William "Bill" Spencer is a fictional character from the soap opera, The Bold and the Beautiful

The Bold and the Beautiful

The Bold and the Beautiful is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS Daytime. It premiered on March 23, 1987....

. The character appears from 1987 through 1994 and makes several brief appearances afterwards, including a postmortem appearance via DVD. He is portrayed by Jim Storm.

Background

When the show began, it was revealed that Bill has a recently deceased wife name Marion. They are the parents of Caroline, who is introduced as a sweet and virginal young woman. New background information was added when the producers wanted to bring back Joanna Johnson. (Her departure from the show led the writers to kill off Caroline). It turns out that in 1964, Bill and his wife have two identical twin daughters, Caroline and Karen; but Karen is kidnapped, and her parents are never able to find her. Bill and his wife raise Caroline as an only child, never telling her about her sister. Karen (Johnson) only reappears in his life after Marion and Caroline are gone. Still more background information was added when the producers wanted to hire Don Diamont. They invented an illegitament son, the result of an affair Bill Sr. had years ago, who had never been mentioned previously, also named Bill Spencer.

Bill vs. Ridge

Bill is overprotective of Caroline and strongly objects when she falls in love with Ridge Forrester

Ridge Forrester

Ridge Forrester is a fictional character from the CBS daytime soap opera, The Bold and the Beautiful. The character was introduced in the series premiere on March 23, 1987 and has been a regular fixture ever since...

, the playboy son of the famous fashion designer, Eric Forrester

Eric Forrester

Eric Forrester is a fictional character on the CBS Daytime soap opera, The Bold and the Beautiful. He has been portrayed by John McCook since the show's debut in 1987...

, and his wife, Stephanie. He forbids Ridge from continuing to date his daughter. The headstrong Ridge responds by proposing to her. Just before the wedding ceremony, Bill tells Caroline that he had Ridge followed and knows for a fact that he slept with another woman just a week before. She is furious with her father and goes on with the wedding, walking down the aisle alone. But before she gets to Ridge, she faints.

Bill approves of Thorne

Bill gets what he wants, and the wedding fails to take place. Later, tragedy strikes. Caroline is raped by a man named Ron Deacon. Bill notices how Ridge's brother, Thorne

Thorne Forrester

Thorne Forrester is a fictional character on CBS soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful. The character has been played by Winsor Harmon since December 1996; previously, the role was played by Clayton Norcross from the show's premier in 1987 until 1989, then by Jeff Trachta from 1989 until 1996.-The...

, supports her through her recovery. Bill wants Caroline to marry him, and she does. But she's still in love with Ridge, and despite all Bill's efforts to prevent it, she divorces Thorne to reunite with him.

Caroline's death

Caroline eventually marries Ridge, but afterwards becomes ill with leukemia. Bill is devastated when she dies. He finally tells Margo (see below) about Karen. She enlists the help of Blake Hayes, who eventually tracks Karen down in Texas, where she goes by the name of Faith Roberts. Bill and Karen are soon reunited.

Bill and Margo

Bill is in a relationship with Margo Lynley, even while she is pregnant by the scheming fashion designer, Clarke Garrison

Clarke Garrison

Clarke Garrison, Sr. is a fictional character on the CBS soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful, portrayed from 1987 to 1992, from 1996 to 2009 and 2010 by actor Daniel McVicar.-Character's background:...

. Bill and Margo marry, and Bill adopts the baby. But their marriage does not last, and Margo leaves town with the child.

Death

Years later, Bill discovers that he has a terminal illness. He wills his media empire, Spencer Publications, to his two living children, Karen and Bill Jr., who each receive 50 percent and are both named CEO. Bill also makes a DVD for his son in which he gives him half of Spencer Publications on one condition. He reveals that his true love is Stephanie, even though her refusal to leave Eric meant that nothing ever happened between them. He wants to avenge her on Eric, who fired her from Forrester Creations and married two of her worst enemies. And so the condition is that he use the Spencer Publications to take Forrester from Eric and thereby crush him.