Leanna Love

Leanna Love
Barbara Crampton as Leanna Love
The Young and the Restless character
Portrayed by	Barbara Crampton
Duration	1987–93, 1998–2002, 2006–07
First appearance	1987
Last appearance	January 11, 2007
Created by	William J. Bell
Introduced by	William J. Bell Edward J. Scott
Classification	Former, recurring
Profile
Other names	Leanna Love Nora Randall Kelly Carpenter Leanna Newman
Occupation	Famous gossip reporter/journalist Former Talk show host of The Leanna Love Show Author of Newman - Man and Myth Former avice columnist for the lovelorn Author of Ruthless: The Victor Newman Story
Husband Victor Newman (1988)

Leanna Love is a fictional character from the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless. She was portrayed by actress Barbara Crampton, who departed from the role in 1993. Crampton returned to the role from 1998 to 2002, before returning again from 2006 to 2007.

Much of Leanna's history revolves around her marriage to Victor Newman, as well as her romance with Jack Abbott.

Barbara Crampton was the only actress to play Leanna Love in her time onscreen. She previously had roles in soaps such as Days of Our Lives and Guiding Light. During an interview with Daily Grind House Crampton stated: "When it first started, that role was only supposed to be for three months. Then they cast me in it, and after two months they said, “You know, it’s kind of working. We’d like to keep your character for another year.” So I said OK and I worked on it for a year. Then they said, “You know, it’s really working. We want to hire you on for another three years.” I did it for another three years, and then I did it for another two or three years after that. She had a good long run for somebody who wasn’t married and in a family on a soap opera." Crampton said that there is always possibility for Leanna to make another guest appearance. Apart from The Young and the Restless, Crampton is known for her various roles in horror films.

Leanna is known as "the unscrupulous reporter who penned "Ruthless," a scandalous expose about Victor Newman". Due to Leanna's psychotic personality, Crampton did some research in order to properly portray the character: "I had to do some investigating about what types of personality disorders she could have to make this character interesting, and I talked to a lot of psychiatrists about it. I came up with a personality profile for her that I played," she stated during an interview.

Ashley Abbott had a nervous breakdown after having an abortion, ran off to New York City, and lost her memory after she was mugged. She ended up at a mental hospital where Dr. Steven Lassiter was her psychiatrist. Her father, John, eventually found her in New York and returned her to a posh private institution near Genoa City. Stephen had fallen in love with Ashley, followed, and became a resident psychiatrist there. Ashley recovered thanks to Steven's devotion, and they were married. During their honeymoon in Hawaii they were stalked by Leanna Randolph, a former mental patient of Stephen's who fantasized that they were lovers. After Leanna made several attempts to murder Ashley with a poisoned Lei, Ashley spent most of her honeymoon sick. Ashley never found out about Leanna's connection to Stephen nor that she tried to murder her.