Given that it is one of the longest-running soap operas in television history, The Young and the
Restless is home to a revolving door of castmates who are both familiar faces and fresh newcomers. The
juicy tales of the feuding families known as the Abbotts and the Newmans have graced the airwaves since
the first-ever season arrived in 1973.
Now, some 50 years later, the suburban rivalries of Genoa City that define The Young and the Restless have remained soapy enough to sustain over one thousand episodes across 51 seasons, garnering 33 Daytime Emmy nominations and catapulting some castmates into superstardom. Among those stars is Eric Braeden, the actor who portrays businessman and Genoa resident Victor Newman.
Victor Newman first appeared on The Young and the Restless in 1980, then seven years into the soap opera’s overall run. Newman was initially pitched as a short-lived character as part of a six-month storyline but has since evolved into one of the show’s central male characters and remained a series regular for some 40 years.
Unlike some other characters, in The Young and the Restless, an official age has not been outlined for Victor Newman. Some mentions of Newman’s backstory had him aged seven in 1954 when he was placed in an orphanage. That history, if aligned with the real-time run of The Young and the Restless, would mean Newman is around 76 years old.
That timeline aligns with more official histories of the character, which definitively say Newman was born in 1947. The character is said to have moved to Genoa City in 1980, and there have been a few references to his actual birthdate in the years since his arrival. According to Soap Opera Spy, Newman’s birthday has been referred to around three times, all within March but on different days.
In a 2012 episode, for example, it was mentioned that Newman was born on March 14th, though previous episodes had shown his driver’s license with a birthday of March 7th. In any case, at least showrunners can agree that the character is a Pisces, regardless of the actual date.
Given that Newman has been portrayed for his entire run by Braeden, fans can guesstimate the character’s age based on the person who plays him. Born in 1941, Braeden is 82 years old as of October 2023, just a few years older than Newman’s fictional age. Braeden’s enduring run on The Young and the Restless has earned him eight Daytime Emmy Awards nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, and he won the trophy in 1998.
