As previously reported, formerly Family Ties patriarch Michael Gross will be appearing on The Young and the Restless. We now have a bit more information on the role Gross will be playing:

The character's name is River Baldwin and he's a former Vietnam-era activist who was connected to a group of student terrorists.

So far, viewers have been led to believe that River — the missing dad of Michael Baldwin (Christian LeBlanc) — was a drifter, druggie and draft dodger who abandoned Michael and his mother, Gloria (Judith Chapman), fleeing to Canada.

"But the truth is not so black and white," The Young and the Restless head writer Maria Arena Bell told TV Guide. "In trying to track down his father, Michael fears he's going to find a very amoral guy. What he ends up finding is someone totally unexpected."

Adds the actor himself:

"River is a very different character than you're accustomed to seeing on a soap — it's like he's from another planet. He was part of a political movement that greatly affected his family. Now he'll be forced to examine the choices he made."

Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.