Katherine Chancellor is a fictional character from the CBS Daytime soap opera The Young and the Restless, portrayed by Jeanne Cooper.

Cooper is regarded as an icon of the genre, with some critics believing her character and performance are chiefly responsible for the soap opera's success and longevity.

[6] The character was introduced by Bell, after he was disappointed with the series' weak ratings, and hired Cooper as a quick fix to add controversy to the storylines.

[3] In 2010, Cooper said she was called in by producer John Conboy for the role, who thought she was "such a good actress" and "hoped she would be interested in daytime".

"[19] Cooper has also said she felt it was "so smart" for the show to start Katherine off as a drunk, "because that has given her such a range of personality traits to express over the years.

storyline and our characters were in court, and being thrown about, a faction of fans lined up at CBS with posters marching, and this group flew in from the east coast.

How much more moving it would have been if these two women faced Katherine's request for Jill to name her child Phillip as former adversaries trying to put the past behind them instead of as bitter enemies of days gone by.

Executive producer Jill Farren Phelps also revealed that in addition to the memorial tribute for Cooper, the writers would also incorporate Katherine Chancellor's death into the series.

Phelps denied rumors the show was planning to recast and revealed Kay's exit would be "as dramatic and meaningful as possible".

[28] Cooper's co-star, Daniel Goddard, revealed on Facebook that filming for Katherine's memorial began on July 16, and was slated to air on September 3 and 4.

[32] Katherine attends high school with several Genoa City residents including best friend, John Abbott, and his future wife, Dina.

[33] After her graduation from Genoa City University, Katherine marries her high school and college classmate, Gary Reynolds.

In August 1975, after Phillip returns from obtaining a divorce, Kay tries to win him back and ends up driving their car off a cliff.

However, in exchange for staying in the marriage, Katherine would set up a $100,000 trust fund for Jill's son, Phillip Chancellor III.

Jill later hires conman, Brian Romalotti, aka Rex Sterling (Quinn Redeker) to romance Katherine and steal her fortune, but the plan backfires when the duo actually falls in love and marry.

Later, Rex's former cellmate, Clint Radison finds Marge Cotrooke (also played by Cooper), who is a dead ringer for Kay and switches her with the real Katherine.

When Brock leaves town, Katherine petitions for sole custody of Mac from her mother, Amanda Browning (Denice Duff).

When Amanda reveals she has also run away from her husband, Ralph Hunnicutt (Angelo Tiffe, Daniel Quinn), Katherine convinces her to move into the mansion.

The revelation forces Mackenzie to end her marriage to Jill's son, Billy Abbott (Ryan Brown) due to them being cousins.

The baby turns out to be Cane Ashby (Daniel Goddard), who had recently "married" the scheming Amber Moore (Adrienne Frantz).

In the summer of 2009, it is revealed Cane is not Jill's son, but a man hired by the real Phillip who faked his death because he was gay.

Katherine later decides to take Chancellor Industries public only for her to become the victim of a hostile takeover by Tucker McCall (Stephen Nichols), who is revealed to be her biological son; the child Jill was supposed to be.

Despite a rocky relationship, Katherine rushes to Tucker's side when he ends up in a coma and is given control of his company, McCall Unlimited.

In the meantime, Katherine stops Tucker's attempt to buy up shares of Victor's company, Newman Enterprises, and even fires his executive, Sofia Winters (Julia Pace Mitchell), and Ashley from Jabot.

When Jack takes control of Newman Enterprises and steals Neil away from Chancellor, Katherine comes out of retirement to run her company on her own.

Katherine begins suffering from lapses of memory and Jill blames her new assistant, Adriana Stone (Jhoanna Flores).

[39][40] Katherine and Murphy then embark on a three-month-long vacation to several locations where they send postcards to her relatives instructing them to meet her at the mansion on August 16.

[41][42] HuffPost TV ranked her at number four on "The 15 Most Memorable Female Soap Opera Characters Ever", with Michael Maloney writing:[43] We've watched Katherine Chancellor lose her husband to a younger woman, undergo a face-lift, battle alcoholism and return to her family after her doppelganger died in a car wreck.

Cooper's Kay lends sympathetic support to loved ones like her best pal Nikki and her granddaughter Mac, but what we love to see Kay do more than anything is outwit her rival Jill, a feat she often excels at.In 2022, Charlie Mason from Soaps She Knows named Katherine as the best character on his list of the best 25 characters from The Young and the Restless, commenting "Who on earth could possibly outrank the undisputed king of Genoa City?

A rare gem, the so-called Duchess was a fabulously flawed individual who was fated to follow her heart… even when that foolish organ convinced her that it was a great idea to drive over a cliff with her estranged husband in tow!