Melody Thomas Scott Obituary News: What happened to ‘The Young and the Restless’ actress Melody Thomas Scott?
Melody Thomas Scott is an American actress best known for playing Nikki Newman on the soap opera The Young and the Restless.
Scott was born Melody Ann Thomas in Los Angeles. Her first film credit was as a child actress in the 1964 Alfred Hitchcock movie Marnie. After parts in television and movies in the mid-1970s (most notably in John Wayne’s final film, The Shootist in 1976, in which she becomes the last actress to exchange lines with Wayne), she was offered parts on nighttime series such as, The Rockford Files, Charlie’s Angels, and a recurring role on The Waltons.
In 1979, at the age of 23, she left The Waltons to take over the role of Nikki Reed, a poor girl from the wrong side of the tracks, on the daytime serial The Young and the Restless, choosing the part over a sitcom pilot that in the end was not picked up. She was a replacement for the previous Nikki, who had lasted six months.
She was a celebrity guest on The $25,000 Pyramid for a week in June 1985.
On February 19, 2019 The Young and the Restless featured a stand-alone episode to honor Scott’s 40-year history with the serial. She is also the longest tenured actress on the show because as of 2023, Melody has played the role of Nikki for 44 years.