Credit: Gilles Toucas/CBS, Howard Wise/JPI, Sean Smith/JPI (2), Aaron Montgomery/JPI (2)
That Way Madness Lies
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Since being introduced on The Young and the Restless in 1990, Sheila Carter has done it all, from stealing both husbands and babies to treating anyone and everyone who displeases her as a moving target. And though the card-carrying psycho has been arrested, institutionalized and even (cough) killed, she’s still around. Why? Kimberlin Brown thinks that she knows. “A lot of other daytime villains are gone because there was really no sympathy for the horrible things they were doing,” she told Soaps.com in 2021, “whereas in my mind, the story I’ve always tried to tell is that everything she does she does for love.” Sure, Jan.
Papa, Can You Fear Me?
By the time Sheila moved from Michigan to Genoa City, father Gregory Carter was already deceased. But the villainess’ portrayer believes that his impact on her has been long-lasting. Explaining to Soaps.com the backstory that she made up decades ago, Brown theorized in character that “something terrible happened in my past. Absolutely terrible. I’m sure it had something to do with both of my parents as well.” Whatever it was, it transformed Sheila into the seemingly unstoppable madwoman that we’ve come to know and have nightmares about.
Mother Knows Best
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Sheila’s relationship with mom Molly Carter was… hmm. “Strained” doesn’t really begin to describe it. And in the end, “strained” wouldn’t have described it at all, because when she learned that Sheila had taken Lauren Fenmore’s baby and replaced it with an ill-fated black-market newborn, all to hold on to Scott Grainger — the spouse that she’d also swiped from Lauren! — Molly vowed to reveal the bad seed’s misdeeds. In response, Sheila stuck Mom’s head in the oven and later tried to cook her goose by burning her to a crisp at her own farmhouse.
Twisted Sister
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In 2010, The Young and the Restless revealed that Sheila had a sibling… who was every bit as bat-bleep-crazy as she was. Wiggy Sarah Smythe, having traveled to South America to undergo enough plastic surgery to turn her into a dead ringer for Lauren, showed up in Genoa City hell-bent on avenging Sheila’s “murder” by destroying her nemesis’ life. But since she wore telltale lipstick that was way redder than Lauren ever would — and had hatched a plan that was as full of holes as a slice of Swiss cheese — the malevolent lookalike succeeded only in getting killed, not even.
A Real Chip Off the Ol’ Block
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The daughter of Sheila and “Terrible Tom” Fisher, Daisy Carter spent her years in Genoa City working toward a singular goal: earning the title of Worst Person Ever. To that end, when not gleefully adding cashews and almonds to Aunt Sarah’s already-nutty-enough plot to terrorize Lauren, Daisy raped Daniel Romalotti, managed to score a Get Out of Jail Free card — just like Mom, eh? — and even managed to coerce the object of her obsession into marrying her to be close to the baby that had resulted from the sexual assault that she’d committed.
Significant Brother
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Bless his heart, Ryder Callahan had something that his twin Daisy did not: a conscience. So although he, too, helped Aunt Sarah torment Lauren, he felt bad about it. Super sexily bad. As a result, Sheila’s son attracted the amorous attention of half brother Kevin Fisher’s wife, Jana Hawkes, which, in turn, made the guys not just siblings but sibling rivals.
It’s a (Very Pissed-Off) Boy
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Apparently, at some point while she wasn’t appearing on either The Young and the Restless or The Bold and the Beautiful, Sheila had a fling with married man Jack Finnegan and let the resulting child — Finn — be adopted by his actual dad and clueless wife Li. Sheila then sat on this secret for years and years and years before finally choosing the day of Finn’s wedding to her former granddaughter-in-law Steffy Forrester to not only reveal their relation but become, as she is wont to do, utterly fixated on it.
What’s in a Name?
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Conceived during a drunken tryst, Fertile Myrtle Sheila’s daughter with her onetime shrink/prisoner James Warwick was born Mary but grew up being called Erica Lovejoy. Only after she’d made tracks to Los Angeles, where she attempted to pull a Mom and steal Rick Forrester from then-wife Amber Moore, did Erica learn her true identity and catch on to the fact that perhaps Sheila wasn’t ever going to receive that coveted Parent of the Year nomination. (Once Mama’s murdered a man with bees to protect her secrets, the only award for which she’s really in line is Inmate of the Month.)
Missing in Action
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In a 2003 crime spree on The Bold and the Beautiful, Sheila delighted in revealing to ex-lover Massimo Marone that their brief affair had resulted in the birth of a daughter, Diana Carter — and then stealing away with the tot. Where has Diana been for the last couple of decades? Where is she now? We’ve never been told. It also bears asking: Wouldn’t a former nurse like Sheila have some awareness that such a thing exists as birth control? Or has she always just hoped to keep popping out and/or abducting kids until she finally finds one that’s crazy enough to like her?
Grandma, What Big Opportunities You Have
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We fear for Lucy Romalotti. We really do. It isn’t like Sheila not to try to force a relationship with a relative. So once she remembers that daughter Daisy has a daughter of her own — being raised by dad Daniel and his ex, Heather Stevens — we suspect that the grandmother from hell will skedaddle over to The Young and the Restless to make her “devotion” known. But at least for the moment — enjoy it while it lasts, Lucy! — the only grandkid in whom Sheila seems to be interested is…
Well, Hayes There!
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Never mind that Sheila accidentally shot Finn and deliberately shot Steffy; the pistol-packing wackjob still thinks not only that she deserves to be trusted around the couple’s son, Hayes, but that one day maybe she’ll get to babysit the boy. We, on the other hand, suspect that that’s about as likely to happen as Forrester Creations is to put out a line of designer snap dresses. Even if Finn weakens — hey, he’s not exactly one of our great thinkers — Sheila would still have to get past someone who absolutely hates her…
Foe Real
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The namesake of grandma Stephanie Forrester — years ago, the enemy at the top of Sheila’s hit list — Steffy has more reasons to despise her monster-in-law than we even have room for (and this is the Internet!). Besides “murdering” Steffy’s mom Taylor, shooting her nana and shacking up with her old flame Bill Spencer, Sheila gunned down Hayes’ mother. In cold blood. That just ain’t the kinda thing you forgive or forget… even if it was done, as Brown might say, out of love.
The One That Got Away
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What is it about Sheila and dumb doctors? She’s got a halfwit son in Finn now, and her original obsession back on The Young and the Restless in the ’90s was Lauren’s — and her own eventual — husband, Scott. He was so lunkheaded that, before he passed away, he actually urged Lauren to put behind her all of the times that Sheila had tried to kill her and move on. Dude, no. Just no.
Fashion’s Plaything
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When Sheila first crossed over to The Bold and the Beautiful, she worked her wiles on Forrester Creations boss Eric — to the point that she got him to put a ring on it. But nothing in her huge bag of tricks could get him to keep a ring on it, not after Lauren visited L.A., and Sheila’s litany of sins came to light. Decades later, it dawned on her anew that she liked Eric. But his then-wife Quinn Fuller proved more difficult to displace than even Stephanie had been!
Hands Off, Bub!
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A funny thing happened on James’ way to happily ever after with Maggie Forrester: Sheila. He initially hoped that he and Maggie could raise his daughter by his one-nightmare stand but, after marrying his babymama, discovered that he felt more for her than fear. They might have even stayed together, had her jealousy of Stephanie not turned her into a green-eyed monster (emphasis on the “monster” part).
