Beth Maitland of 'The Young and the Restless'

Actress Beth Maitland is best known for portraying Traci Abbott, Connolly, Carlton, in the CBS Daytime drama The Young and the Restless. She debuted on the soap opera in 1982 and remained until 1996. She returned in 2001 and continues to the present day on a recurring basis. In 2007 the character of Traci did a crossover to CBS sister soap The Bold and the Beautiful. Maitland was only supposed to be in the role of the Abbott sibling for 3 months but made such an impression on the powers that be, that they brought her on full-time. She won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series 1985.

Beth Maitland was born on May 12, 1958 and attended Arizona State University, where she majored in music and theater. In addition to The Young and the Restless, the actress has appeared in the motion picture Mr. Holland's Opus in 1995. She also had roles in the television movies Plaza Suite, 1987 and The Grove, 2013. In 2019 she was in the Short, Number 2. The soap veteran also was in two TV Series in 2017, Criminal Minds and Bronzeville. She was a guest on the Marie talk show in 2013 and Home and Family in 2018.

Maitland is active in a Los Angeles theater company and currently does radio plays. She also appears live with the Santa Clarita Playhouse and does voiceovers. Beth Maitland married Christopher Barringer in 1989 and they have one daughter. The couple divorced, however, in 2018. Soaps in Depth has dubbed this beloved soap veteran as a fan favorite but not so long ago it appeared that she was anything but. After Lily Ashby divorced her husband Cane, he became quite close with Traci and she daydreamed that he was the hero in the book she was writing.

When it looked as if the duo might become romantically entangled, some fans made hateful comments online because Traci was much older than Cane. There was another reason for the opposition to the union, and that was the fact that Cane's ex-wife Lily was the best friend of Traci's late daughter Coleen. Traci had been like a mother figure to Lily so fans thought Cane dating her was wrong on several levels. Beth Maitland dealt with the online bullying with grace and explained that she was only following the script the writers had given her.

It was assumed by some Y&R viewers that Cane would let Traci down easily. This was because the storyline seemed to imply she was the one who was seeking the relationship. Initially Traci was daydreaming that Cane was the hero in the book that she was writing. The writers, however, had Cane to be the one who decided to want to date Traci and she was the one who let him down. Since that time Traci has been the backbone of the Abbott family through the crisis of Dina's sickness and death and dealing with new relative Theo.

Traci is the glue that holds her loved ones together but she has suffered tragedies. Her two marriages ended in divorce and her daughter Coleen died. Traci really went through a rough time when their mother Dina was dying of Alzheimer's disease. Dina seemed to forget who Traci was and this really hurt her daughter. Just before she passed away, Madame Mergeron called Traci by name and told her that she would never be forgotten.

During Christmas of 2019, Traci was singing O Come All Ye Faithful and her mother snapped out of her decline long enough to join in with the chorus. Fans simply adore both Beth Maitland and also her popular character. In 2022 spoilers say to look forward to more of Traci giving sage advice to her loved ones.