Originally from Michigan, Sheila moves to Wisconsin in 1990. Sheila is a nurse who worked at Genoa City Memorial Hospital and immediately falls in love with the married Dr. Scott Grainger (Peter Barton). Her feelings for Scott quickly turn from infatuation to obsession. In order to steal him away from his wife Lauren Fenmore (Tracey E. Bregman), Sheila drugs him and has sex with him, ending up pregnant. At the same time Lauren also becomes pregnant by Scott but doesn’t tell him. When the truth about the father of Sheila’s baby comes out, Scott feels obligated, divorces Lauren and marries Sheila.
Sheila’s baby dies, unbeknownst to Scott, and she secretly switches Lauren’s newborn with a black market baby, which Lauren names Dylan. Sheila begins passing Lauren’s baby off as her own, and Dylan eventually dies from meningitis. Sheila’s mother, Molly Carter (Marilyn Alex), finds out about her daughter’s crime and intends to tell Lauren the truth, but suffers a stroke that renders her speechless. Sheila sends her mother to her farmhouse in Michigan before Molly can expose her. Lauren eventually finds out about the baby switch, but not before Sheila kidnaps both Lauren and Molly, and almost succeeds in killing both women, when during a brief struggle Lauren accidentally kicks over a lantern on a coffee table, setting the farmhouse they are imprisoned in on fire. Lauren and Molly are rescued by Lauren’s ex-husband, private investigator Paul Williams (Doug Davidson), and his secretary, Lynne Bassett (Laura Bryan Birn). Sheila is never found, and authorities presume that she perished in the fire when a body burned beyond recognition turns up in the ashes. The corpse turns out to be a meter man that had visited the house just before the fire started; Sheila had escaped from the burning building. Picking up a discarded newspaper in an area diner, she reads about an opening working as a company nurse for the Forresters in Los Angeles. She leaves Wisconsin to travel to California. Meanwhile, Lauren is reunited with Scott and her real son, Scott Jr.
[edit] The Bold and the Beautiful
Sheila quickly worms her way into fashion CEO Eric Forrester (John McCook)’s life by becoming the company nurse at Forrester Creations in Los Angeles, as well as working as Rick Forrester‘s nanny (after threatening the former nanny, Judy, and her family, and later staging an accident that leaves Judy paraplegic). Sheila and Eric fall in love and are eventually engaged, which angers Eric’s ex-wife Stephanie (Susan Flannery), who suspects Sheila is a gold digger and a liar. To Sheila’s dismay, Eric’s most recent ex-wife Brooke Logan (Katherine Kelly Lang) is pregnant with a child that may either belong to Eric or his son Ridge (Ronn Moss). After Bridget is born, Sheila manipulates the paternity test so that everyone will believe Ridge is the father. Security guard Mike Guthrie (Ken Hanes) catches her in the act, and after threatening to blackmail her, Sheila sets loose a vicious doberman to attack him.
Meanwhile, Lauren finds out that Sheila is alive and well, and living on the West Coast. Lauren follows her and they once again fight. Lauren threatens to expose Sheila to the Forrester family, but Sheila turns the tables on Lauren by blackmailing her with pictures she took of Lauren sleeping with Brad Carlton (Don Diamont) and sent to Lauren as puzzle pieces. Despite Sheila’s love for Eric, she panics when Lauren attempts to disclose her past at the wedding, and leaves a heartbroken Eric at the altar. After the guests leave, Sheila returns to the chapel and pleads for Eric’s forgiveness. Although Eric demands answers, he eventually forgives Sheila and the two are married.
Sheila and Brooke become best friends; throughout Sheila’s time in Los Angeles, Brooke was the only person with whom Sheila felt truly connected. Sheila and Eric’s marriage becomes rocky when Sheila accepts a job from Brooke, who seizes control of Forrester Creations with her patent on the BeLieF formula. Eric feels betrayed by her actions and a rift is created in their marriage. Sheila proposes the two take a vacation and use this time to reconnect. The two leave town for Catalina Island. Scott, who became ill, also vacations with Lauren in Catalina Island, where the two run into Eric and Sheila. Lauren intends to use Scott to expose Sheila’s past to Eric; however, Scott, still caring for Sheila, keeps mum. Scott eventually dies on the island as a result of his illness. With both women by his side, he wishes that Lauren give Sheila a second chance. Lauren tearfully agrees.
When Sheila becomes concerned that Eric is excluding her from his will, she decides she would be more financially secure if she gave Eric a child. After a one-night stand with former rival Connor Davis (Scott Thompson Baker), Sheila goes to Eric claiming she is pregnant with his child. Eric, who had recently had a vasectomy, tells Sheila he wants a divorce.
For some time she begins to see psychiatrist Jay Garvin, who is friends with Brooke’s fiance Dr. James Warwick (Ian Buchanan). James suspects Sheila is hiding something from the family, and tries to pry information from Dr. Garvin. However, during a brief struggle, Sheila accidentally pushes Jay off a balcony and to his death. James later learns from Lauren the secrets of her past. After attempting to drown Lauren in a hot tub, Sheila kidnaps James with the help of her new partner-in-crime, the security guard Mike. She imprisons him in the basement of her house (known as “The Houdini House”) for some time. When James escapes and her secrets finally surface, she holds Stephanie, Eric, Ridge, Brooke, Lauren and James hostage in the Forrester mansion, welcoming them to her “goodbye party.”
At the “party,” Sheila tells everyone in attendance how they had personally wronged her (which she felt everyone did except for Brooke, who stopped their friendship at the behest of the Forresters). She then threatened to kill everyone except Brooke, who stunned Sheila when she said that the Forresters are family to her and if Sheila were to kill them, she would have to kill Brooke as well. Holding a gun to Stephanie, Sheila has a change of heart when the others step in front of her, and swallows a bottle of poison.
Having survived, Sheila is placed in a mental institution, under the care of Dr. Brian Carey (Kin Shriner), but does not remain there for long, despite Stephanie’s attempts to keep her there for good. Sheila tries to revive her friendship with Brooke, who sides with her at first, but later wants nothing to do with her. She begins dating neighbor Grant Chambers (Charles Grant), until learning of his relationship with Michael Lai (Lindsay Price). After holding a knife to Grant, Sheila decides to set her eyes on another man – her psychiatrist, James Warwick. She continues to see James at this time, and tidbits of her abusive childhood are revealed. During a particular visit, Sheila confesses that she murdered her father by poisoning him.
At a coffee shop, she bumps into Maggie Forrester (Barbara Crampton), who she befriends. The two are amazed to discover they both have ties to the same Forrester family. When Stephanie attempts to take Brooke’s children, however, Sheila poisons her by replacing her medication with mercury pills, and ultimately frames Maggie for the crime. Maggie, later realizing who was behind the poisoning, fights with Sheila and accidentally pushes her onto a fire poker, impaling her. Sheila also makes an enemy of Forrester Creations’ rival, Sally Spectra (Darlene Conley) who defends Stephanie to her, thus planting the seeds of the eventual friendship between Stephanie and Sally.
After the fire poker incident, Sheila sets her sights on proving to James that she has changed for the better, in the hopes that he would fall in love with her. However, James has feelings for Maggie instead. Maggie goes to Sheila’s house to inform her that she needs to find a new therapist, because Maggie wouldn’t allow her to see James anymore. After Maggie taunts her excessively and throws a telephone book at her face, Sheila snaps and nearly chokes Maggie to death. Mike later kidnaps her and holds her prisoner at Pacific Park. Sheila, wanting to prove to James that she had changed, hesitantly agrees to release Maggie.
After having crashed James and Maggie’s wedding, Sheila reveals that she has become pregnant after a night alone with James. The three come to a settlement that Sheila would temporarily stay with them until her baby was born, and the child would be given to James and Maggie. After Sheila hands her baby, Mary, over to the Warwicks, she relocates to Death Valley, where she meets Amber Moore (Adrienne Frantz). Anxious to see her daughter, Sheila suggests that Amber babysit for James and Maggie, so that she can secretly visit Mary in LA. Amber is hired and keeps her alliance with Sheila secret for some time, but when Sheila threatens her, she exposes herself to James and Maggie. Sheila eventually takes matters into her own hands and takes Mary back.
James attempts to trick Sheila into marrying him, so that he can gain full custody of his daughter. When Sheila realizes the marriage is a set-up, she attempts to kill herself again by jumping off a roof. James, who had actually fallen for Sheila during this time, promises to stay with her. Meanwhile, an angry Maggie sneaks into Sheila’s hospital room and cuts off her oxygen. Sheila is rescued by doctors and Maggie is immediately arrested.
With the help of Mike Guthrie and his brother Martin, a desperate Maggie captures Sheila and holds her prisoner, appropriately, in the house from Psycho at Universal Studios Hollywood. When Sheila escapes, James demands that Maggie leave. Maggie and Lauren later team up in an attempt to drive Sheila over the edge. They wire Sheila’s house with hidden cameras and an audio system, while the former nanny Judy surprises Sheila on her doorstep. The plan fails, however, and Maggie, realizing James and the baby are lost to her, leaves town. When a friendship begins between James and Stephanie, a paranoid Sheila becomes jealous and attempts to drown Stephanie in a pool. To prevent Stephanie from telling anyone about this incident, Sheila threatens to kill Stephanie’s grandson, Thomas. Sheila is arrested for the threat, but secretly switches places with a woman named Sybil. After breaking out of prison in disguise, Sheila shoots Stephanie, kidnaps baby Mary and leaves town.
Sheila returns to L.A. four years later to find her now-teenage daughter Mary (whom she had renamed Erica Lovejoy). Erica (Courtnee Draper), who is completely unaware of her mother’s past or her own real name, has traveled to L.A. to meet her idol – Amber Forrester. She soon develops a crush on Amber’s husband, Rick (then played by Justin Torkildsen), although she never intends to act on her feelings. Sheila convinces Erica to seduce Rick, saying that a Forrester man would never abandon the woman carrying his child. She then pays off a man named Lance to drug Amber and take her to bed. Amber tracks Lance down and begins to question him. When a nervous Lance threatens to tell Amber everything, Sheila kills him by releasing a tank of bees into his apartment.
Amber becomes increasingly suspicious and confronts Erica in Rick’s office. During a struggle, Erica falls and hits her head on a desk, making Amber look guilty of pushing her. At the hospital, a disguised Sheila confronts Amber, angrily warning her to stay away from her daughter. Amber then decides to look for clues at Erica’s apartment, but is impeded when Sheila throws a pot at the window and the police arrive, arresting Amber and causing the Forresters to distrust her further. Meanwhile, while browsing through a photo album of Eric’s, Erica is startled to find a picture of her mother. She then learns that Sheila was formerly married to Eric, and that her mother wants her to live the life she had always dreamed of with Rick. Sheila pushes Erica to have sex with Rick, so that she can live vicariously as a Forrester through her daughter.
As a reluctant Erica is about to carry out her mother’s plan, Rick’s brother Ridge bursts in and exposes Erica’s true identity. Rick kicks Erica out, but not before Sheila kidnaps Amber, who is stunned to learn that Erica is really Mary Warwick. Sheila litters the crime scene with drugs and tequila, then drags Amber off to her apartment. Massimo Marone (Joseph Mascolo) – who had been romantically involved with Sheila for a short time – gets a call from Sheila, and Stephanie recognizes her voice. The two track Sheila and Amber down. Sheila then flees and holds Eric and Taylor Hayes (Hunter Tylo) hostage at the mansion. But when Brooke walks into the room, a struggle ensues in which Taylor and Brooke are shot. Brooke survives her wounds, whereas Taylor succumbs. Sheila is arrested and subsequently confronted by her daughter, who condemns Sheila’s actions and wants nothing to do with her. Sheila is jailed for her crimes but soon escapes with the help of a sympathetic warden named Sugar (Robin Mattson).
In late 2003, she kidnaps Ridge and Brooke, while on their South American honeymoon. Soon Ridge’s half-brother Nick Marone (Jack Wagner) arrives to rescue Ridge but he is soon captured by Sheila as well. When Ridge and Nick’s father, Massimo, arrives to deliver the ransom, Sheila reveals that she had a baby daughter, Diana, whom she claims to be the result of a brief fling she had with Massimo during her previous trip to L.A. When Massimo tries (unsuccessfully) to trick Sheila into handing over the infant, she and Sugar run away. Brooke and Nick are soon rescued; however, it is believed that Ridge had been burned alive in the foundry Sheila stashed him in. Soon after, it is revealed that Ridge had survived, and he reunites with Brooke on the island.
[edit] Return to The Young and the Restless
Sheila returns to Genoa City in August 2005 and begins terrorising Lauren once again, by indirectly turning her now-adult son Scott (Blair Redford) against her, under the alias “Brenda Harris”. It is soon revealed that the woman in the mental institution who was believed to be Sheila (having turned herself in) is actually Sugar – Sheila had tricked her into having plastic surgery in order to look just like Sheila, and then turned Sugar in to the police. Meanwhile, the real Sheila develops another persona, “Jennifer Mitchell,” by wearing a fake nose, wig, and speaking in a British accent. She allies with Tom Fisher (Roscoe Born), who helps her in her scheme to poison Lauren with a necklace that Scott would offer his mother as a gift. In exchange, Tom has Sheila manipulate his estranged wife Gloria Abbott (Judith Chapman) into giving him money and later bailing him out of prison.
When Lauren plans a rooftop dinner with fiancé Michael Baldwin (Christian LeBlanc), Sheila surprises her and persuades her to commit suicide by jumping off of the roof. Lauren, intoxicated by the poisoned necklace, believes Sheila is a hallucination and before she can jump, she is rescued by Michael and taken to the hospital. There, Sheila sneaks into her hospital room as “Jennifer,” and attempts to inject the poison into Lauren’s bloodstream, but is interrupted before she can execute her plan.
In December 2005, she convinces Tom (who is Michael’s stepfather) to help her abduct Lauren from a yacht while on her honeymoon with Michael. She then bombs the yacht, hoping to kill both Lauren and Tom, who she wants to take the fall for the crime. Sheila is then trapped in a bomb shelter with her nemesis when Tom turns on her. Tom leaves the two together and in the meantime is shot and killed by John Abbott (Jerry Douglas). When the bomb shelter is nearly destroyed in an accident, Lauren is astonished when Sheila saves her life. Sheila escapes on her own and is last seen in an unidentified plastic surgeon’s office in January 2006, asking for a new face.
It was revealed at the end of 2006 that Paul had been hiding the fact that Sheila (who had had plastic surgery in order to look like Phyllis Newman (Michelle Stafford)) was still alive, and that he had been keeping her locked in a cage she had constructed in an abandoned warehouse. However, Sheila was determined to escape and take Phyllis’s place in order to infiltrate Michael and Lauren’s lives. Sheila was accidentally freed from the prison she created for Lauren by Detective Maggie Sullivan (Tammy Lauren), Paul’s girlfriend. After acting as a kidnap victim and pleading for Maggie’s help, Maggie opened up the cell, and uncuffed Sheila. Sheila thanked her, then choked her to the ground, bound her, and shot her. Maggie survived the injury, but lost a lot of blood.
Subsequently, Paul returned to the warehouse only to be ambushed by Sheila, who imprisoned both Paul and Maggie in the cell. Sheila and Phyllis then had a face to face encounter. After overpowering Phyllis, Sheila lured an unsuspecting Lauren and her baby Fenmore into her clutches; she then fled with Phyllis and the babies as hostages, after subduing Lauren. By this time Michael had arrived at the warehouse and freed Paul and Maggie, the latter being taken to the hospital after that.
Posing as an elderly woman named Betsy, Sheila took Phyllis, Summer, and Fen to a nearby retirement home to hide out. After learning of their location, Lauren went to the home carrying a gun in her purse. Following a tip from a neighbor, Lauren found Sheila’s apartment and forced her way inside. Sheila and Phyllis then argued over who was who, and Lauren screams at them to stop. Sheila then ran to grab baby Summer to use her as a shield against Lauren; Phyllis yelled “Point the gun at me! Lauren, point the gun at me!” in order to protect her daughter. A frightened Lauren (realizing the real Phyllis would never put her daughter in the line of fire) turned to Sheila and shot her in the chest. Sheila angrily hissed, “You shot the wrong one!” as she fell into a chair. Sheila then taunted Lauren by saying “You’ll never be rid of me…” before succumbing to her gunshot wound. Shortly thereafter, police said that the woman who was shot was, in fact, Sheila Carter.
