LOS ANGELES-- Blackouts, hallucinations, giving his archrival a job, turning his company over to his children, spending time with his wife, doting on his grandchildren -- hardly the behavior of Genoa City's most ruthless businessman.

What in the name of Victor Newman is going on?

These are strange days for Eric Braeden's character on CBS' "The Young and the Restless."

Now in his 26th year playing the handsome tycoon on daytime's top-rated soap opera, Braeden relishes his front-burner story line that will culminate in a surprising diagnosis on Monday's episode.

His family is disturbed to find out that what they believed was a kinder Victor is a man affected by temporal lobe epilepsy -- from a head injury sustained in a carjacking several months ago.

"I absolutely love it because it's uncharted territory," Braeden said. "It's so interesting to play something that is childlike and naive and not as calculated and hostile and angry as he usually is."

The show's writing staff discussed its plans with Braeden ahead of time and then he researched the neurological condition, saying, "I just wanted to know Victor's behavior was medically sound."

Braeden also recorded a public-service announcement in cooperation with the Epilepsy Foundation that will air Monday and Tuesday.

"People with epilepsy can live very successful and seizure-free lives," he said.

In coming weeks, viewers will see how Victor deals with his diagnosis and how his family and business associates react, too.

Few daytime actors enjoy the longevity and popularity that Braeden does; and at 65, he remains a key character in the increasingly youth-driven soap opera world.

"I am enormously, eternally grateful for having had the opportunity," he said. "Where else do you get the chance to be vulnerable, to play a tough guy at the same time? The only other way I could imagine to be that satisfied would be to do Shakespeare."

Relaxing between scenes on a leather sofa in his small, unadorned dressing room at CBS Television City here, Braeden reflected on his character's popularity worldwide, except in his native Germany where "Y&R" is not broadcast.

"I was in the bazaar in Istanbul. I bought a carpet and all the merchants said, 'Victor, Victor, Victor.' I thought, you must be kidding me," he said. "I'm standing in front of the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, full of feelings about and thoughts about the history of this place and suddenly, almost sacrilegiously, people say, 'Victor, Victor."'

A Daytime Emmy winner in 1998, Braeden first gained serious notice in the '60s ABC series "The Rat Patrol." He also played John Jacob Astor in 1997's "Titanic."

Still, he doesn't take his renown seriously, although it's taught him the enormous power of Hollywood and the universality of emotions.

"We're not different from anyone. Those veiled women in the Middle East react the same way that women do in Canada. All the men in Turkey in the coffee shops and smoking the pipe all react the same," he said. "When you begin to believe that your god is different than the other guy's god, that's when we start going down paths of trouble."

Loyalty and longevity are hallmarks of Braeden's personal life. He credits those traits to growing up in the German town of Kiel, where relationships are long-lived. He and wife Dale have been married since 1966. (Their son, Christian, is a screenwriter.)

"That doesn't mean it hasn't been difficult. I've grown up with a European sensibility about that -- you don't throw in the towel at the first sign of trouble," he said. "Life ain't all happy. You just stick it out."

There's one woman who can reduce Braeden to complete mush, and it isn't his TV wife, Nikki. It's Tatiana Marie, his 2 1/2-year-old granddaughter.

"I never thought I'd have such feelings of totally unrestricted love," he said. "I grew up in a world of men -- three brothers, a lot of sports and fights. Now to have a girl, it's wonderful."

A rare, soft smile crosses Braeden's face and he chuckles thinking about the girl he calls "the greatest joy of my life."

Just then, a disembodied voice over a speaker beckons Braeden back to the set.

And for longtime fans who wonder when Victor will return to his power-thirsty ways in the boardroom, Braeden offers reassurance.

"Tell them to be patient," he said. "It will happen with a vengeance."

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