Marry Jesse Walton was born on the 18th February 1949, in Grand Rapids, Michigan USA, and is an actress as well as a producer who is best known for starring in the role of Jill Abbott in the soap opera “The Young and the Restless” which has aired on CBS since 1988 and for which she has been honored with prestigious Daytime Emmy Awards twice, in 1991 and 1997. Jess is also widely recognized for her appearance in the 1971 crime drama “The Peace Killers” as well as for producing the 2005 short video “Paper Bags”.
Have you ever wondered how much this veteran Hollywood star has accumulated so far? How rich Jess Walton is? According to sources, it is estimated that the total of Jess Walton’s net worth, as of mid-2017, exceeds the sum of $8 million, acquired largely through her acting career which is currently spanning almost 50 years.
Jess Walton Net Worth $8 million
Despite being a native of Michigan, Jess grew up in Toronto, Canada, where she attended Loretto Abbey Catholic Secondary School, after which at the age of 17, she joined Toronto Workshop Production’s Repertory Theater with which she spent the next three years, honing her acting skills. At the age of 20, in 1969 she relocated to Los Angeles, California, where after signing an acting deal with Universal Studios, she debuted as an actress as Sue in one episode of “Festival” TV series. This was followed by an appearance as Abbey Garcia in one episode of “The Guns of Will Sonnett” TV series as well as a support role in the 1970 romantic drama movie “The Strawberry Statement”. All these engagements helped Jess Walton to establish herself as a prominent young actress and also provided the basis for her net worth.
Throughout the 1970s Jess starred in several female lead roles, such as in movies “The Peace Killers” (1971) and “Monkeys in the Attic” (1974), and also appeared in almost a dozen TV series of various genres, including “Medical Center”, “Kojak” and “Starsky and Hutch”. In 1977 she performed memorably in the TV movie “The Hunted Lady”, after which she turned to drugs and alcohol. After abusing these substances for a few years, after completing a rehab in 1980,, she beat her vices and returned to acting. Doubtlessly, all these ventures left an impact on Jess Walton’s net worth.
The real breakthrough in her acting career occurred after 1986 when she was cast for the role of Kelly Harper in the “Capitol” CBS soap opera TV series, for one season. In 1987 Jess was signed for the role which later brought her worldwide popularity and marked her acting career – that of Jill Foster Abbott in “The Young and the Restless”. Since then, Jess has appeared in several roles including as Jill Fenmore and Jill Fenmore Atkinson in 1,384 episodes of the show’s impressive total of over 11,000 episodes so far. For her long-term performance on the show, Jess has been honored with four Daytime Emmy Award nominations, as well as two Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series awards, in 1991 and 1997. It is certain that the latter engagement have helped Jess Walton to massively increase not only her fame but also her rather impressive net worth.
When it comes to her personal life, Jess has married twice – between 1972 and 1973 she was briefly married to fellow actor, director and producer Bruce Davison, while since 1980 she has been married to John W. James, an expert on grief recovery and the founder of The Grief Recovery Institute, with whom she has welcomed two children. With her family, Jess Walton resides in the state of Oregon.
