Everyone Who's Ever Played Phyllis On The Young And The Restless
Phyllis Summers is one of the most iconic characters in "The Young and the Restless" history, and for the majority of her decades-long life in the fictional town of Genoa City, she has been played by one actress who is most identified with the role. However, there were times when that actress wanted to try different things and left the soap for a while, requiring Phyllis to be recast. After all, what would the town be without its resident troublemaker? Still, Phyllis has come a long way since she first arrived on the scene back in 1994 (via Soaps in Depth).
Back then, Phyllis was determined to snag Danny Romalotti (Michael Damian) and made a lifelong enemy of his then-wife Christine Blair (Lauralee Bell). Phyllis would stop at nothing to hurt Christine and even tried to kill her and her new husband, Paul Williams (Doug Davidson), per Soap Hub. However, she has also mellowed over the years. While she wouldn't try murder now (unless she really had to), she does still cause chaos wherever she goes.
Michelle Stafford was Phyllis then and is Phyllis now
In 1994, actress Michelle Stafford made her soap opera debut as Phyllis Summers, a woman who had slept with rock star Danny Romalotti when he was performing in New York and then claimed she had his child, who she named Daniel. Eventually, it was revealed that Danny was not Daniel's father, but by then Phyllis had moved on from Danny, who had custody of Daniel (via Soaps in Depth).
In 1997, Stafford left "The Young and the Restless" to star in the short-lived Aaron Spelling drama "Pacific Palisades" (via IMDb), but returned in 2000. Stafford remained with the soap for another 13 years before leaving again to take on the new role of Nina Reeves on ABC's "General Hospital," a character now played by Cynthia Watros (via Soaps in Depth). Then, Stafford left "GH" and returned to "Y&R" in 2019. She still brings Phyllis to life at the time of this writing and through the years has won two Daytime Emmys for playing the part (via Gold Derby).
Sandra Nelson played Phyllis in the late '90s
When Michelle Stafford took her three-year hiatus from "The Young and the Restless" in the late 1990s, Sandra Nelson, another soap opera newcomer, assumed the role. Nelson's Phyllis Summers was still married to Danny Romalotti for a little while, happily raising her little boy and thinking she'd scored the life she wanted. She managed to get him away from Christine Blair, a young woman he had been in love with for years. However, Phyllis' marriage blew up during this time, and she feared that Danny would learn the truth about Daniel (via YouTube). Nelson's stint on "Y&R" was a brief one, and with Stafford reclaiming the part for years to come, many fans do not remember her. Still, we can't dismiss all of the nuance that she brought to the role.
Nelson's daytime career also ended in 1999 just before Stafford returned to the role. Since then, she has been seen on a number of episodic television shows, including "ER," "Without a Trace," "CSI: NY," and "NCIS" (via IMDb).
Gina Tognoni was the third actress to play Phyllis
When Michelle Stafford took another "The Young and the Restless" break, Phyllis fell into a coma, and her grown son, Daniel (Michael Graziadei), had her moved to a long-term care facility (via Soaps in Depth). When she woke up in 2014, Phyllis Summers was played by soap opera veteran and Daytime Emmy winner Gina Togoni, who made her daytime debut in 1995 as Kelly Cramer on ABC's "One Life to Live." Tognoni went on to play Dinah Marler on "Guiding Light" from 2003 to 2009, where she won two Daytime Emmys, before returning to her old stomping grounds at "OLTL" in the last years of the soap's life. Tognoni also took home an Emmy for playing Phyllis in 2017 (via Gold Derby).
Tognoni's Phyllis was married to Jack Abbott (Peter Bergman) for a second time but didn't realize he had been replaced by a doppelganger (Marco Arnicelli). Her marriage ended when she had an affair with Jack's brother, Billy Abbott (Jason Thompson). After that ended, she became involved with ex-husband Nick Newman (Joshua Morrow) again before Stafford chose to return to the soap in 2019 and Tognoni was abruptly fired (via Daytime Confidential). Now, Phyllis and Nick's relationship is one that fans can never get enough of — and one that makes Nick's relationship history a little more interesting.