Katherine Chancellor’s Photo Scrapbook | Played by Jeanne Cooper

Actress: Jeanne Cooper (1973-1986; 1986-2011; 2011-present)
Michael Learned (2011; temporary replacement)
Gisele Mackenzie (1986; temporary replacement)

Occupation: Owner of Chancellor Industries

Resides at: Chancellor Mansion

Spouse: Patrick Murphy (May 1, 2009-present)

Previous Marriages:
1. Gary Reynolds (deceased)
2. Phillip Chancellor II (deceased)
3. Derek Thurston (divorced)
4. Rex Sterling (divorced; first time)
5. Rex Sterling (widowed; second time)

Flings:
John Abbott (deceased)
Judge Arthur Hendricks
Derek Thurston
Colonel Douglas Austin
Felipe Ramirez
Jerry Cashman
Brent Davis
Mitchell Sherman
Patrick Murphy

Children:
1. Brock Reynolds (son with Gary)
2. Tucker McCall (son with Arthur)

Relatives:
Mackenzie Browning (grandaughter)
Devon Hamilton (grandson)
Ashley Abbott (goddaughter)
Chloe Mitchell (goddaughter)

Friends:
Nikki Newman
Amber Moore
Victor Newman
Jill Foster Abbott
Kevin Fisher

Enemies:
Tucker McCall

Young and Restless character biography:

Katherine Chancellor could be called the Matriarch of Genoa City. She is a savvy business leader who has conquered her own demons and today serves as a respected public figure.

Katherine, who usually would have affairs with her stable boys, was furious to find out that her paid companion, Jill Foster, was having an affair with her husband, Phillip Chancellor II. One night, while drunk, Katherine drove her car off of a cliff with Phillip inside. Phillip had just gotten his divorce from Katherine finalized. Katherine survived but Phillip later died from severe injuries. Katherine tried to buy Jill’s son, who she named Phillip Chancellor III, from her. But she failed. She was able to have Jill and Phillip II’s deathbed marriage annulled. The death of Phillip II started a feud between Katherine and Jill that would last for many years.

Next, Katherine would become romantically involved with Derek Thurston, but Derek desired Jill. Katherine took a bullet for Derek and faked paralysis to hang onto him. Later, Katherine would fall in love with Felipe Ramirez, who held her captive. When Katherine became free, she dumped Derek.

Her next love interest was Rex Sterling. Little did she know, that Jill had found Rex (aka Brian Romalotti, the father of Danny Romalotti and Gina Roma) on a park bench living as a homeless man. Jill gave Rex a makeover, changed his name, and set him up with Katherine. During this time, Jill and Katherine found a common enemy in Nina Webster. Nina became pregnant with Phillip III.
Katherine and Rex married, but she was kidnapped by Clint Radison, a former prison mate of Rex’s. Clint replaced Katherine with Marge, a waitress who was Katherine’s double. Marge would help Katherine escape and Clint was sent back to jail. However, Katherine and Rex’s reunion was short-lived when a thief named Norman Peterson, who married Esther Valentine, killed Rex. Norman had tried breaking into the Chancellor safe when Rex caught him.

Katherine allowed Jill to live with her after she ended her second marriage to John Abbott. Jill had found documents from Phillip II that indicated Jill was allowed to live in the Chancellor mansion. The judge ruled that both women could share the mansion. Katherine moved out and lived in a homeless shelter where she was reunited with her granddaughter, Mackenzie Browning. Mackenzie’s father is Brock Reynolds, Katherine’s son. After Katherine moved back into the mansion, Ralph, Mackenzie’s abusive stepfather, kidnapped Katherine.

Katherine suffered a stroke after learning that Jill had been the daughter that she gave up for adoption while still married to Brock’s father, Gary Reynolds. Jill learned the truth and helped Katherine recover. Katherine failed to reconnect with Jill’s birth father after she learned that Arthur Hendricks had a hand in his wife’s death.

Katherine would check into rehab after she began drinking again. She took on a more active role in Chancellor Industries by hiring Jack Abbott to run her company. Chancellor Industries bailed out Jabot Cosmetics. Katherine would have to step in and remove Jack from his position after a tainted cosmetic cream was linked to the death of a customer, Emma Gibson. Also around this time, Mackenzie left town to help rebuild New Orleans.

Jack Abbott had secretly bought the House of Kim company and used it to secretly win Jabot back. Unaware of what Jack was up to, Katherine sold Jabot to House of Kim, and returned her main focus to Chancellor Industries. But soon Jill’s other son, Billy Abbott, returned to Genoa City and sparked conflicts between Katherine and Jill. It was soon discovered that Billy had a gambling problem. Meanwhile, John Abbott, who had always been a close friend of Katherine’s, passed away after a stroke. After everyone said their goodbye’s, Jack sent Billy to Japan to take care of his gambling problem.

Ethan “Cane” Ashby, a bartender from Australia, would show up in Genoa City in search of his real mother. Around the same time period, Katherine began suffering from nightmares that she didn’t understand. World renowned psychic Sylvia Brown was called in to see what Katherine’s dreams meant. Katherine soon remembered that she had switched Jill’s baby at birth. Meaning the real Phillip Chancellor III was alive and still out there. With a little help from Amber Moore, Cane Ashby was revealed to be the real Phillip.

Jill and Katherine bonded with Cane, who quickly found his place in the Chancellor family. They even helped him when he found out that Amber Moore had duped him into believing they were married during a drunken trip to L.A. Cane moved on to Lily Winters, while Katherine began a friendship with Amber. Katherine began writing a book of her memoirs with Amber’s help. Chloe Mitchell soon showed up in town with her eyes set on Cane. She even managed to break up Cane and Lily after convincing them that he was the father of her child after another drunken night. Lily stepped away so that Cane could do the right thing by his child. It was also revealed that Chloe was actually Esther Valentine’s daughter, Kate, and was out to get everything she felt she deserved.

Katherine would get a blast from the past when her look-a-like, Marge, contacted her. Marge suffered from a drinking problem and reached out to Katherine for help. She offered to drive her to rehab and pay for it. But along the way, the car crashed and Marge was killed. Katherine was thrown from the car, but survived. Jill and Nikki Newman assumed that it was Katherine who had been killed. Marge’s close friend, Patrick Murphy, found Katherine and took her into his home. Katherine had lost her memory, and Murphy thought she was Marge. As Katherine’s memory slowly began coming back, she and Murphy started to become closer. Once she remembered who she was, Murphy encouraged her to reveal who she really was. But when she showed up at the Chancellor mansion, Jill had her arrested as an imposter. Katherine then tried to convince Nikki that she was really Katherine but Nikki thought it was a cruel joke. Finally, Katherine was able to convince Amber that she was who she said she was.

Katherine and Jill would have another set back in their twisted relationship, after a DNA test revealed that they were not really mother and daughter. It was also revealed that Cane was not the father of Chloe’s baby, but instead, Billy Abbott was.

Clint Radison returned and kidnapped Katherine again, only this time, Kevin Fisher and Amber realized what had happened and tried to rescue her, but Kevin was kidnapped too. Clint locked Kevin in a closet until Kevin snapped and agreed to help Clint rob banks. Amber and Gloria Bardwell arrived and Katherine just in time before a bomb went off. Meanwhile, Kevin was convinced that Clint was his abusive father, Tom, and continued to follow under his orders. But once Clint suffered a heart attack and died, Kevin was left alone and Amber was able to save him and help him snap out of his trance.

After it was confirmed that Katherine Chancellor was the real Katherine, Katherine and Jill had another blood test done, only to confirm that they are not related.

Katherine would marry Murphy, but still continue her feud with Jill. At Billy and Chloe’s wedding, Katherine and Jill started a cake fight with each other. Katherine regained control of Chancellor Industries and Jabot, and made Jack the CEO again.

Nina Webster showed up back in town to try to convince Katherine to turn her book into a screenplay for Hollywood.
Nina and Amber butted heads on which direction the movie should go. Doing research for the movie, Nina began to do a background search on how the baby switch happened and how Cane came into their lives.

Cane and Lily were married. During the reception, Jill and Katherine asked him to take the Chancellor name. Meanwhile, Nina continued to grow skeptical of Cane’s story and questioned him about it. Cane made a phone call in which he said that Nina was about to discover that he was still alive. Paul Williams researched and found out that the baby switch would have been nearly impossible if it happened the way Katherine and Cane claimed it happened. But Katherine and Jill refused to believe that Cane was a fake.

When Nina thought that her son, Chance, had Huntington’s disease, Nina called the lab to get the remains of Phillip III examined to see if he carried the disease as well. But she was told that there were no remains in the coffin. Further tests proved that there had never been a body in the coffin at all!

When more questions arose, Cane finally admitted to Nina that he was a fraud, in front of Katherine, Jill, Murphy, Chloe, Neil, and Lily. He told them it wasn’t for the money. He insisted that he had no intentions of hurting anyone.

When Cane was asked how he could do such a terrible thing to people who had shown him nothing but love, a very much alive Phillip III walked in and said that he had done it. Everybody was stunned to see Phillip alive, as they believed he had died in a car crash over 20 years ago. Phillip explained that at 19, he had found himself overwhelmed with responsibilities and suffering from depression. He faked his death in order to escape it all. He payed off a doctor and a policeman to help. He moved to Australia to begin a new life.

While working in Australia, Phillip had met Cane and they became friends. Phillip realized what he had put his family through and sent Cane to Genoa City to pretend to be him, in order to help his family heal. Meanwhile, Lily was crushed to find out that Cane had been lying to her for years. Neil told him to stay away from her, just as Billy arrived in time to punch him out. Then Phillip dropped the bombshell on Nina that another reason he wanted to die or leave was because he was a 19 years old and gay!

Jill would help Katherine find out who the daughter really was that she gave up for adoption all of those years ago. She was startled to find out that it was not a daughter, but a son…and it was business tycoon, Tucker McCall. Tucker had bought up the majority stock interest in Chancellor Industries, which devastated Katherine.

Tucker and Katherine would continue to battle over Chancellor Industries and McCall Unlimited. They would have times where they were peaceful to each other, and other times when they wanted to kill each other.

In summer of 2010, Liz Foster returned to Genoa City, sick, but was able to reveal to her son, Snapper, who Jill’s real biological parents were. After Liz died, Snapper told Jill that Neil Femore was Jill’s biological father, which made Lauren Fenmore her sister! A DNA test proved it. Jill and Lauren hated each other and butted heads. But after a judge ruled that Jill would become co-CEO of Fenmore’s Department Stores, Lauren and Jill became civil to one another.

After the Harvest Festival, Murphy was attacked by Meggie McClaine, a woman plotting against Victor and Nikki Newman, and went into a bad medical condition where he could only move his eyes. Meggie knew Murphy, as she was married to Murphy’s son years ago. Eventually, Meggie schemed her to marry Victor, planning to kill him just like what she did with Murphy’s son. However, using Morse Code, Murphy was able to tell Det. Ronan Malloy all about Meggie despite Meggie’s threats against Katherine. Ronan and Murphy informed Victor about Meggie who was able to set Meggie up. Just as Meggie though that Victor is dying, he snapped out of it and Murphy and Ronan came in to arrest her.

Later, Katherine discovered that Jill was going to marry Australian businessman Colin Atkinson. However, Colin was hiding the fact that he is actually Cane Ashby’s biological father, and that he is the head of a mafia family in Australia, who came back to bring Cane back into the fold. Katherine, fearing that something was off about Colin, made clear to Jill that she was against the marriage. The night of the marriage, Cane was shot down by one of Colin’s henchmen. Cane had apparently tried to stop the wedding, but it proved too late. Katherine was devastated with Cane’s loss, and loved Cane regardless of his flaws and sketchy past. After the death, Colin comforted Jill, and also moved into the Chancellor Estate with her.

Around the same time, Victoria, Nick and Abby Newman were wrapping up their lawsuit against Victor. Katherine, who mostly stood on the sidelines, was shocked to learn that Tucker planned on profiting from the case. She immediately made clear that she was against the case and Tucker’s business intentions. In fact, she vowed to destroy Tucker’s business, and even sent back her offer to have Tucker and Ashley Abbott’s wedding at her house. Following the lawsuit and Victor’s announcement of taking Newman Enterprises public, she blasted Victoria, Nick, and Abby, and also vowed to help Victor in any way possible.

With Tucker and Katherine’s relationship in turmoil, he prepared to marry Ashley. However, as a result of a dirty scheme by Abby to implicate Tucker and Diane Jenkins having an affair, Tucker was ran over by a drunk Abby. However, to protect Abby, Ashley took the blame and switched places with Abby before the police came. Ashley was fine, and Abby recovered quickly. However, Tucker was seriously injured and was in a coma. When Jack calls Katherine with the news, she and Murphy rush to the hospital. She stayed with Tucker and later learned that Tucker had a DNR. Against Katherine and Ashley’s wishes, his breathing tube was removed, but amazingly he took a breath by himself. As lawyers began getting involved regarding business issues, Katherine came at odds with Tucker’s right hand woman, Sofia Winters, as well as Jack, who feared that Jabot may be at risk now. However, a lawyer informed Katherine in front of Sofia and Victor that she was now in charge of McCall Unlimited given the present circumstances. In addition, she learned of $20 million set aside for a son that he had previously looked for, but failed. Katherine was amazed to learn of this new grandchild, and this coincided with the loss of “Chance” Chancellor’s re-deployment to the army. At a party for Chance, Katherine hired Paul Williams to look into Tucker’s son.

Katherine later became a great-grandmother with the birth of her granddaughter Mackenzie’s new child, Dylan Hellstrom.

As acting CEO of McCall Unlimited, Katherine immediately put an end to buying Newman Enterprise stock, which was a key plan under Tucker. Sofia felt that Katherine was dismantling all of Tucker’s plans, but Katherine claimed that Tucker knew what her ideas were and that he put her in charge, thus she should respect her plans. Katherine later suggested that Sofia take a leave of absence after she had insulted her. Also, as Ashley Abbott was arrested for attempted murder of Tucker, Katherine now felt uncertain about Ashley’s innocence and put a protective order for Tucker, which kept Ashley away. Ashley snuck in to see him however, and Katherine fired her as CEO of Jabot. Soon, Jack Abbott and Victor both began gearing up for a fight for the CEO position at Jabot. They both confronted Katherine about it, with Jack wanting to protect his father’s legacy, while Victor suggested that Victoria become CEO. However, Victoria declined and Victor put together an offer to buy Jabot from Katherine, which she began to seriously consider. However, the ghost of John Abbott ended up suggesting Jack for Jabot, and after a heartfelt moment Jack had with Katherine, she made him CEO.

Eventually Tucker woke up and asked why Abby tried to kill him. Ashley ended up explaining that she accidentally ran him over, and when the DA came in to question Tucker, he explained that he didn’t remember much, including who was driving. Soon after, Tucker asked Ashley to marry him immediately. Katherine walked in just as they were wed. She thought the marriage was ill-advised, and he and Katherine quickly began to fight when he went over some of the changes she made while he was in coma. Tucker ended up asking Ashley to take over since he felt that he wasn’t fit yet to take over. Katherine ended up visiting Victor about Tucker’s theory about Abby, but Victor never came clean regarding the truth leaving Katherine annoyed. Katherine also visited Jack, and he announced that he would support her in her new battle against Tucker.

Katherine ended up challenging Tucker’s ability to run McCall Unlimited, and after her evidence of Tucker’s incompetence, Katherine was allowed to continue to run the company until he could prove his competence. Afterwards, Katherine announced that she would challenge the validity of Tucker’s marriage to Ashley. They both were opposed to it, but Ashley and Tucker ended up separating because of the truth regarding Tucker’s affair with Diane Jenkins.

Katherine continued searching for Tucker’s long lost son and with the help of Paul. She learned that it was none other than Devon Hamilton, Neil’s adopted son. When Tucker rejects her again and fires Devon from his record label, she hired her grandson as the head of her new record label, but decided to keep the secret anyway. Katherine also decided to add Devon to her will, leaving Jill to question why. Jill eventually figured out Devon is Tucker’s son. Later Paul confronts Katherine and promises that he will tell Devon the truth if she doesn’t do it herself. Katherine explains that she doesn’t want Tucker to corrupt Devon. Tucker soon won back Jabot and Katherine suffered a stroke and was taken to the hospital. Tucker goes to the Genoa City Police station where Abby had been arrested for being the driver in the accident in which Tucker was hit. Tucker eventually convinced the DA to drop the charges. Tucker left and went to Jabot. Jack entered and they discussed each other’s guilty consciences. News of Katherine’s stroke gets out quickly and all her friends come to visit her, while waiting for the doctors to give them more information about her condition.

Katherine later woke up to find Jill by her side. Tucker soon finds out about Devon being his son and goes to tell him. Devon became furious with both Tucker and Katherine. Katherine still tried to reconnect with him, and also invited Devon’s mother, Harmony, to come stay at the Chancellor estate. Devon slowly began coming around to Tucker and Harmony as his parents. He even began slowly accepting Katherine.