December 7, 2012 and December 10, 2012;
December 15, 2023 [guest appearances]

Stephanie Douglas Forrester was the matriarch of the Forrester Creations fashion dynasty and the mother of five children: Ridge, Thorne, Kristen, Felicia, and Angela. Stephanie was aware that her husband Eric Forrester was looking at other women and suspected Margo Lynley, but Stephanie found greater competition in Beth Logan, whom Eric had dated in college until Stephanie announced she was pregnant. When Eric reconnected with Beth, who was catering a Forrester party, Stephanie flirted with gigolo Clarke Garrison, whom Stephanie had hired to romance Kristen. Stephanie also meddled in Ridge's love life after he showed an interest in Beth's daughter, Brooke Logan.

Stephanie confounded her family with her mysterious absences; she was visiting the brain damaged Angela, though she told everyone that Angela had died at birth. Stephanie bore Eric's wrath when he followed her and found out, but they grew closer caring for their daughter. Stephanie was horrified when she discovered that "Angela" was an imposter hired by the doctor who had unintentionally caused the real Angela to die in an accident; Stephanie demanded justice against the doctor for bleeding her instead of admitting the truth. Later, Stephanie lied to the police when Thorne, under the influence of painkillers and alcohol, shot Ridge for sleeping with his wife, Caroline Spencer; Stephanie claimed that she had fired the gun at a prowler and spent a brief period in jail when the investigating officer suspected otherwise.

When Eric was ready to leave Stephanie for Beth, Stephanie tracked down Stephen Logan, Beth's estranged husband, and provided an anonymous tip to Beth's daughters regarding Stephen's whereabouts, ultimately reuniting the Logan family. Stephanie also convinced Bill Spencer, Sr., who loved Stephanie, to give Stephen a job in Bill's overseas office. With Beth gone, Stephanie turned her glare toward Brooke, who had become involved with Ridge. Stephanie harassed Brooke at every turn, even after Ridge dumped Brooke for the newly-divorced Caroline, but Stephanie collapsed from an occluded artery before Eric could confront her with the information he learned from Brooke about sending Beth away.

Stephanie knew Eric wanted a divorce and had become involved with someone new, but she raged to find out that his new love was Brooke. Stephanie stalled her divorce until Brooke delivered Eric's child, Rick Forrester; Stephanie was briefly intrigued by her tennis instructor, Jake Maclaine. As Stephanie was leaving on a trip, she had a minor stroke that triggered amnesia and wandered out of the house without identification. Stephanie's car broke down in a dangerous part of Los Angeles, but she was taken in by the homeless Ruthanne Owens. Stephanie lived on the streets as "Liz" for months, attracting the attentions of homeless professor Adam Banks, who saw a flyer distributed by Stephanie's fashion rival Sally Spectra and sent a confused Stephanie home to her family.

Stephanie faked continued memory loss to win Eric back from Brooke, then rigged the Forrester lab with cameras, which caught Ridge and Brooke making love. But Stephanie showed a softer side to Ruthanne, putting her up at the mansion and reuniting her with her long-lost family. Stephanie was hopeful when she and Eric renewed their friendship despite his new marriage to Sheila Carter, but Stephanie soon dated accountant Jack Hamilton; Stephanie left Jack after his gambling led crooks to endanger Felicia. When Jack moved on with Sally, who had a long history of stealing designs from Forrester, Stephanie exposed Sally for lying that she was carrying Jack's baby and slapped her.

Stephanie plotted with the Forresters to keep Brooke from gaining ownership of the wrinkle-free BeLieF formula, which Brooke had been hired to create. Stephanie and Brooke smacked each other when Brooke discovered the ploy and took control of Forrester Creations; Stephanie was kicked out of her office by Sheila, who had become Brooke's liaison. Stephanie gave Eric refuge when he began to sense Sheila's true colors and had a secret vasectomy. Stephanie also found Sally back in her orbit when Spectra horned in on Forrester's tribute to the American Film Institute featuring Charlton Heston, and when Stephanie was pulled on stage during Spectra's Grand Diva showing.

After Stephanie found out that Eric's underaged niece, Jessica Forrester, had slept with older boyfriend Dylan Shaw, Stephanie had Dylan arrested and charged with statutory rape. But Stephanie cleared Dylan when he brought a runaway Jessica home, telling the court Dylan had acted responsibly. Stephanie's long-held suspicions about Sheila were confirmed when Sheila's criminal misdeeds came to light; Stephanie faced Sheila's gun during a showdown and was shocked that Brooke was willing to take a bullet for her. Stephanie worked with Sheila's nemesis, Lauren Fenmore, to keep the incarcerated Sheila from being paroled.

Stephanie was hurt when Eric came on to Sally, learning later that it was a ruse to keep Sally from producing more stolen Forrester designs; the gloating Stephanie couldn't resist smashing Sally's fake engagement ring with a hammer. Stephanie mourned Taylor Hayes, her preferred spouse for Ridge, when Taylor supposedly died in a plane crash, but turned her back on Taylor when she returned having married Prince Omar of Morocco while an amnesiac in his palace. Soon, Stephanie tried to reunite Ridge and Taylor by trapping them in an elevator, but when a letter surfaced claiming Brooke had fixed a paternity test to state her daughter, Bridget, was Ridge's child, Stephanie ordered Brooke out of the country and filed for custody of Bridget and Rick.

Stephanie began behaving erratically to the point she had to be institutionalized; a catatonic Stephanie bounced back after Brooke and Sally rallied at her bedside, then learned that Sheila had replaced Stephanie's calcium supplements with mercury to avenge Brooke. Happy that Eric stopped seeing Lauren and returned to her, Stephanie was ready to remarry Eric until the minister found an X-rated photo of Eric and Lauren in his Bible. Stephanie blamed Lauren and pushed her into the Forrester pool, but the real culprit was Sally, who had taken a still from Lauren's playful video; Stephanie got even with Sally by shoving her into Lake Como in Italy. When Eric and Lauren's plane went missing in Greenland, Stephanie led the rescue effort; later, Stephanie and Lauren teamed with Maggie Warwick to gaslight Sheila after Sheila seduced Maggie's husband, James Warwick, and had his baby.

Stephanie befriended James and even shared a kiss with him, but backed off when Sheila threatened to kill Stephanie's grandson Thomas Forrester and tried to drown Stephanie in her pool. Attempting to placate Sheila, who had escaped from jail to confront her, Stephanie was shot in the shoulder and only escaped death because Rick's pregnant girlfriend, Amber Moore, saved Stephanie from Sheila's final bullet. Stephanie recovered and continued badgering Brooke, who was trying to lure Ridge away from Taylor; Stephanie and a lingerie-clad Brooke got into a public tussle on a bed as Brooke unveiled her sexy new "Brooke's Bedroom" line.

Losing it when Thorne got involved with Brooke, Stephanie terrorized Brooke at the Forrester cabin in Big Bear and tried to strangle her, having a stroke when Thorne and Brooke got engaged. Stephanie's health crisis prompted Eric to remarry her and Brooke to massage her feet. But when Stephanie found out that Thorne's ex-wife, Macy Alexander, who had been battling Brooke for Thorne, died in a car wreck because of Brooke's involvement, Stephanie suffered a second stroke. Stephanie comforted Macy's grieving mother, nemesis Sally Spectra, but softened toward Brooke a bit when Brooke gave Stephanie a photo album documenting Stephanie's life.

Stephanie had once forced teenaged Morgan DeWitt to abort Ridge's baby; when Stephanie learned that Morgan had faked e-mails from Taylor giving Ridge "permission" to impregnate Morgan, Stephanie tried to get Morgan to drink tea laced with a drug that would cause a miscarriage. Assuming Morgan was on the run after kidnapping Taylor and her toddler daughter, Steffy Forrester, Stephanie cleaned up after Steffy's birthday party and was cornered by Morgan, who had snuck in dressed as a clown. Stephanie left Morgan to die after they struggled and Morgan fell into the pool, but Stephanie herself nearly drowned in a bathtub when Morgan came back to finish her off. Stephanie survived and later mended fences with her daughter, Kristen, after Kristen got involved with the HIV-positive Antonio Dominguez.

Stephanie discouraged old flame Massimo Marone, but when Ridge lost blood in an accident, Stephanie found out that Ridge and Eric's blood types didn't match: Massimo was Ridge's father. Stephanie hid the truth from Eric and Ridge, then tried to help Brooke turn over a new leaf after Brooke got pregnant from an affair with Deacon Sharpe, her daughter's husband. Stephanie and Bridget helped Brooke deliver baby Hope at the Big Bear cabin. Later, Stephanie and Massimo saved Amber from Sheila, who had come back trying to clear the way with Rick for her daughter, Erica Lovejoy. Stephanie was inconsolable when Taylor died in an altercation with Sheila.

Horrified that Ridge and Bridget, who were no longer related, were considering an involvement, Stephanie was forced to tell Eric that Massimo was Ridge's father, causing Eric to walk out on her. Stephanie warned the newly arrived Jackie Marone to stay away from Eric, but pushed Jackie's son, Nick Marone, toward Brooke, stranding them on an island together. Having finally forged a friendship with Sally, Stephanie got drunk with her former rival, allowing Sally to chop her hair off. At Christmas, Stephanie gave Sally a locket with both their pictures inside.

Stephanie and Brooke bonded briefly when Ridge was believed to be dead. Later, after Thorne defected to Spectra, Stephanie apologized for always playing favorites with Ridge. Stephanie worried when Ridge claimed he had seen Taylor, but Taylor was indeed alive, having been spirited away from the hospital by Prince Omar, who healed Taylor in his palace and held her prisoner. Stephanie paid off a doctor and faked a heart attack to manipulate Ridge into returning to Taylor; the ploy worked, but when Brooke uncovered it, Stephanie was abandoned by the entire Forrester family.

Stephanie was about to leave Los Angeles when she found papers in Eric's safe that said Stephanie was the true owner of Forrester Creations. When it came out that Eric had known about it for decades, Stephanie kneed Eric in the groin, fired him, and installed Thorne as president. Meanwhile, when Brooke romanced Bridget's ex-husband, Nick, Stephanie gave Brooke a gun and ordered her to shoot herself; Brooke fired at Stephanie, but missed. Stephanie was heartbroken when Eric remarried Brooke to keep her away from Nick, but Eric and Stephanie drew together and remarried for the sake of their daughter, Felicia, who had cancer. Stephanie secretly forced a comatose Felicia to have chemotherapy she didn't want, telling the family that Felicia had died until Felicia responded to the treatment, after which Stephanie was forgiven.

Stephanie uncharacteristically encouraged Brooke to be with Ridge following his heart attack, gifting Brooke with a 50% share in Forrester and even trying to sabotage Brooke's wedding to Nick by plastering a nude outtake from the Brooke's Bedroom line on a billboard. Accused of having incestuous feelings towards Ridge, Stephanie slapped Taylor, but later convinced Taylor not to go to the police for running over Thorne's wife, Darla Einstein, while driving drunk. Stephanie was almost charged with obstruction of justice until she produced a witness, Shane McGrath, that testified Darla had actually fallen into the path of Taylor's car.

Stephanie argued with Jackie, who fell over a railing; Stephanie was held over the same railing by an enraged Nick, but Stephanie got hold of a gun and fired a warning shot above Nick's head. Stephanie questioned her angry, controlling behavior and went into therapy with Taylor, where they uncovered Stephanie's childhood abuse at the hands of her father. Stephanie, who had lied that her mother, Ann Douglas was dead, confronted Ann in Chicago with Eric at her side, washing her hands of Ann after she accused Stephanie of exaggerating her father's discipline. When Eric brought Ann to Los Angeles for the holidays, Stephanie grudgingly listened to Ann explain that she didn't stop the abuse because she was afraid, but Stephanie wasn't able to forgive Ann until Thorne's little daughter, Alexandria, included Ann in the family Christmas carols.

After Nick took control of Forrester Creations, Stephanie uncovered Jackie's past as a prostitute and humiliated her by bringing one of her former johns on stage during a fashion show, then supported Eric in founding a new company, Forrester Originals. But when a despondent Shane killed himself in front of Ridge, who had a criminal record for admitting to shooting Grant Chambers to protect a pre-teen Rick, Stephanie helped Ridge frame Nick for Shane's "murder." Stephanie choked Brooke with a phone cord and trained a shotgun on her to keep her from going to the police, but eventually Stephanie relented.

After Brooke's two younger children, Hope and R.J., were accidentally left alone all night and set fire to the living room, Stephanie helped Ridge take the children away from Brooke. Stephanie recruited Andy Johnson to distract Brooke from the custody case and told him where to find Brooke's spare house key, which led to Brooke being viciously raped. Stephanie felt horrible for Brooke but inspired revenge in not only Brooke's sister, Donna Logan, who tried to marry Thorne to get back at her, but Brooke's father, Stephen Logan, who tried to throw Stephanie off a hotel balcony. Stephanie wound up single when Nick offered to sell Forrester back to Eric if he divorced Stephanie, then watched Eric get involved with Donna himself.

After a fashion show, Stephanie was shot; the suspects were numerous, but the gunman was Brooke's brother, Storm Logan. Stephanie told Donna she'd send Storm to jail unless Donna left Eric, then backed off. Stephanie and Donna accused each other when Eric had a heart attack and went into a coma, not knowing Stephanie's bipolar sister, Pam Douglas, had gone off her medication and poisoned Eric trying to frame Donna and make up for not protecting Stephanie from their father.

Stephanie demanded Rick's arrest after Rick romanced Taylor and both Taylor's daughters, Steffy and Phoebe Forrester, which led to a car accident that killed a confrontational Phoebe, who wasn't wearing a seat belt. Disapproving of Donna's influence on Forrester, Stephanie defected and joined competitor Jackie M, working with Nick and Jackie and disparaging "the Logans" in venomous webcasts. But when Bill Spencer, Jr. tried to blackmail Eric for control of Forrester, Stephanie recorded the conversation and turned the tables on Bill. Later, Stephanie had mini-stroke she tried to hide from her friends at Jackie M.

Stephanie and Pam butted heads over a dying Ann when Pam called an ambulance despite Ann's insistence she not be hospitalized. Afterwards, the Douglas sisters broke their mother out of the hospital and took her to her favorite spot, Paradise Cove, where Stephanie and Pam made peace with Ann before she died. Once Steffy seductively wrested control of Forrester from Bill, Stephanie received a 25% share and felt compelled to return to the company.

Staying at the Forrester mansion, Stephanie encountered Donna's mother, Beth, who was suffering from the latter stages of Alzheimer's disease. Stephanie and Beth had an argument at the Forrester pool that resulted in Beth's accidental drowning, causing a conflict that saw Eric leaving Donna and returning to Stephanie. Disapproving when widower Stephen started dating Pam, Stephanie took Pam to the Big Bear cabin to talk sense into her and nearly got shot when Stephen, who was trying to avenge Beth's death by seducing Pam into going off her medication, put a gun in Pam's hand. Stephanie got the gun away from Pam and shot Stephen instead.

Stephanie fell while arguing with Brooke, and they discovered Stephanie had Stage IV lung cancer. Stephanie refused treatment and ordered Brooke not to tell the family, instead taking Brooke on quest to fulfill Stephanie's bucket list. Stephanie lost Ann's scarf on a roller coaster and followed Dayzee Leigh, who had found it, onto Skid Row. Stephanie was so inspired by the destitute Dayzee's positive attitude that Stephanie vowed to help the homeless, made peace with Brooke, and got medical care. Stephanie bought the Insomnia Cafe from C.J. Garrison, renamed it Dayzee's, and gave it to Dayzee to run as a place that would provide jobs for the less fortunate.

Stephanie arranged an intervention to get Nick to stop smoking cigars after a spot was found on his lung. Later, when it seemed Brooke might have had sex with her stepson Thomas on a deserted island while hopped up on psychedelic berries, Stephanie told Thomas she'd give him her 25% stake in Forrester if he said he actually did have sex with Brooke, hoping to push Ridge back to Taylor. It worked, but at Taylor's wedding, Stephanie came clean; Stephanie tried to atone by making Taylor the trustee of Thomas' stock and singing to Brooke in a piano bar at Brooke's behest.

Between her old age and her cancer, Stephanie didn't feel like being intimate with Eric; Stephanie shunned Jackie for nearly embarking on an affair with Eric. When Dayzee's friend Beverly became an intern at Forrester and was falsely accused of stealing Forrester designs, Stephanie stepped in front of Beverly's bus to apologize, meeting Beverly's fellow occupants of a home for young adults who have aged out of the foster care system. Stephanie confided to Beverly that she had gotten pregnant by Eric on purpose, not knowing she was carrying Massimo's child, to get away from her abusive father.

Stephanie remarried Eric in an impromptu, informal ceremony officiated by Sally's old friend, Gladys Pope, as a way of marking their 50th anniversary. When Stephanie's cancer became terminal, she began the daunting task of telling family, friends, and frenemies about her fatal diagnosis while delivering invitations to her "celebration of life" party, where the group Celtic Woman performed. After saying her goodbyes and retreating to the Big Bear cabin, Stephanie died in Brooke's arms.

Stephanie's final act was to leave behind a DVD that reinstated Eric as Forrester's CEO, telling him, "Don't mess it up." Eric commissioned a huge portrait of Stephanie which had a habit of mysteriously falling off the wall whenever Eric kissed another woman; the portrait also figured in battles between Ridge and Rick, who replaced Stephanie's likeness with that of his transgender wife, Maya Avant.

Stephanie is frequently mentioned by many family members and in many capacities, most notably when Eric and Brooke reminisce about her. And, in 2018, when Brooke married Ridge for the eighth time, she heard Stephanie's voice lovingly calling her "my sweet little slut from the Valley" and imploring her to keep on the straight and narrow, "if that's possible."

In 2023, Stephanie appeared to Eric as he hovered between life and death during an operation, welcoming him "home".