| Terry Lester | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 13, 1950 Indianapolis, Indiana, USA |
| Died | November 28, 2003 (aged 53) |
Terry Lester (April 13, 1950 - November 28, 2003) was an American actor.
Lester was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, graduating from high school at Southport High School, and began an acting career while at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. His acting career consisted of musical theater, concert performances, numerous primetime TV guest roles. He had a season starring in the 1976 children's series Ark II. This was followed by roles in Airport 1975 and the 1978 Kiss movie Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park.
Lester's big break came when he joined CBS daytime soap The Young and the Restless in 1980. He originated the role of Jack Abbott, a scoundrel who never met a woman (including his own father's wife) he didn't want to take to bed. Lester was so popular that The Young and the Restless creator William J. Bell wrote an entire family for him. The Young and the Restless was going through a transition period at this time and many fans believe that Lester's star quality helped the show build more viewers and eventually rise to #1 in the daytime soap ratings.
In spite of his massive popularity, by the end of the decade Lester felt his role on the show was steadily declining. In 1989 he not only quit The Young and the Restless but took the rare step of going to the daytime press and singling out Bill Bell's young daughter, Lauralee Bell (who played ingenue Christine Blair), for his dwindling storyline. He felt the excess airtime given to her came at the expense of him and other actors. Lester was replaced by one-time All My Children star Peter Bergman, who has played Jack ever since. Lester switched to NBC to take over the role of Mason Capwell on Santa Barbara for a year. In 1992, he joined As the World Turns to play the charming Royce Keller, who was soon revealed to be suffering from multiple personalities which caused him to kill his own sister. The role was very complex, causing raves for Lester, but the headwriter behind the story, Douglas Marland, died suddenly in 1993, and Lester again found his screentime diminishing. He left the series in 1994.
The remainder of his professional life consisted of a few shots in primetime shows such as Walker, Texas Ranger and Star Trek: Voyager along with various tours in musicals and plays. To the shock of many fans, friends, and family members, Lester died at home of multiple heart attacks in 2003.
Lester kept his personal life under wraps, but a 2002 In Magazine LA article on former soap star Thom Bierdz claimed that Lester, along with Michael Corbett and Bierdz, made up a trio of gay actors who worked on The Young and the Restless in the 1980s. [1]