The soap opera veteran enjoyed a special family milestone for his eldest granddaughter this week
Credit: Eric Braeden/Instagram
NEED TO KNOW
- Eric Braeden has played Victor Newman on The Young & the Restless since 1980
- Braeden enjoys a close relationship with his three granddaughters — Tatiana, Oksana and Angelika
- The actor, 85, celebrated Tatiana’s graduation from Vanderbilt University with an Instagram Reel
Eric Braeden is celebrating a special day with his family.
The Young and the Restless actor, 85, enjoyed a special day in Nashville as granddaughter Tatiana "Tati" Gudagast graduated from Vanderbilt University.
Sharing a video with the newly-minted graduate on Instagram, he wrote, "So proud of my granddaughter who graduated Magna cum laude from Vanderbilt! What an unforgettable experience for her! Thank you to NASHVILLE!"
The actor previously visited the area in January, sharing a photo of himself and Tatiana on the snowy campus. "With my granddaughter at Vanderbilt University! She'll graduate from this beautiful place in May! She showed me all the lecture halls! I am VERY impressed with both, the University and Nashville!"
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Tatiana is the daughter of Braeden and wife Dale Russell Gudegast's only son, Christian. Christian is also dad to daughters Oksana and Angelika with his wife Natasha.
The soap star told PEOPLE in 2021, “There's nothing like being a grandpa to my three granddaughters: Tatiana, Oksana and Angelika. Anything they want, boom.”
He added, “My family is the world to me, because in the end, who else do you have?”
Braeden appeared on the inaugural episode of the Soapy podcast in 2025, chatting about his decades in Hollywood with fellow soap actors and hosts Rebecca Budig and Greg Rikaart.
The actor first took on the role of Victor Newman on The Young and the Restless in 1980, and the character and actor have become titans of daytime TV. Before joining the series, he'd worked widely as an actor, including on the TV series The Rat Patrol and in movies like Escape from the Planet of the Apes. While the group noted how some see soap operas as a "training ground" for "bigger" roles, Braeden says he's never paid mind to those who disparage the genre.
The Daytime Emmy winner said, “I remember colleagues I used to work with, obviously in a nighttime film, when you meet, you say, ‘So what's up, what's new with you?' I said, ‘I'm doing a soap.' ”
His costars would say, “What? Oh. Huh,” Braeden remembered, mimicking their judgment.
“They're all dead, or they're all gone, or they haven't worked in years,” he said of those judgmental costars. “I'm still at it."
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