How Many Deaths Have We Seen On The Bold And The Beautiful?

Death and dying are a part of life and they are also very much a part of soap operas, which tell exaggerated character stories about the human condition year in and year out. Of course, on a soap, death isn't always final as characters somehow returning from the dead is a typical soap trope. "Days of Our Lives" fans rarely believe any death is final as mad scientist Dr. Rolf (Will Utay) is always on hand to secretly bring people back to life. However, on "The Bold and the Beautiful," deaths do not happen quite as frequently. When they do, they somehow manage to stick more often than not.

Yes, there have been characters who have returned from the dead on "B&B," including Taylor Hayes (then played by Hunter Tylo), Macy Alexander (Bobbie Eakes), and Felicia Forrester (Lesli Kay). But after more than three decades on the air, both death stories and return from the dead stories are not plot devices this half-hour CBS soap uses often.

While "The Bold and the Beautiful" has been on the air since 1987, as of 2016, it had only featured the deaths of 19 prominent characters, according to TV Overmind. Another death occurred in 2021 when Vinny Walker (Joe LoCicero) threw himself in front of Liam Spencer's (Scott Clifton) car in order to frame Liam for murder. Vinny's motives were so that his best friend, Thomas Forrester (Matthew Atkinson), could have who he thought was the girl of Thomas' dreams, Hope Logan (Annika Noelle), according to Soap Hub.

While Vinny's death occurred on-screen, the death of another popular character occurred off-screen in 2019. Thomas Forrester returned to the show's fictional version of Los Angeles to announce that Caroline Spencer (Linsey Godfrey), the mother of his son Douglas (Henry Joseph Samiri), had died from a brain tumor. As the character was popular, many fans hoped she was really alive since all they had was Thomas' word about what really happened to her.

While Vinny and Caroline's deaths were definitely shocking, other surprising characters met their demise over the years, including the soap's matriarch. Take a look back at three of the most impactful deaths in "B&B" history.

From the beginning, Stephanie Forrester (Susan Flannery) had been a "The Bold and the Beautiful" force to be reckoned with. As Eric Forrester's (John McCook) longtime wife and the matriarch of the show's premier family, she acted as the backbone of the show for decades. Stephanie was always speaking her mind and never letting her enemies get away with any kind of wrong.

One of her longtime enemies was Brooke Logan (Katherine Kelly Lang), the woman who stole her husband and also managed to marry two of her sons. The rivalry between Brooke and Stephanie was epic, so that's why it was such a shock when Stephanie was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and Brooke was the one there for her. Stephanie opted not to seek treatment for her cancer and instead, she passed away in Brooke's arms in 2012 while Brooke sang to her and sobbed. Considering her relationship with Brooke had been so tumultuous over the years, Stephanie's death left fans in shocked tears.

Newer fans of "The Bold and the Beautiful" will remember when Steffy Forrester (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood) adopted a baby she didn't realize was really Hope and Liam's presumed dead newborn. She named the baby Phoebe after her late sister. Steffy's twin, Phoebe Forrester (MacKenzie Mauzy), died a sudden and tragic death in 2008 as a young adult and Steffy still hasn't gotten over it.

Steffy had started an odd romance with Rick Forrester (then played by Kyle Lowder), a man who was technically her uncle although they were not blood related, as family entanglements on a soap can be quite complicated indeed. When Phoebe learned that Rick had kissed Steffy when she didn't want him to, she confronted him and he ran off. Phoebe went after him and got right in his car before he drove off and Rick started to become violent, which distracted him from the road. Rick crashed the car and although Ridge Forrester (then played by Ronn Moss) rushed to the scene, he was too late to save his daughter and she died in his arms.

The Logan sisters have been an integral part of "The Bold and the Beautiful" since the beginning, but newer fans might be surprised to learn there was once a Logan brother named Storm (William deVry). Storm was an attorney who always resented Stephanie Forrester for the way she treated his sister, Brooke, so he shot her, but never paid for his crime.

In 2008, Storm seemed to lose his mind when Ashley Abbott (Eileen Davidson) rejected him when she learned he was the one who shot Stephanie. An enraged Storm took out a gun and threatened Ashley's life and that's when his sister, Katie (Heather Tom), walked in and tried to stop him. The gun went off and Katie ended up taking the bullet. When Storm learned Katie would only survive if she had a heart transplant, Storm took his own life with his gun so Katie could have his heart.