Judith Chapman

Judith Chapman (born Judith Shepard on 1948-07-27) is an American actress whose career has spanned more than five decades, earning her a reputation as one of daytime television’s most versatile performers. Born in Greenville, South Carolina, she is the daughter of retired United States Air Force brigadier general Leland C. Shepard Jr., and her older sister Patty Shepard also pursued acting, giving Judith an early exposure to the entertainment world. After debuting at the age of sixteen in the spaghetti‑western Up the MacGregors!, she earned a theater degree from Stephens College, moved to New York, and joined the Actors Studio, where she honed her craft through commercials and stage work before breaking onto the big screen with the psychological horror film False Face in 1977.

Chapman’s most celebrated work has been on soap operas, where she has inhabited a litany of memorable characters. She first captured audiences as scheming Natalie Bannon Hughes on As the World Turns (1975‑1978), then delivered a critically praised turn as the enigmatic Charlotte Greer on Ryan’s Hope (1983). Her tenure as Ginny Blake Webber on General Hospital (1984‑1986) earned a Soap Opera Digest Award nomination, and she later portrayed Sandra Montaigne on One Life to Live (1987) and Anjelica Deveraux on Days of Our Lives (1989‑1991, 2018). Since 2005, Chapman has been a staple of The Young and the Restless, portraying the charismatic Gloria Abbott Bardwell in a role that has become synonymous with her name. In addition to her extensive television résumé, she has appeared in films such as And God Created Woman (1988), Dead Space (1991), and the LGBT comedy Saugatuck Cures (2015), and even embodied Nancy Reagan in the biographical drama King Richard (2021). Her longevity, range, and dedication have made her a respected figure in both daytime drama and broader film work.