query: Who played the character Paul Williams on The Young and the Restless?
passage: Paul Williams (The Young and the Restless)
Paul Williams is a fictional character on the American CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless. Paul was introduced to the show on May 23, 1978, and has been portrayed by Doug Davidson ever since.[1] Initially Paul was a "bad boy", who had a romance with Nikki Newman (Melody Thomas Scott), giving her an STD. The relationship ultimately ended, but the two have remained friends since. After a year on the series, Bell gave the character a proper backstory, surname and family. This included his notoriously unstable sister Patty Williams (Stacey Haiduk). After a failed marriage to April Stevens (Cynthia Eilbacher)—who gave birth to his daughter Heather Stevens (Jennifer Landon)—focus turned towards Paul's career as a private investigator, as well as his relationship and eventual marriage to and later divorce from Lauren Fenmore (Tracey Bregman). Paul's string of unsuccessful romances with women—including his ill-fated bride Cindy Lake (DeAnna Robbins), and Cassandra Rawlins (Nina Arvesen), the wife of one of his clients—continued. Over the years, Paul continued to become heavily involved in various storylines as a private investigator.
passage: List of The Young and the Restless characters (1980s)
History
Mary was the wife of officer Carl Williams and the mother of Patty, Paul, Steven and Father Todd Williams. She also has a late sister named Jane. Mary was first introduced as the understanding mother of four children. She was front-burner early in her run when her character had a sudden late life pregnancy yet ended up miscarrying the child. Mary spent much time either volunteering at her Catholic church or fretting over her children, especially troubled Patty who was involved with the wealthy playboy Jack, and the rebellious Paul who went through a brief teen marriage which produced a daughter. Mary became worried in 1982 when Carl was all of a sudden fired from the police thanks to Pete Walker, a mob boss determined to keep Carl's nose out of his business. Thanks to Paul, Carl was cleared, but not before Mary was held hostage by Walker's men. Carl and Mary were horrified when it was revealed that their good friend Alex Morgan was on the mob payroll and had Carl fired. Pete and Alex would kill each other in a shoot-out. Later, Mary and Carl were devastated by the death of Paul's new girlfriend Cindy Lake, a former prostitute trying to make a go of it. It was ironically around this time when daughter Patty found Jack having an affair with Diane Jenkins and shot him, afterwards forgetting about what she had done.