TERRY LESTER, American actor (d. 2003); Lester was born in Indianapolis, Indiana and began an acting career while at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. After years of musical theater, concert performances, numerous prime time TV guest roles, and a season starring in the 1976 children’s series Ark II, Lester had his big break when he joined CBS daytime soap The Young and the Restless (Y&R) in 1980. He created 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 Y&R creator William J. Bell wrote an entire family for him. Y&R 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. Lester kept his personal life under wraps but a 2003 L.A. Magazine article on former soap star Thom Bierdz outed Lester along with Michael Corbett and Bierdz, who made up a trio of Gay actors who worked on Y&R in the 1980s.