July 2024

Melody Thomas Scott, who stars as Nikki Newman in THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, celebrates 45 years in the role after joining the cast in February 1979.

Scott’s character has matured from the girl from the wrong side of the tracks to the serial’s luminous and resourceful leading lady. After garnering a Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in 1999, she went on to win in the same category for the Soap Opera Digest Award in 2001. She also received four Soap Opera Update Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress (1992, 1993, 1995 and 1996).

Scott began her career at age 3 under the tutelage of renowned coach Ethel Meglin, who launched the careers of Shirley Temple and Judy Garland. She studied singing, tap dancing, ballet and jazz and became one of the world-famous Meglin Kiddies, performing in USO shows as she started booking national commercials and guest spots on such series as “Wagon Train,” MY THREE SONS, “Ironside” and a recurring role on THE WALTONS.

She made her motion picture debut at age 8 when she was cast by Alfred Hitchcock as the young Tippi Hedren in the thriller “Marnie.” At 13, she co-starred with Clint Eastwood and Geraldine Page in “The Beguiled.” While still a teenager, she played ingénue roles opposite such stars as John Wayne in “The Shootist,” again with Clint Eastwood in “Dirty Harry,” in “Posse,” opposite Kirk Douglas, who also directed her, and in Brian DePalma’s “The Fury.” Scott’s other film appearances include roles in “The Car” and “Piranha.”

Scott starred in “The Paradise Virus” in February 2003, adding to her numerous television credits, which include the miniseries “Studs Lonigan” and “Moviola: The Scarlett O’Hara War” and the telefilm “Secrets.” Scott guest starred in television series including “Charlie’s Angels,” “Hotel” and “The Rockford Files,” and appeared as herself on such series as THE NANNY, DIAGNOSIS: MURDER and THE KING OF QUEENS. She was also the subject of Lifetime Television’s “Intimate Portrait.”

On stage, Scott starred in the critically acclaimed Los Angeles productions of “The Vagina Monologues,” Jane Martin’s “Talking With…” and “Love Letters.” A Los Angeles native, she attended the University of Southern California as a piano major.

As a lifelong fan of I LOVE LUCY, Scott served as a founding member of the Board of Directors for the Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Center in Jamestown, N.Y., which is committed to preserving the legacy of the great comedienne. Jamestown also holds a special place in Scott’s heart as her maternal grandparents spent most of their adult lives raising their family in the town.

Married since 1985 to producer Edward J. Scott, the couple has three daughters, Jennifer, Alexandra and Elizabeth, and five grandchildren.

In August 2020, Scott released her long-awaited memoir, Always Young and Restless.

In June 2024, Melody and her husband were awarded the Daytime Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award.