• 1983–1986 • 1991 • 1996 • 2008 • 2017–2020 }} •
William J. Bell and
H. Wesley Kenney (1983) • Bell and
Edward J. Scott (1991, 1996) •
Maria Arena Bell and
Paul Rauch (2008) •
Mal Young and
Sally Sussman Morina (2017) }} }}
Dina Abbott Mergeron first appeared on April 22, 1983, as the ex-wife of
John Abbott (
Jerry Douglas) and the mother of
Jack,
Ashley, and
Traci Abbott. The role is portrayed by
Marla Adams. From April 22, 1983 to July 16, 1986, Adams appeared as a series regular (she was dropped to recurring in late 1985) with return appearances in 1991 and 1996. In 2008, Adams reprised the role from November 14 to 18, 2008, and again starting on May 3, 2017. In October 2020, it was announced that she would exit the role. Dina is the first wife of Jabot founder,
John Abbott. She is the mother of
Jack,
Ashley, and
Traci Abbott. Dina came from a professional upper-class society family of Genoa City. She was very close with
Katherine Chancellor; a prime example came when they were having tea at the Chancellor Estate and remembered the day Dina and John asked Katherine to be Ashley's godmother a few days after she was born. It was revealed that it was Katherine who gave Ashley the middle name of Suzanne as a tribute to a former close friend of theirs in high school who had died because she was such a "beauty". It had also been comically noted over the years that Dina, John, Katherine,
Joanna Manning,
Neil Fenmore, Stuart Brooks, and Gary Reynolds had gone to the same high school and developed a strong friendship beyond those years. Dina left John to raise their children on his own. Thanks to his housekeeper,
Mamie Johnson, he had the help he needed. In 1983, Dina was now the widow of a wealthy cosmetics baron, Marcel Mergeron. She came to Genoa City as the mysterious "Madame Mergeron", shocking the Abbott family when her identity was revealed. As the head of her own cosmetics firm, she tried unsuccessfully to buy
Jabot Cosmetics. When she was in town, the secret also came out that Ashley was not John's daughter. Dina was at Jack's side after he was shot by his first wife,
Patty Williams. When Ashley accepted Parisian painter Eric Garrison's marriage proposal, his belongings arrived from Paris. Ashley found among them a painting of her estranged mother which was signed, "All My Love, Eric". Ashley soon broke it off with Eric and fell in love with Marc Mergeron, who turned out to be Dina's stepson from Marcel. Soon, former Genoa City Country Club tennis pro Brent Davis returned to town and began an affair with Katherine Chancellor. When he found out that he was dying, Brent wanted to reveal that he had been Dina's lover and was Ashley's biological father. Dina and Kay tried to talk him out of it, but Ashley was traumatized by the news when he told her, and she ended up losing her memory at a roadside diner, where she took the name "Annie" and worked as a waitress. When Brent and Kay returned from a vacation together, Dina confronted Brent about what he had done. Dina shot Brent but missed, and Kay was shot instead. Jack figured out what had happened, and he and his flame at the time,
Jill Abbott, confronted Dina. Dina and John began a search for Ashley. A truck driver saw one of their fliers, figured out who "Annie" really was and offered her whereabouts to John for ransom.
Victor Newman ended up finding her at the diner and took her home to recuperate with him and his wife,
Nikki Newman, at the Newman Ranch. Ashley forgave Brent just before his death, and she vowed that John Abbott would never find out. At the time, only Ashley, Dina, Jack, Jill, Katherine, and Victor knew of Ashley's real parentage. Dina faded out of the story with the assumption that she had returned to Paris after being jealous of John's newfound friendship with Joanna Manning. When Traci remarries
Brad Carlton in 1991, Dina surprised everybody by showing up and, once again, John became entranced by her classiness and sophistication. While Jack was overjoyed by her return, Ashley and Traci both have resentments towards their mother for her absence. John, lonely after his divorce from Jill, quickly proposed, and Dina accepted. But Jill was suspicious and hired Paul Williams to investigate Dina's whereabouts. It turned out that Dina was broke after a series of bad affairs with wealthy lovers and Jill insisted that Dina was only after John's money. Dina insisted that this was not the case but John refused to believe otherwise. Dina bid farewell to her children once again and departed for parts unknown. In 1996, at Katherine's request, a wiser (yet sadder) Dina reappeared in Genoa City, still beautiful but determined to make up for past mistakes. Dina learned that John's former secretary, Audrey North, had lied years before about having had an affair with John which caused Dina to leave him in the first place. John resumed his romance with Dina and again proposed. Although Jack was elated that his parents were involved again, Ashley and Traci were opposed. The stress John suffered while dealing with Jill, whom he had remarried, caused him to have a stroke. However, he quickly recovered. Jill and John finally agreed to divorce, and Jill made plans to live in a new home with her son, Billy. Dina surprised her family by suddenly leaving town again, suffering guilt from the hurt she had caused her family. Dina made infrequent visits but, for the most part, remained in
Paris, running Mergeron Cosmetics. She was mentioned when an imprisoned John mistook his last wife,
Gloria Bardwell, as Dina whom Jack had him "disown" from his will. In 2006, Dina and Mamie sent flowers to remember John, as they both were unable to attend his funeral. In 2008, Dina returned to Genoa City for Katherine's funeral, when in reality her look-alike,
Marge Cotrooke, was the one who died. She got a chance to meet Jack's wife at the time,
Sharon Abbott, and get reacquainted with her children. After the funeral, Dina left to attend a charity drive in
Palm Springs. In 2009, Dina also sent flowers for her granddaughter Colleen's funeral, as she was unable to attend because she was on a cruise. In 2017, Dina decides to sell her company and meets with
Devon Hamilton and
Neil Winters, who are looking to buy it. Neil's experience as an executive does not impress Dina but Devon's connection to Katherine Chancellor does because he is her grandson. Ashley, still holding resentment towards her mother, hosts an Abbott family dinner. Tracy comes in from New York on her way to a book signing and is thrilled to see her mother after all these years. Ashley still wonders if something is up with her mother's visit but cannot put her finger on it. The dinner goes well and the night ends with the family taking a selfie. Graham, Dina's companion, seems to be controlling of Dina and it begins to bother Jack and Ashley.
Abby Newman, Ashley's daughter, finally gets to meet her grandmother and confesses that she called her days ago saying she was from Newman (just to hear her voice) but instead Dina (not knowing who she is) tells her that she can tell Victor that under no circumstances will she sell her company to him and hangs up. Dina's personality has changed over the years and Ashley begins to think something is up with Graham and confronts him before they fly back to Paris and implies that he is after her mother's money. He is appalled by the accusation and assures her he is not after her money. Ashley visits her mother in her hotel room one last time before she leaves to convince her to stay but Dina says she is leaving. Just as Ashley walks out the door, Dina tells her to tell Abby goodbye for her. This sets Ashley off and she tells her that she does not have the decency to tell her granddaughter goodbye herself and is walking out of her life just like she did with her kids long ago. Abby finds out through Jack that Dina is going back to Paris and is bothered that she did not say goodbye. She heads over to the Athletic Club and sees her before she leaves and ask her to stay, but Dina says no, however she later reconsiders out of her love for Abby. In October 2017, Dina accidentally reveals Ashley's true paternity, has a mini-stroke, and is flown to Florida by her companion Graham – who is revealed to be Brent Davis's stepson, who was only after Dina for her money, after feeling abandoned by Brent. Jack and Ashley find her, and take her to Genoa City. Dina (in the mid stages of
Alzheimer's disease) accidentally burns down
Nicholas Newman's bar. Dina then confesses to having Alzheimer's to her family on Thanksgiving, causing them all to gather for her sake. Dina has frequent memory losses and mood swings. In January 2018, Dina temporarily moves to Paris with Abby. In March 2018, Dina gets lost in Paris, which causes distress for Jack and Ashley. Dina is found, and Jack decides to bring Dina home. Abby attempts to make a memoir of Dina and starts videotaping her, to try to capture Dina's moments of clarity and rashness. In one of these video recordings, Dina, reveals that Jack is not
John Abbott's son, later incorrectly identifying Phillip Chancellor for Jack's father. However, that October, it is revealed that Jack is in fact John Abbott's son, as it was all a ruse created by Ashley to gain control at Jabot. Over the holidays, Dina's memory remains scattered, but she does manage to share a pleasant Christmas with Jack, especially one where she stayed at home with him while his father worked rather than meeting friends at the country club. In May 2019, Dina enters a care facility in Genoa City. On October 16, 2020, Dina dies. In 2024, Charlie Mason from
Soaps She Knows included Dina in his list of the worst mothers in American soap operas, writing, "Oh, we know, we know—she and her kids kissed and made up in the end. But there wouldn't have been so many hard feelings to soften if Dina hadn't been a more glamorous than nurturing mom to begin with." ==Skip and Carol Evans==