February 1 marked Eric Braeden's 25th anniversary playing the incomparable Victor Newman on YOUNG AND RESTLESS. The actor's co-stars, along with several special guest stars and his wife of 38 years, Dale, son Christian and daughter-in-law Stacey saluted Braeden with words of humor and praise at a gathering held on Y&R's Stage 43 in his honor. In fact, a representative from the office of L.A. Mayor James Hahn was on hand and declared it to be Eric Braeden Day. Here are some excerpts of what you missed if you weren't in attendance.

Peter Bergman (Jack): "In daytime dramas, the cast is made up of lead characters, supporting characters and what I call iconic characters. The first two categories make up 99 percent of all daytime roles. Their success is largely determined by the writers. The third category, the iconic character, there are only a handful of them in the history of daytime. It is the iconic actor whose face everyone brings to mind when the mere title of the show comes up.... Victor Newman is one of those characters, and the man who has played him for 25 years is our focus today .... the most recognizable man in daytime, Eric Braeden.... When you play one of these roles for as long as Eric has, the line between actor and character blurs a bit. I was in an interview once and I was asked, 'What is the difference between Eric Braeden and Victor Newman?' The answer I gave was, Victor Newman never thinks he's Eric Braeden."

Les Moonves, chairman and CEO of CBS: "Twenty-five years is a remarkable accomplishment. The loyalty you've shown is the reason Y&R has been in first place for 16 years in a row. The main reason is because of you and your colleagues. May we have 25 more years together.... I consider you a gentleman, a wonderful actor and a good friend."

Bradley Bell, B&B executive producer/head writer: "Your brilliant performances have made our hearts pound. We feared you and hated you, loved you and cried with you. But you always left us in awe. You took a part and transformed it into a phenomenon.... You challenged us. You raised the bar. You taught us. You made us all better for having the great gift of working with you."

Edward J. Scott, supervising producer: "Eric, you're a man of great passion and purpose, and you bring those qualities to the table in everything you do. I'm so proud to celebrate this wonderful milestone with you."

Jesse Ventura, retired pro wrestler and former governor of Minnesota: "First lady Terry Ventura would watch every day while I would be eating breakfast and I, like all men, said, 'How could you watch this stuff?' Two weeks later, I'm telling her what's happening and saying, 'Wait till you see what happened today!' At that time, I became a follower of the show.... I'm just pleased to know that Peter, Don [Diamont, Brad] and you actually get along.... As a male, Eric is the epitome of what we all want to be. He's rich, powerful and most importantly, at one time or another, he's had every woman on the show.... If I was still the governor of Minnesota, I would have declared it Eric Braeden Day there as well."

Jeanne Cooper (Katherine): "What are you doing on our show? You could be prime minister. You could be all of these other things that you think you are.... You have been validated as a true virus by the Center For Disease Control in Atlanta. It's called the Victor Virus. You mention Victor's name and wherever he is, 30 to 40 percent of the women are automatically pregnant. It's an airborne virus."

Eileen Davidson (Ashley): "I want to thank you for being a bold, fearless, passionate and unpredictable actor who cares so deeply about his work.... It has always been a unique and very special experience to work with you."

Victoria Rowell (Drucilla): (She gave a brief speech in German, then performed a low, graceful curtsy for Braeden.)