Tyrone Jackson - Dina Mergeron

Dina Abbott Mergeron (formerly Delgado) first appeared onscreen in April 1983 as the ex-wife of John Abbott, Sr. (Jerry Douglas) and the mother of Jack, Ashley and Traci Abbott. The role was portrayed by Marla Adams. She was initially on contract from 1983 to 1986, and then returned in 1991 and 1996. In 2008, after a twelve-year absence from The Young and the Restless, Adams reprised the role for several guest appearances from November 14 to 18, 2008.

History
Dina was the first wife of Jabot founder, John Abbott, Sr. She is the mother of Jack, Ashley and Traci Abbott, is the grandmother of Jack's children, Keemo, Kyle and Summer, Ashley's daughter, Abby, and Traci's late daughter, Colleen. Dina came from a professional upper-class society 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 were close friends who had gone to the same high school through their earlier years and developed a strong level of friendship beyond those years. Dina left John a decade prior to moving to Genoa City, leaving him to raise Jack, Ashley and Traci on his own. Thanks to the help of 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 and tried to buy Jabot Cosmetics. She kept her identity hidden, but she failed. 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 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 dinner, 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 Foster, 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. Only Dina, Jack, Jill, Katherine and Victor know the secret of Ashley's real parentage.

Dina made infrequent visits periodically, but for the most part has remained in Paris, where she runs Mergeron Cosmetics. She was mentioned when John mistook his last wife, Gloria Bardwell, as Dina. 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 after a long absence for Katherine's funeral, when in reality her look alike, Marge Cotrooke, was really 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.