After seducing him, she faked a pregnancy and they planned to marry. She altered her plans when Derek told her he wanted her back.

Jill wanted him to prove himself to her and arranged to marry Derek and Stuart on the same night, in case Derek failed. As a result of Katherine's scheme to hold onto her husband, Jill ended up marrying Stuart instead. Derek decided to go back to Katherine. Jill's marriage ended after Stuart found out she was never pregnant. She attempted to reunite with Derek because Katherine was presumed dead. Just before they married, Katherine revealed she was still alive and Jill lost Derek again.

In 1979, Joseph Thomas was a drifter who was used by Jill to torment Nikki Newman and her sister, Casey Reed, as he resembled their dead father Nick Reed. This was during the time that Nikki was on trial for killing her father when she revealed that he had repeatedly molested Casey as a child and she killed her father after he attempted to rape her.

Other romantic dalliances include private eye Andy Richards, Dina Mergeron's stepson Marc Mergeron, secretary David Kimble, pool boy-turned-executive Brad Carlton, attorney John Silva, businessman Keith Dennison and embezzler Elliot Hampton.

### 1980s

In 1980, Jill went to work for Jabot Cosmetics. Jabot's owner, John Abbott, was impressed by Jill's abilities, and quickly promoted her to head of merchandising. Around that time, she met Jack Abbott, John's son. John and Jill became romantically involved. They broke up after she cheated on him with his son. She filed a sexual harassment suit against Jack when he would not be with her and he had to pay a $10,000 settlement. John and Jill later reunited and married.

She cheated on him again with Jack. This time Katherine got a hold of pictures of their tryst. She showed them to John, who then suffered a stroke. He divorced Jill. Not long after, Jill was found in her shower, bleeding from a gunshot wound. The three main suspects were John, Jack, and Katherine. Jack finally confessed to the crime in order to prevent his affair with Jill from becoming public. The real culprit was Sven Petersen, a masseur at the Genoa City Hotel.

He had been rejected by Jill earlier in the night, and after getting drunk stole the gun from Gina's Restaurant. Sven kidnapped Jill and locked her in a meat freezer. Jack came to her rescue. Sven escaped to Mexico, but Jack was cleared of all charges. Jill and Katherine then fought over Jill's son, Phillip Chancellor III, who was now a teenager. Phillip turned to drinking. He fought his alcoholism with help from both Katherine and Jill, along with Christine Blair.

His drinking led him to engage in a one night stand with Nina Webster. Nina became pregnant with Phillip's child and gave birth to Phillip Chancellor IV. Phillip later died in a car crash while he was driving under the influence (or so it was believed at the time). As part of one of her more devious schemes, Jill hired a con man named Brian Romalotti (the father of Danny Romalotti and Gina Roma) whom she dressed up as a wealthy man and rechristened "Rex Sterling".

Jill's plan backfired, though, because Katherine Chancellor and Rex eventually fell in love for real.

### 1990s

Rex Sterling soon got annoyed by Katherine Chancellor's behavior. However, Katherine was gone--replaced by her look-a-like Marge Cotroke.

Jill convinced Rex to divorce Katherine and marry her, which he did in 1991. However, Jill began seeing John Abbott again and Katherine returned. Katherine and Rex remarried. Unfortunately, their romance ended tragically when Rex spooked a prowler in the middle of the night and was subsequently shot. Soon after, Jill began an affair with Victor Newman and Jill assumed she would certainly be the next Mrs. Newman. Hapless Jill, no more than shared her elation at the prospect with Jack Abbott, than Victor let her know that she was just a fling and he had no real intentions where she was concerned.

Mortified, Jill quickly found her way back into John's heart and they remarried much to his children's dismay. Jill wanted to have a baby though John felt he was too old. But Jill managed to get pregnant before John got a secret vasectomy. When he discovered she was already pregnant, he insisted she have an abortion but Jill couldn't do it. John did wonder if the baby, named Billy Abbott, might actually be Victor's, since he knew they had been together earlier.

Jill's affair with Jed Sanders due to John's impotence caused their second divorce which resulted a bitter custody battle over Billy and a stroke for John. John got custody of Billy and, unable to bear seeing Jabot Cosmetics under Newman Enterprises' control, they moved to New York City.

After years of torment from Katherine, Jill turned the tables on her in July 1998 when she discovered a letter penned by the deceased Phillip Chancellor II naming Jill as the sole owner of the Chancellor Estate. Jill evicted Katherine who then found a legal loophole which resulted in Katherine and Jill being forced to live at the Estate together.

### Sean Bridges, Larry Warton and Maternity

After the turn of the century, Sean Bridges came to Genoa City as Jabot Cosmetics' new website designer. He quickly developed a relationship with the much older Jill. Jill was curious about his intentions but gave in and allowed him to move into the Chancellor Estate. Soon after, though, Sean moved away to New York City. Katherine Chancellor allowed ex-con Larry Warton to move in and do some work around the house. Jill quickly began an affair with him but wanted to keep it a secret because Larry was "beneath her".

However, Katherine found out and attempted to confront Jill about it. Jill continued to deny it and even insulted Larry. An angry Larry walked in on a Jabot meeting and emptied a box of Jill's sex toys onto the table.

In 2003, Liz Foster was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Liz admitted to Jill that she was adopted and that Charlotte Ramsey (who years later it was discovered had lied to get revenge on Katherine) had provided proof that Katherine was her birth mother. Katherine was shocked when she saw Charlotte back in Genoa City a short time later but still didn't piece together her connection with Jill. John Abbott, also a former schoolmate, recognized Charlotte.

He eventually tricked Katherine into revealing that Charlotte had an abortion when she was younger which left her unable to carry children.

### Billy's Wedding

With the truth about her barrenness about to surface, Charlotte went to the Chancellor Estate and confronted Katherine on May 20, 2003. Charlotte then told Kay that Jill was her biological daughter. In addition to being mortified to learn that she was the daughter of her sworn enemy, this revelation presented another crisis for Jill. For years, her son, Billy Abbott, and Katherine's granddaughter, Mackenzie Browning, had been in love in a passionate but platonic relationship.

### Stopping the Wedding and Jill Helps Kay

However, the supposed mother-daughter connection between Katherine and Jill would mean that Mackenzie and Billy were first cousins. Unaware that they were supposedly blood relatives, the young couple was married while a paralyzed Katherine could do nothing but watch. A horrified Jill and John Abbott tried to stop the wedding but they were too late. Eventually, Jill informed the newlyweds of the shocking news before the marriage was consummated.

Heartbroken, Billy and Mackenzie had their union annulled and the two separately left town. Jill helped Katherine to recover and the two eventually resolved their differences.

### The Real Phillip, Cane and Ji Min

In early 2007, Katherine Chancellor began to have disturbing nightmares involving a baby. She soon determined that they were actually fragments of a repressed memory. Eventually Katherine recalled that years ago--unable to accept the fact that Jill had given birth to a child with her deceased husband Phillip Chancellor II--she kidnapped the baby and gave him to a woman named Violet Montgomery whom she met in a bar. Violet was to place the child with a different family.

The woman then gave Katherine a different baby that Jill raised as her son, Phillip Chancellor III. Jill refused to believe this at first but DNA testing of Phillip III's remains confirmed that he was not Jill's biological son. Her true biological son was revealed to be Cane Ashby, an Australian national whose visa had expired and who was fighting deportation. As the true Phillip III, he was a native born American citizen and was thus permitted to remain in Genoa City.

Cane soon formed a strong bond with Jill and Katherine. Jill was briefly reunited with the man she believed was her birth father, Judge Arthur Hendricks, but he soon left town after suspicions about his past planted too many seeds of distrust. Jill began a romantic relationship with William Bardwell, the District Attorney, who had just inherited a fortune from his late uncle. Gloria Abbott, who wanted Will for his money, drugged Ji Min Kim and Jill with libido pills and arranged for William to walk in on them.

A broken-hearted William eventually married Gloria. Jill and Ji Min developed genuine feelings for each other. Katherine was furious with Jill upon learning that her daughter was planning on eloping with Ji Min. She offered Ji Min a bribe not to marry her daughter but Ji Min declined.

### David Chow, Chancellor Industries and Brothers

In September 2007, Ji Min Kim was murdered before he could marry Jill. The investigation proved that David Chow murdered him to pay off some of his gambling debts (associated with the mob). Jill was devastated.

In 2008 Katherine Chancellor retired as CEO of Chancellor Industries and made Jill her successor. Jill felt that Katherine was constantly looking over her shoulder and second-guessing her decisions. This was especially true when it came to Chancellor subsidiary Jabot Cosmetics' new CEO, Nikki Newman.

In October 2008, for the first time Jill had both her sons Cane Ashby and Billy Abbott at home. Billy did not like that Jill had made Cane CEO of Jabot over him.

### Katherine's Death and Resurrection

In November 2008, Katherine Chancellor was believed to have died in a car crash. However, the true victim was her look-a-like Marge Cotroke. Due to the Abbott family and Jeff and Gloria Bardwell, Chancellor lost control of Jabot, resulting in the firings of Jill and Cane. Jill and Victor Newman formulated a plan to destroy Jack and return control of Jabot back to Chancellor Industries.

In late December 2008, Katherine finally regained enough memories to realize she was the real Katherine Chancellor, not Marge Cotroke. She convinced Patrick Murphy to take her to the Chancellor Estate. He did and, minutes after she arrived, Jill also arrived and was obviously shocked to see her. After the shock wore off, however, Jill was convinced that Katherine was Marge seeing as Jill remembered Marge from years ago. Katherine, having little memory, couldn't disprove Jill's theory and was arrested for both trespassing and fraud.

Upon encountering Gloria at the jail, Kay remembered an incident with her.

### Jill's Mother and Delia

On March 12, 2009, Kay had more people than just Amber Moore and Murphy believing in her true identity; she also has Nikki Newman who finally believed her. Katherine left Genoa City once again when the second DNA tests came in saying she and Jill were not mother and daughter. In return for the Jabot Cosmetics shares which Victor Newman purchased from Gloria, Jill allowed the corpse buried in Katherine's grave to be exhumed and it was subjected to a third DNA test.

Ultimately, Jill's DNA matched neither the corpse nor Katherine (whom Jill believed to be Marge). Thus, Katherine's claim about her true identity was bolstered and it was proven conclusively that Katherine and Jill were not biological mother and daughter after all.

Delia Abbott was born at the Abbott Cabin on February 16, 2009, after Chloe Mitchell followed Billy Abbott and Lily Winters there and became trapped there because of a blizzard. Ultimately, Jill's DNA matched neither the corpse's nor Katherine's (whom Jill believed to be Marge). Thus, Katherine's claim about her true identity was bolstered and it was conclusively proven that Jill was not Katherine's biological daughter after all. After a final pair of DNA tests between Katherine and her son Brock Reynolds were a match, not even Jill could deny the truth any longer.

### Cane's Wedding, Pick A Color and Langley

She bitterly rejected Katherine's overtures of affection and the ensuing argument reignited the feud between the women in full force. Weeks later, just prior to Cane Ashby's wedding to Lily, Jill learned that the bank in Cayman Islands where she has deposited all her monies has collapsed. For the first time in decades, Jill was virtually penniless with her 50% share in the Chancellor Estate and her shares of Jabot Cosmetics as her only assets. Shortly thereafter, Jill returned to her original occupation as a manicurist albeit in another town outside of Genoa City to keep it a secret from others.

Following his wedding to Lily Winters, Cane Ashby recalled his telephone conversation years earlier with a man named "Langley" regarding their joint plan to con Jill and Katherine Chancellor. The man bore a startling resemblance to the supposedly deceased Phillip Chancellor III.

On June 10, 2009, it was revealed that "Langley" was indeed Phillip and was still very much alive (unknown to everyone except Cane). Nina Webster (who was Phillip's wife at the time of his supposed death) began background research on Cane as part of her efforts to adapt Katherine's memoir into a screenplay. Her suspicions about Cane continued to grow and she eventually ordered the exhumation of Phillip's body for genetic testing.

### Jill's Gift

For Christmas, Jill gave Katherine Chancellor a gift which was the name of the child she had given up for adoption some 50 years ago. Katherine didn't want to open the box because she thought of Jill as her real daughter. After Jill begged her, she finally opened the box to find the name JoJo Glover and flew to where her daughter was living in South Dakota. When they found her, she was a drunk and a bounty hunter. Katherine and Jill flew back to Genoa City with JoJo and she caused lots of trouble from the minute she arrived.

### Phillip Is Missing, Phillip's Return and Tucker McCall

When it was discovered that Phillip Chancellor III's casket was empty (and, in fact, never contained a corpse at all), Nina Webster demanded that Cane Ashby submit to DNA testing to verify his status as Jill's biological son. Upon learning of Nina's demand, Cane retrieved a vial of Phillip's blood from a carousel of vials he kept in a hidden freezer for use in DNA testing. Thus, it became apparent that Phillip was Jill's biological son not Cane and that Cane was a fraud. The news devasted Jill but she decided to still accept Cane as her son.

Phillip returned from the dead. He said he had faked his death because he suspected that he was gay and wasn't happy with his life. When Cane came to tell her that he was leaving town, Jill called Michael Baldwin to a meeting for changing her will. She wanted her estate split three ways between Phillip, Billy Abbott and Cane -- despite the fact that Cane was not her biological son. Jill had an affair with Tucker McCall unaware that he was actually Katherine Chancellor's son (whom she gave away at birth) out for revenge.

Tucker stole Katherine's companies but Jill continued to sleep with him. Katherine found out and, using what control over the company she still had, fired Jill. Tucker refused to hire her. Jill temporarily worked at Billy's magazine but she printed a story that got Billy, the Newmans and Jack Abbott into legal trouble. Afterward, she didn't ask permission before posting a story on the internet and Billy fired her. Jill was happy when Liz Foster and Snapper Foster came to visit.

### Liz's Confession

On June 14, 2010, Jill received word that Liz Foster had fallen ill on her flight to Genoa City. After being admitted to the hospital, Jill reunited with Liz as well as her adoptive brother, Snapper Foster, who had been given permission to treat Liz at Genoa City Memorial Hospital. As Liz took a turn for the worse, she confessed to Snapper that she had been aware of the identity of Jill's biological father for quite some time (presumably con woman Charlotte Ramsey also had prior knowledge).

Liz revealed him to be Neil Fenmore, the father of Lauren Fenmore Baldwin.

Knowing she was dying, Liz told Snapper the truth about Jill's birth family. Liz soon succumbed to her illness and passed away on June 18, 2010, with Jill, Snapper and Greg Foster by her side. After Liz died, Snapper told Jill informed Jill of her true parentage. Jill stumbled to Lauren's door where she explained that she and Lauren shared the same father, Neil Fenmore. Lauren refused to believe it and insisted on a DNA test which confirmed that they were indeed sisters.

### Lauren's Sister

Lauren Fenmore didn't want to have a sisterly relationship with Jill but Jill decided to legally change her last name to Fenmore, much to Lauren's chagrin. Lauren's constant rejection of Jill's attempts to forge a sisterly relationship between them hurt Jill deeply because she really wanted to get to know Lauren, be a part of her life and her family's life. Jill also hoped that this wasn't the beginning of another feud similar to the one she had with Katherine Chancellor but it was starting to look that way.

The feud got even worse when Jill filed a lawsuit asking for a portion of the Fenmore estate. Despite Michael Baldwin's attempts to get them to at least talk, Lauren had no intention of ever accepting Jill as a sister. Lauren finally gave in to Jill's demands and gave her half of Fenmore's. Jill took full advantage of that and started running the company the way she wanted to completely undermining Lauren's authority.. Later, Jill was left in charge of Fenmore's Boutique due to Lauren's absence.

When Lauren came back to the store, Lauren and Jill found some common ground when it came to discussing business.

### Jill Marries Colin and Cane Dies

In January 2011, Jill became engaged to Australian businessman Colin Atkinson. Unknown to her, he was not only a criminal but also Cane Ashby's biological father. In addition, Cane was forced to come clean about most of his past to Lily Winters. Cane revealed to Katherine Chancellor and Jill the truth about Blake Joseph. Cane wanted to tell both Katherine and Jill but Colin told him not to and threatened to kill Jill if Cane told the truth. Neil Winters and Malcolm Winters brought Sofia Dupre Winter to the coffeehouse after visiting the hospital and, when they ran into Colin and Jill, Colin realized Blake was responsible for Sofia's injuries.

Colin asked Jill to marry him.

On February 2, 2011, Jill told Billy Abbott her news about Colin. Billy made sure Colin wasn't just after Jill's money and informs Colin and Jill what he thought about the wedding--he was against it. Cane called Jill's cell to plead with her to stop the wedding but to no avail. Jill and Collin were married while outside, Blake, one of Colin's cronies, shot down Cane. Colin and Jill rushed to Cane's side. Lily begged Cane to hold on as Cane took his final breath.

### Colin, Cane, and Genevieve

The police questioned Colin Atkinson and Jill. Billy Abbott, Patrick Murphy and Katherine Chancellor were stunned as Jill explained the news of Cane Ashby's death. Kay tended to Jill. She comforted Jill who was heartbroken over Cane's death because she loved him like a son. The next day, Kay found out that Jill had married Colin and told Jill that she was against the marriage. Even though Kay was comforting Jill, she still didn't trust Colin.

Billy and Victoria Newman brought Lucy Abbott to see Jill and Lauren Fenmore cames to check on her sister. Victoria and Lauren were caught off guard when they learned about Jill's wedding. Kevin Fisher, Chloe Mitchell and Daniel Romalotti arrived and Chloe offered her support to Jill. Colin deleted a message from Cane on Jill's cell phone. Later that day, Nina Webster brought Jill to her bedroom where a presumed dead Chance Chancellor was waiting to greet her.

Chance instructed Jill to keep his presence a secret. Jill learned that Kay knew that Chance was alive for months and Jill started to lose it.

Jill eventually learned Cane had survived and his twin brother, Caleb, had been killed. Jill also learned of Colin's plot to kidnap Charlie and Matilda Ashby. Jill resented Colin and Cane for awhile for their deception, but eventually forgave them. Jill also became caught in a rivalry with Cane's mother, Genevieve Atkinson. Jill turned Colin into the police when she learned that he had blown up Genevieve's house.

### Katherine's death, Colin returns, reclaiming Chancellor Industries

In 2013, Katherine passed away, and Jill took her death very hard. Katherine left Jill a music box, and some clues. Jill went on a journey and was reunited with Colin. They remarried and Jill returned with Colin. Colin worked with Jill to decipher Katherine's clues. Jill found a blue necklace that Katherine and left for her, and Colin otter to steal it to pay back some guys he owned money to. Colin eventually came to clean to Jill, and she agreed to help him. They created a forgery to give to the guys, but they eventually found out the truth and threatened Colin.

Jill decided she wanted to run Chancellor industries, and attempted to buy it back from Victor, Colin blackmailed Devon Hamilton for the money to buy back Chancellor, but Victor wouldn't budge. Jill vowed she wouldn't rest until she got control of Chancellor. Victor ultimately decided to sell Chancellor and told Jill to get the money ready.

On a business trip to Chicago, Neil revealed he had regained his eyesight, and exposed Devon and Hilary Curtis' affair. He also revealed that Cane and Colin knew about it, and Jill realized Colin had been blackmailing Devon. The plane crashed due to the storm, leaving everyone injured and disoriented. Lily was missing, so Cane went to find her; and Hilary was trapped under debris. They got a fire going while Neil and Devon worked to free Hilary. Colin found Neil's briefcase, and opened it. In it were divorce papers and photos of Neil's family. Neil said that they can burn all the photos, except the ones of him and Lily. Cane returns with Lily in his arms, but she is still mad at those that lied to her. Devon eventually decides to go for help. Colin gives him a map he found for Devon to use. Devon asks Lily to take care of Hilary, and tells Neil that he is going to spend the rest of his life making this up to him. Neil takes the map and leaves to get help himself.

## Trivia

* She is the only character to have been on the show since the beginning.