Sharon Newman

Sharon Newman (née Collins, formerly Abbott) is a fictional character on the American CBS Daytime soap opera The Young and the Restless, portrayed by Sharon Case. Created by William J. Bell as a love interest for Nicholas Newman (Joshua Morrow), the character made her debut March 24, 1994. Before Case took over the role Newman was portrayed by Monica Potter and Heidi Mark, who each played the role for two months. When first introduced, the character was described as a "young girl from the poor side of town". Nick and Sharon quickly married, had a son—Noah (Robert Adamson)—and later obtained custody of Cassie (Camryn Grimes), the baby Sharon had as a teenager and gave up for adoption. Their marriage faced a number of problems, including infidelity on both sides. Following Cassie's death in an automobile accident Nick cheated on Sharon with Phyllis Summers (Michelle Stafford), resulting in a pregnancy which ended their 11-year marriage.

Despite her marriage to (and divorce from) Jack Abbott (Peter Bergman), Nick and Sharon had an affair and conceived a third child: Faith Newman (Alyvia Alyn Lind). During the pregnancy, Sharon experienced kleptomania. Faith was kidnapped by Adam Newman (Michael Muhney), Nick's brother, leading Sharon to believe she had died. Sharon then began a relationship with Adam, which led to a brief marriage. When Adam's actions were revealed and Faith was returned to Nick and Sharon, she remained in love with him; Case called the pairing surprising, while SoapNet considered the relationship "dark".

During head writer and executive producer Maria Arena Bell's tenure on the show, the character's storyline changed direction. In 2011, Sharon escaped from prison (and was presumed dead) after being falsely convicted for the murder of Skye Newman (Laura Stone). The following year she had a romantic relationship with her ex-father-in-law, Victor Newman (Eric Braeden), which Case called incestuous. This was followed by a storyline which saw Sharon gain control over Victor's company (Newman Enterprises) while he was missing. The once-"beloved" character was now perceived as "crazy", with critics blaming Bell for the character's "royal destruction" "via one ill-conceived storyline and/or romance after another" amid promises to strengthen Sharon's character. Bell was fired and replaced with Josh Griffith, who vowed to rebuild the character (which led to Sharon's diagnosis of bipolar disorder to explain her out-of-character behavior).

Sharon has been characterized as "kindhearted", "insecure" and "not your typical romantic lead". Despite the character's crimes and faults, she is described as a central heroine and has been called soap opera's "hottest mess". The supercouple pairing of Nick and Sharon (known as "Shick" by viewers) attracted a large fan following. Case has became popular with viewers, earning a number of awards and nominations (including two Soap Opera Digest Awards and the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in 1999, and five other Daytime Emmy nominations). Her performance has received general praise from critics, with many applauding her overcoming of Bell's heavily-panned storylines.