The Young and the Restless has cast veteran actress Valarie Pettiford for a role on the show as a character who has been missing since the late ’80s.

Deadline exclusively broke the news that Pettiford has been cast on the long-running, top-rated CBS soap in the role of Amy Lewis. Pettiford is taking over the role that Stephanie E. Williams last played. Williams originated the character in 1983 and she was last seen as 1988.

Who is Amy Lewis on The Young and The Restless?

Lewis is not a character that may come to mind when thinking about ones who may return, but she has some deep Genoa City history.

This is a character deep in Y&R lore, so here is an explainer from Soaps.com:

“[…] Amy is one of the last characters we expected to ever see again, ever since she left town to take care of her father back in 1988! Back in the day, she worked as Paul and Andy’s secretary at their private investigator agency, and her exit is what prompted Paul to hire Lynne in her stead. She was far more, though, than just an occasional coworker as she was friends with much of the younger crowd back in the day, including Danny, Lauren and Traci. In fact, they all used to join Danny up on stage when he toured! On top of that, she dated Nate’s father, Nathan, and, when she discovered he was illiterate, took it upon herself to teach him to read and write. There aren’t TOO many characters still on canvas that she connected with, though, but we wouldn’t be surprised if she ran into Danny and Christine on tour and decided to head back to Genoa City for a bit to catch up with old friends.“

When will Valarie Pettiford first appear is Shelia Price?

Pettiford will be a recurring cast member and she’ll first appear on the soap beginning Oct. 29.

The actress has an extensive resume across film, television and stage, and this marks a return to daytime for her after playing Shelia Price on One Life to Live from 1990 to 1994 and Courtney Walker on Another World from 1988 to 1990. Coincidentally enough, Williams, Amy Lewis’ prior portrayer also played Price at one point on OLTL.

Pettiford is probably best known for her role as Deirdre LaFontaine (aka Big Dee Dee) on the UPN sitcom, Half & Half. She was also nominated for a Tony in 1999 for Fosse. Other TV and film credits include Fame L.A., The District, Tyler Perry’s House of Payne, The Blacklist, Why Did I Get Married Too? and Stomp the Yard and many more.

She currently stars on BET+’s Carl Weber’s The Family Business, and wrapped a multi-year stint a few years back on A Discovery of Witches.

Valarie Pettiford

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