| Genevieve Atkinson | |||||||||||||||||
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| The Young and the Restless character | |||||||||||||||||
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| Portrayed by | Genie Francis | ||||||||||||||||
| Duration | 2011–2012 | ||||||||||||||||
| First appearance | May 27, 2011 | ||||||||||||||||
| Last appearance | November 2, 2012 | ||||||||||||||||
| Classification | Former; regular | ||||||||||||||||
| Created by | Maria Arena Bell, Hogan Sheffer and Scott Hamner | ||||||||||||||||
| Introduced by | Maria Arena Bell | ||||||||||||||||
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Genevieve Atkinson is a fictional character from the American CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless. Created by former head writer Maria Arena Bell as the mother of Cane Ashby (Daniel Goddard), the role was portrayed by Genie Francis, who is widely known for her three-decade long portrayal of Laura Spencer on the ABC soap opera General Hospital. Francis was excited to join The Young and the Restless, expressing disappointment in her former daytime role and saying that her fan base would "follow whatever she does." She made her first appearance during the episode airing on May 27, 2011.
Francis described Genevieve as harsh, saying her tragic past is the reason she acts this way. Her first storyline involved the revelation of her past with Colin Atkinson (Tristan Rogers), as she was intertwined with his life as a mob boss. The character would later develop a romance with Jack Abbott (Peter Bergman), which Francis hoped would give the audience "more insight into who this woman really is". Their relationship ends after Genevieve lied to Jack about a business deal she made. She also had a brief affair with Jack's business rival Victor Newman (Eric Braeden), which both their families criticized, and was revealed to have had a past with Tucker McCall (Stephen Nichols).
In September 2012, Francis was let go from the soap opera due to budgetary cuts. The actress stated she was disappointed to leave, but that executive producer Jill Farren Phelps was "very kind" in breaking the news to her. She made her last appearance on November 2, 2012. While the news of Francis' casting in the role was positively received, the actress received generally negative reviews for her portrayal, with Jamey Giddens of Zap2it calling it "embarrassingly-bad". Sara Bibel of Xfinity wrote that the character was not an "audience favorite", feeling that the written material was not on par with Francis' strengths as an actress. Despite negative feedback, Francis received a Daytime Emmy Award nomination for her portrayal in 2012.