Helen Wagner
Encyclopedia
Helen Wagner was an American
actress. Born in Lubbock, Texas
, she is best known for her long running role as Nancy Hughes McClosky
on the soap opera
As the World Turns
. Wagner also played the role of Trudy Bauer during the initial TV years of Guiding Light
in the early 1950s. She also appeared on the early soap Valiant Lady, as well as on 1950s primetime programs including The World of Mr. Sweeney
, Mister Peepers, Inner Sanctum, and the Philco-Goodyear Playhouse. Wagner died on May 1, 2010, at the age of 91. The cause of her death was cancer.
, to do so. Up until that time, all soaps ran for only 15-minutes. Advertisers were skeptical at first, finding it hard to believe that the average housewife had the attention span to tune to one soap opera for a half hour. The show would hit ratings gold within three years. After a number of years of broadcasting live and in black-and-white, it would eventually go on to air on tape and in color and expand to a full hour.
On November 22, 1963, Wagner inadvertently became part of broadcast history. About ten minutes into that day's episode of As the World Turns, a scene featuring Wagner's character was interrupted by Walter Cronkite
's first news bulletin that President John F. Kennedy had been shot
in Dallas, Texas
(this bulletin was audio only, as the studio camera was not ready until 20 minutes later). Wagner later remembered that she and actor Santos Ortega, who played Grandpa Hughes, continued with the scene as it was broadcast live, unaware of the unfolding national tragedy until they were told about it during a commercial break. http://tvfanforums.net/lofiversion/index.php?t93.html
Wagner took some breaks from the role, both voluntary and involuntary. After six months with the show, creator Irna Phillips
fired her because she did not favor the way Wagner poured coffee. After overwhelming pressure to hire her back, Phillips did so begrudgingly. Wagner would leave of her own accord in the early 1980s. Disssatified with then-producer Mary-Ellis Bunim's decision to showcase the Hughes family less, Wagner and co-star Don MacLaughlin
walked away from the show after vocal dissent in the press. With As The World Turns having fallen from the top spot in the Nielsen TV ratings, Bunim wanted to shift the show's focus to the younger generation. Wagner eventually returned to the role in 1985 and in 1986 she and an ailing MacLaughlin, who played her on-screen husband, were prominently featured in the show's 30th anniversary episode. The storyline had their characters celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary.
After McLaughlin's death in 1986, the Nancy Hughes character became a widow. She later met and married Dan McClosky (Dan Frazer
) and was subsequently part of a storyline in which Dan was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease
. After it culminated in Dan's death, Wagner faced many years with little to no part in the story. She returned to the screen with a pivotal role in a 2004 storyline revolving around her grandson's marriage to naïve teenager Alison Stewart (Jessica Dunphy
).
In 2005, 2006, and 2007, Wagner averaged around three appearances a month on the serial. She was prominently featured in the show's 50th anniversary episode in April 2006. Her lack of screen time was attributed by some to the failing health of her real-life husband, Robert Willey. But press reports later stated that show producer Procter & Gamble
had actually taken Wagner off contract and only used her on special occasions. Insiders are reported to have said that this move hurt her deeply. Fans were vocal in their displeasure with Wagner's lack of story. When asked how long she would keep playing Nancy, Wagner replied "As long as I can and they want me." After a prolonged absence, Nancy returned to the screen on November 25, 2009 for the show's Thanksgiving episode and also on December 29, 2009. She appeared again on April 2 and April 5, 2010. Wagner's final appearance on As the World Turns, taped in March, aired on June 1, 2010 — exactly a month after her death.
Wagner's death was finally addressed in episodes broadcast on August 30 and 31, 2010. On August 30, Nancy's son Bob Hughes
discovers that his mother has died quietly in her apartment. In the following episode, family and friends remember Nancy, with numerous flashbacks to scenes from vintage episodes.
Wagner's death came less than two months before As The World Turns taped its final episode. CBS announced on December 9, 2009, that it was cancelling the show after 54 years on the air. Many fans had hoped that Wagner would be able to close the series with the line "good night, dear," just as she had uttered "good morning, dear" as the first line of the program back in 1956. The last episode was taped on June 23, 2010 and aired on September 17, 2010.
Although Wagner played Nancy for more than 50 years, she never won a Daytime Emmy Award
for her work. She was, however, presented with a "Lifetime Achievement" Emmy in May 2004.
(Illinois), awarded her an honorary degree of "Doctor of Humane Letters". The following year, Wagner chaired a national committee that raised more than $1 million to replace the school's "little theater" with a state-of-the-art facility. On opening night in Monmouth's new Wells Theater, Wagner played the role of Eleanor in The Lion in Winter.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actress. Born in Lubbock, Texas
Lubbock, Texas
Lubbock is a city in and the county seat of Lubbock County, Texas, United States. The city is located in the northwestern part of the state, a region known historically as the Llano Estacado, and the home of Texas Tech University and Lubbock Christian University...
, she is best known for her long running role as Nancy Hughes McClosky
Nancy Hughes
Nancy Hughes McClosky is a fictional character on the CBS soap opera As the World Turns. From the show's inception in 1956 until 2010, Nancy Hughes has served as the core family's matriarch...
on the soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
As the World Turns
As the World Turns
As the World Turns is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS from April 2, 1956 to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created As the World Turns as a sister show to her other soap opera Guiding Light...
. Wagner also played the role of Trudy Bauer during the initial TV years of Guiding Light
Guiding Light
Guiding Light is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest running drama in television and radio history, running from 1937 until 2009...
in the early 1950s. She also appeared on the early soap Valiant Lady, as well as on 1950s primetime programs including The World of Mr. Sweeney
The World of Mr. Sweeney
The World of Mr. Sweeney is an American sitcom that aired on NBC in primetime and daytime. The series first aired live in primetime from June 30, 1954 to August 20, 1954, four nights a week from Tuesday to Friday, and from October 1954 to December 1955 five days a week in daytime. A total of 345...
, Mister Peepers, Inner Sanctum, and the Philco-Goodyear Playhouse. Wagner died on May 1, 2010, at the age of 91. The cause of her death was cancer.
As the World Turns
Wagner played the soap opera's matriarch, Nancy Hughes, from its debut on April 2, 1956, until her death. She is acknowledged by the Guinness Book of Records for having the longest run in a single role on television. In fact, Wagner spoke the show's very first line, "good morning, dear," and would go on to witness its many broadcast transformations. As The World Turns premiered as a 30-minute program and was the first soap opera, along with The Edge of NightThe Edge of Night
The Edge of Night is an American television mystery series/soap opera produced by Procter & Gamble. It debuted on CBS on April 2, 1956, and ran as a live broadcast on that network until November 28, 1975; the series then moved to ABC, where it aired from December 1, 1975, until December 28, 1984...
, to do so. Up until that time, all soaps ran for only 15-minutes. Advertisers were skeptical at first, finding it hard to believe that the average housewife had the attention span to tune to one soap opera for a half hour. The show would hit ratings gold within three years. After a number of years of broadcasting live and in black-and-white, it would eventually go on to air on tape and in color and expand to a full hour.
On November 22, 1963, Wagner inadvertently became part of broadcast history. About ten minutes into that day's episode of As the World Turns, a scene featuring Wagner's character was interrupted by Walter Cronkite
Walter Cronkite
Walter Leland Cronkite, Jr. was an American broadcast journalist, best known as anchorman for the CBS Evening News for 19 years . During the heyday of CBS News in the 1960s and 1970s, he was often cited as "the most trusted man in America" after being so named in an opinion poll...
's first news bulletin that President John F. Kennedy had been shot
Assassination of John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United States, was assassinated at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas...
in Dallas, Texas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
(this bulletin was audio only, as the studio camera was not ready until 20 minutes later). Wagner later remembered that she and actor Santos Ortega, who played Grandpa Hughes, continued with the scene as it was broadcast live, unaware of the unfolding national tragedy until they were told about it during a commercial break. http://tvfanforums.net/lofiversion/index.php?t93.html
Wagner took some breaks from the role, both voluntary and involuntary. After six months with the show, creator Irna Phillips
Irna Phillips
Irna Phillips was an American actress and most notably writer who created and scripted many of the first American soap operas.Phillips created radio and TV soap operas including:...
fired her because she did not favor the way Wagner poured coffee. After overwhelming pressure to hire her back, Phillips did so begrudgingly. Wagner would leave of her own accord in the early 1980s. Disssatified with then-producer Mary-Ellis Bunim's decision to showcase the Hughes family less, Wagner and co-star Don MacLaughlin
Don MacLaughlin
Don MacLaughlin was an American soap opera actor.He was born on November 24, 1906, in Webster, Iowa, under the name William Donald McLaughlin....
walked away from the show after vocal dissent in the press. With As The World Turns having fallen from the top spot in the Nielsen TV ratings, Bunim wanted to shift the show's focus to the younger generation. Wagner eventually returned to the role in 1985 and in 1986 she and an ailing MacLaughlin, who played her on-screen husband, were prominently featured in the show's 30th anniversary episode. The storyline had their characters celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary.
After McLaughlin's death in 1986, the Nancy Hughes character became a widow. She later met and married Dan McClosky (Dan Frazer
Dan Frazer
Dan Frazer, is an American actor best known for his role as Capt. Frank McNeil, the supervisor of Telly Savalas's character, in the 1970s TV cop show Kojak. Frazer has been playing character roles in various TV series and films since the 1950s...
) and was subsequently part of a storyline in which Dan was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
. After it culminated in Dan's death, Wagner faced many years with little to no part in the story. She returned to the screen with a pivotal role in a 2004 storyline revolving around her grandson's marriage to naïve teenager Alison Stewart (Jessica Dunphy
Jessica Dunphy
Jessica Dunphy is an American actress.Originally from Glenside, Pennsylvania, Dunphy's most prominent roles include Devin Pillsbury on The Sopranos and Alison Stewart on the soap opera As the World Turns from April 25, 2002 until her final appearance on July 20, 2005.She has appeared in the films...
).
In 2005, 2006, and 2007, Wagner averaged around three appearances a month on the serial. She was prominently featured in the show's 50th anniversary episode in April 2006. Her lack of screen time was attributed by some to the failing health of her real-life husband, Robert Willey. But press reports later stated that show producer Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble is a Fortune 500 American multinational corporation headquartered in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio and manufactures a wide range of consumer goods....
had actually taken Wagner off contract and only used her on special occasions. Insiders are reported to have said that this move hurt her deeply. Fans were vocal in their displeasure with Wagner's lack of story. When asked how long she would keep playing Nancy, Wagner replied "As long as I can and they want me." After a prolonged absence, Nancy returned to the screen on November 25, 2009 for the show's Thanksgiving episode and also on December 29, 2009. She appeared again on April 2 and April 5, 2010. Wagner's final appearance on As the World Turns, taped in March, aired on June 1, 2010 — exactly a month after her death.
Wagner's death was finally addressed in episodes broadcast on August 30 and 31, 2010. On August 30, Nancy's son Bob Hughes
Bob Hughes
Dr. Robert "Bob" Hughes. M.D. is a fictional character on the American soap opera, As the World Turns. Bob was played by actor Don Hastings from October 1960 until the series' final episode on September 17, 2010...
discovers that his mother has died quietly in her apartment. In the following episode, family and friends remember Nancy, with numerous flashbacks to scenes from vintage episodes.
Wagner's death came less than two months before As The World Turns taped its final episode. CBS announced on December 9, 2009, that it was cancelling the show after 54 years on the air. Many fans had hoped that Wagner would be able to close the series with the line "good night, dear," just as she had uttered "good morning, dear" as the first line of the program back in 1956. The last episode was taped on June 23, 2010 and aired on September 17, 2010.
Although Wagner played Nancy for more than 50 years, she never won a Daytime Emmy Award
Daytime Emmy Award
The Daytime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the New York-based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and the Los Angeles-based Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American daytime television programming...
for her work. She was, however, presented with a "Lifetime Achievement" Emmy in May 2004.
Alma mater
In 1988, Wagner's alma mater, Monmouth CollegeMonmouth College
Monmouth College is a four-year coeducational private liberal arts college located in Monmouth, Illinois, United States.-History:Monmouth College was founded on April 18, 1853 by the Second Presbytery of Illinois, a frontier arm of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church...
(Illinois), awarded her an honorary degree of "Doctor of Humane Letters". The following year, Wagner chaired a national committee that raised more than $1 million to replace the school's "little theater" with a state-of-the-art facility. On opening night in Monmouth's new Wells Theater, Wagner played the role of Eleanor in The Lion in Winter.