Mamie Makes a Return on 'The Young and the Restless' to Celebrate 50 Years — Where Has She Been?

Mark your calendars, Y&R fans! The Young and the Restless is gearing up to celebrate its 50th anniversary. The long-running soap opera first premiered on March 26, 1973. Since its debut, it has gone down as one of the most impactful television series in history, having set the standard for soap opera storytelling that many of its spiritual predecessors and competitors would emulate well into the future. With 50 years fast approaching for the beloved series, it's celebrating in style.

The Young and the Restless initially followed the social class rivalry between the wealthy Brooks family and working class Foster family within the fictional Midwestern town of Genoa City. After several departures and recasts, the show has evolved to depict the lives of several different rivaling families and the intricate drama that they face.

Cast members and characters have come and gone, but a 50th anniversary means that people are bound to return.

Mamie is set to make an appearance again, but what happened to her?

Of all the characters featured throughout Y&R's long history, Mamie Johnson is one of the most beloved. She initially debuted in 1980 as the housekeeper for the Abbott family. Soaps in Depth notes that she acted as a surrogate mother to the three oldest Abbot children after their parents divorced and their mother left to move to Paris. She was made to balance raising the children all while trying to foil the schemes of Jill Abbot, the second wife of John Abbott and the children's stepmother.

She cared deeply for the children and even developed feelings for John in the process. Despite Jill forcing her to leave after John went into a coma, Mamie would later return to help the Abbott family several years later in their hour of need.

As a character, Mamie remained on the show until 2004, when she left to travel the world. From then on, she was only mentioned in passing. However, she's set to make a comeback to be among the Y&R families to celebrate 50 years.

Seventy-four-year-old actress Veronica Redd reprises her role as Mamie in the anniversary episode. Despite several acting credits in series like The Jeffersons and Diff'rent Strokes in the late 1970s and early 1980s, her role on Y&R is still one of her most notable.

Interestingly enough, though, she is the second actress to have portrayed the character of Mamie.

Though Veronica Redd is set to return as Mamie, the role originally belonged to Marguerite Ray. In fact, Mamie was one of Marguerite's first roles when the character debuted in 1980. She even made history as the first Black person to become a regular on the soap opera. She left the show in 1989 and continued her acting career until 2001.

Marguerite passed away back in November 2020 at the age of 89. In a subsequent Daytime Emmy "In Memoriam" segment, Veronica's image was mistakenly associated with Marguerite's name as the show honored those who had passed at the time. Many fans tagged CBS to correct their mistake.

Still, Marguerite left behind a notable legacy as Mamie, whose presence has affected the show greatly.