One of the crazier characters of "The Young and the Restless" is returning to Genoa City. Patty Williams, played by Stacy Haiduk, will be on screen come September.

How crazy is Patty? Well, she talked to a dead cat for years. In 2009, Haiduk told SoapCentral, "Let me put it this way, I think if someone were to tell me 10 years ago that I would be working with a dead cat, I would have said, 'You're crazy.' From all the stuff that I have done in my career, which is playing businesswomen and cops and prison breaks... I had no idea this was coming, and I read it in my script and I was like, 'Oh, my God. This is insane.'"

Paul's younger sister was a sweet young thing when she was played by Lilibet Stern. That changed when Patty married Jack, had a miscarriage and found out Jack cheated on her and only married her so he could take control of Jabot Cosmetics. Patty shot and paralyzed Jack, but he decided not to press charges. Patty went away for over decade.

Patty returned in 2009 as a brunette with a different face (via plastic surgery, which Victor Newman had paid for to get revenge on Jack). She also had a different name: Mary Jane Benson. Patty became obsessed with Jack. She became upset when she saw him and Phyllis Summers having sex. After hearing that Phyllis' young daughter, Summer Newman, was allergic to peanuts, she ate a cookie with peanuts in it and kissed her. Summer went into a coma. But the plan backfired when Patty noticed that Phyllis and Jack got closer as they sat by Summer's bedside. Patty called her niece, Heather Stevens, and said that she saw Phyllis feed Summer peanuts. Phyllis was separated from her daughter for a short time until they found evidence connecting Patty to the murder attempt. She fled.

Patty lived in Victor's potting shed. Adam found her and framed her for trying to make Ashley insane. Patty committed several crimes such as stealing Mac's money, killing Victor's dog and drugging and sleeping with Jack. She dyed her hair back to blonde. Paul tracked her down but she revealed her true identity to him. He tried to help her, but Jeffrey Bardwell and Gloria Abbott Bardwell kidnapped her and tried to ransom her off. Colleen Carlton helped her escape her captors, but Patty turned on her and kept her as a hostage. The girl drowned while she was with Patty. After that, she was locked up in a psych ward when her therapist, Dr. Emily Peterson, who looked just like Patty, came to town. Emily took over Patty's case, but gave it up when she fell in love with Jack.

While Jack was becoming suspicious, Patty was struggling to be Emily.

Patty, as Emily, was assigned to Adam who had previously used and framed her. Her job was to decide if he could stand trial for kidnapping. Adam realized who she was and blackmailed her into helping him escape. He was later found murdered in the Genoa City Athletic Club basement.

A while later, it was revealed that Adam was still alive. He was sent to the same psych ward as Patty after faking a mental breakdown and snuck into Patty's room. A terrified and still-over-the-edge Patty escaped and left town.

A little while after that, Patty called Paul. Paul begged her to come home but she refused. It was then revealed that she was a redhead and in Brazil, again using the name Mary Jane.

To find out more about Lynda Hirsch and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at www.creators.com.