This article is about the history of 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...

(ATWT), the second longest-running American television 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,...

.

Storylines

• Claire Cassen is killed after running into a road to try and apologize to Dan Stewart; unaware of passing cars, Claire is struck by one and dies after apologizing to Dan (1971).

• Sandy McGuire married Peter Kane.

• Susan Stewart dated John Dixon briefly.

• Elizabeth Stewart becomes pregnant by Paul Stewart. She has a miscarriage and goes into a sanitarium.

• Susan Stewart then becomes pregnant by Dan Stewart.

• Penny Wade returns to town briefly but then leaves town and marries Anton Cunningham.

• Tom falls for Meredith Harcourt and allows her to stay in his home.

• Nancy doesn't trust Meredith and doesn't believe she is poor as she claims.

• Meredith buys Nancy some "costume jewelry" which Nancy has checked and discovers its value is $2000.

• Simon Gilbey comes to town and it is revealed that Meredith Harcourt is his ward.

• a wealthy new client, Simon Gilbey, seeks Chris Hughes' legal expertise.

• Gilbey overworks and insults Chris Hughes, his lawyer.

• Nancy is distraught when an overworked Chris suffers a heart attack.

• Don blames Bob and David for being too cautious regarding Chris' heart attack and wants Chris to have experimental surgery.

• Chris agrees with Bob against the idea of experimental surgery and, in time, makes a full recovery

• Simon Gilbey falls in love with Lisa Shea. Then Simon Gilbey and Meredith Harcourt leave town as lovers.

• Chuck Ryan comes back to Oakdale and gets involved with sisters Kim Sullivan and Jennifer Ryan. He has had two children with Jennifer, Barbara and Rick Ryan. Shortly after his return, Chuck dies.

• Paul and Elizabeth Stewart divorce and he later dies.

• Nancy plays matchmaker and tries to set up Don with widowed Jennifer Ryan. However Bob falls for Jennifer and they begin a relationship.

• Nancy tries to get Bob and Lisa back together.

• Donald Hughes and Lisa Shea get together.

• Bob is hated by Jennifer's son, Rick, and Nancy warns Bob of the problems of living with the Ryan family.

• Lisa Shea believes she is pregnant by Don as he is the only one she has been sleeping with. Eventually, she discover it is actually an ovarian cyst.

• Don proposes to Lisa.

• Jennifer Ryan and Bob Hughes plan to get married.

• Tom Hughes and Carol Deming get married as do Bob and Jennifer.

• Dan and Susan Stewart give birth to Emily Stewart. He leaves Susan for a nurse, Peggy Reagan, who had liked Dan Stewart.

• Susan and Dan Stewart get a divorce and she married Bruce Baxter, but he didn't like children and had a vasectomy. After Susan Stewart divorced him, he left town.

• When Dan Stewart performed gall bladder surgery on Marie Marino, she died and Joe Fernande shot him.

• Divorced Dan Stewart marries widowed Elizabeth Stewart, but after she accidentally left the safety gate for Betsy open at the top of the stairs while she and Susan Baxter were arguing, Elizabeth Stewart fell going up the stairs to check on Betsy. Elizabeth ruptured her liver and died, but not before telling Dan Stewart that he was Betsy Stewart's father.

• Wally Matthews comes to town followed later by Peter Burton and his adopted mother, Grace Burton. Peter Burton realizes Wally Matthews is his father. Don Hughes is suspicious of the other man Lisa has been dating, Wally Matthews, and wants her decision about who she wants to be with. Finally, Don can't wait any longer and leaves Oakdale.

• Wally Matthews tells Peter Burton that he's his father and Peter Burton left town with his new wife Marion.

• Wally Matthews left town when Lisa Shea rejected him.

• Amy Cunningham, Penny Hughes' adopted daughter comes to town but leaves shortly after.

• Bob Hughes puts Rick Ryan on probation at the hospital.

• John Dixon wants to marry Kim Sullivan.

• Bob Hughes goes to see Kim Sullivan sing in Florida and afterward the two secretly made love.

• Jennifer becomes pregnant and she and Bob Hughes reconcile.

• Kim Sullivan becomes pregnant, but does not reveal the father.

• When Jennifer Hughes is about to get hit by a car Bob Hughes pushes her out of the way and gets hit instead. In the hospital, he reveals the he is the father of Kim Sullivan's child.

• Grant Colman comes to town (1973); he works for the Lowell firm and dates Lisa.

• Jay Stallings comes to town. Gil Stallings, his stepfather, burned their house down and came to town and set fire to the Wade Bookstore. Grant cornered him and he got hit by a truck. Jay Stallings starts up a construction company.

• Carol Hughes realizes she can't have children.

• Jennifer Hughes gives birth to Francis "Frannie" Hughes.

• Nancy tries to reconcile with Jennifer who is hostile towards her mother-in-law.

• Natalie Bannon comes to town and Tom Hughes falls in love with her.

• Kim Dixon wants a divorce from John Dixon but he threatens her.

• Susan gets a new boyfriend, Mark Galloway.

• John Dixon rapes Kim Dixon.

• Jennifer Hughes almost died of a disease, but recovered. Shortly after, she was involved in a car crash and died as Rick Ryan left town.

• John and Kim Dixon fight and he falls down the stairs, becomes paralyzed, and has to be in a wheelchair.

• Susan Stewart sued Dan Stewart for custody of Emily Stewart but loses. She sinks deep into alcoholism.

• Susan Stewart liked Jay Stallings but he was in love with Carol Deming. Jay and Carol later got married, but he and Susan Stewart had an affair.

• Emily Stewart almost died of meningitis.

• Pa Hughes finds love again with widow Erma Kopecki and they marry.

• Kim and Dan Stewart also got a divorce but when a tornado hit she got a concussion so they continued their relationship.

• Kim Stewart and Grant Colman had a romance.

Characters

The Hughes Family

Will "Pa" Hughes

m.Ma Hughes

c.Edith Hughes Frey

m.George Frey

a.Jim Lowell (RIP)

c.John Hughes

m.Marion

c.Christopher Hughes

m.Nancy Hughes

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...

c.Donald Hughes

m.Janice Turner Whipple Hughes(RIP)

c.Penny Hughes Baker Wade McGuire Cunningham

m.Jeff Baker

m.Neil Wade

m.Roy McGuire

m.Anton Cunningham

c.Amy Cunningham {Adopted by Penny Hughes}

c.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...

m.Lisa Miller Hughes

c.Thomas Christopher Hughes

Tom Hughes (ATWT)

Thomas Christopher "Tom" Hughes is a fictional character on the American soap opera As the World Turns. He was played by a number of actors during the character's 49-year tenure on the show, the longest-running actor being Scott Holmes, who took over the role July 3, 1987, and remained until...

m.Carol Deming Hughes

m.Jennifer Sullivan Hughes

c.Francis "Frannie" Hughes

c.Susan Hughes (RIP)

The Lowell Family

James T. Lowell

m.Alice Lowell (RIP)

c.Jim Lowell (RIP)

m.Claire Lowell Cassen

m.Doug Cassen (RIP)

a.Edith Hughes

c.Ellen Lowell Cole

m.Tim Cole

c.James "Jimmy" Cole

m.David Stewart

c.Dawn Stewart

The Miller Family

Henry Miller

m.Alma Miller

c.Lisa Miller Hughes Eldridge

m.Bob Hughes

c.Thomas Christopher Hughes

Tom Hughes (ATWT)

Thomas Christopher "Tom" Hughes is a fictional character on the American soap opera As the World Turns. He was played by a number of actors during the character's 49-year tenure on the show, the longest-running actor being Scott Holmes, who took over the role July 3, 1987, and remained until...

a.Bruce Elliot

m.John Eldridge

a.Michael Shea

c.Charles "Chuckie" Shea

The Stewart Family

David Stewart

m.Betty Stewart

c.Paul Stewart (RIP)

m.Elizabeth Talbot Stewart (RIP)

c.Betsy Stewart

Betsy Stewart

Elizabeth "Betsy" Stewart was a fictional character on the American soap opera As the World Turns. Betsy was played most notably by Meg Ryan and Lindsay Frost...

c.Dan Stewart (adopted) {Birth Name: James "Jimmy" Cole}

m.Elizabeth Talbot Stewart Stewart (RIP)

m.Susan Burke Stewart

c.Emily Stewart

m.Ellen Lowell Cole Stewart

c.Carol Ann Stewart

c.Dawn Stewart

The Wilson/McGuire Family

Carl Wilson

m.Martha Wilson

c.Sandy Wilson McGuire

m.Roy McGuire

m.Penny Hughes Baker Wade McGuire

m.Peter Kane

c. Jimmy McGuire

The Rogers Family

Ted Rogers

m.Joan Rogers (RIP)

The Martin Family

Otto Martin

c.Dick Martin

The Burke Family

Fred Burke

c.Susan Burke Stewart Baxter

m.Dan Stewart

c.Emily Stewart

m.Bruce Baxter

The Talbot Family

Elizabeth Talbot Stewart Stewart (RIP)

m.Paul Stewart

c.Betsy Stewart

m.Dan Stewart

Ronnie Talbot

The Sullivan/Ryan Family

Jennifer Sullivan Hughes

a.Chuck Ryan (RIP)

c.Barbara Ryan

c.Rick Ryan

m.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...

c.Francis "Frannie" Hughes

Kim Sullivan

The Matthews Family

Dr. Wally Matthews

c.Peter Matthews Barton {Adopted by Grace Barton}

m.Marion

The Stallings Family

Gil Stallings

c.Jay Stallings (step-son)

m.Carol Deming

Other People

• John Dixon
• Meredith Harcourt, Simon's ward and later his lover
• Simon Gilby, Meredith was his ward and he was later her lover
• Peggy Reagan, nurse who fell for Dan Stewart
• Eric Lonsberry
• Marie Marino, died during gall bladder surgery
• Tony Marino
• Joe Fernande, shot Dan Stewart for the death of Marie Marino
• Mr./Mrs. Parson
• Richard Taylor
• Dr. Bill Jenkins
• Bobby Short
• Natalie Bannon
• Marsha Davison
• George Davison
• Mark Galloway