Nancy Hughes
Encyclopedia
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 (and by extension, the town's) matriarch. Nancy was played by Helen Wagner
for the character's entire run on As the World Turns.
Wagner is acknowledged by the Guinness Book of Records as being the longest-running character played by one actor on television. It was the character of Nancy that spoke the very first lines, "good morning dear" on the show back in April 1956.
Throughout the course of the series, Nancy remained a matriarch figure in the lives of those she cared for. Over the course of the program, Nancy had appeared in some 19,700 scenes and has been described as a straitlaced, proper and unassuming woman who stood for "old-fashioned values".
After 48 years, in 2004 the actress received her first award for her work on the show in the form of a Lifetime Acheivement Award at the Daytime Emmys.
Wagner died on May 1, 2010 from cancer. As the World Turns dedicated two episodes to both the character and actress with surrounding characters illustrating different ways of dealing with her passing.
sacked Wagner due to her be dissatisfied with the way that she poured coffee – an important task for a character who provided a sympathetic ear and a shoulder on which to cry. The character was later reinstated.
In a 1968 New York Times interview, Wagner called Nancy Hughes "a tentpole character.""Nothing ever happens to Nancy," Wagner said. "She's the one the others come and talk to."
However again in the 1980s, Wagner and on-screen husband Don MacLaughlin
were again dropped from the show under a new producer who wanted to attract a younger audience. She voiced her displeasure at the sacking in a 1981 Associated Press article, where she claimed she'd been given one line in three months worth of television.
"There just hasn't been anything to Nancy's character. Anybody could read the lines I've been given," Ms Wagner said.
Wagner highlighted in 1998 that the characters were now "destructive, mean, immoral, unattractive and selfish." "They care about nothing but themselves — me, me, me. That's a dead end. That's no life."
She also wished her character hadn't receded into the background in later years while most of the plot developments happened to the younger characters.
"I don't like the making of Nancy into only an extra figure at parties," she said. "She is too dynamic a person to be made into a ghost."
commented on her death. "I saw her a couple days before she passed on and she was still herself. She knew how she wanted to be. She was definitely an original. She loved her job, loved her position, and loved her character. Even at the end, when she was in the hospital, she knew she had a call to appear on the show the following week. She asked the doctor if they could get her well enough to be there for her call," Hays said.
"Nancy was Donna Reed
with real problems in the days before soap characters traveled through time, engaged in espionage or almost routinely were reunited with evil twins," she said.
"She's a beloved presence in the soap world," Jason Bonderoff, managing editor of Soap Opera Digest told the Times, who also called her "daytime's answer to Angela Lansbury
."
Upon her death, New York Times reporter Dennis Hevesi detailed the reason for the actresses longevity. "Ms. Wagner’s Nancy lasted precisely because she remained solid; she wouldn’t join the country club because she considered it elitist, and insisted on cleaning her house because she felt uncomfortable being bossy."
Nancy Hughes's quiet suburban life was about to take some interesting turns starting in 1956. Still in mourning over the loss of her oldest daughter, who died swimming in a storm, Nancy, the wife of attorney Chris Hughes, became very protective of her other daughter Penny's close bond with Chris's sister, the unconventional Edie Hughes. The sisters-in-laws' disapproval of each other went both ways with Edie describing Nancy as overly opinionated and hopelessly provincial and Nancy looking down on Edie's single freewheeling lifestyle. Chris, the peacemaker, acted as a buffer between the two women and Penny, defending Edie and indulging Penny. Having just been named junior partner at the law firm of Lowell, Barnes, & Lowell, Chris would discover that Edie was carrying on an affair with his best friend, the married Jim Lowell. Incredulous, Chris pleaded with her to end the affair, so as not to destroy the Lowell marriage. However, Edith, to Chris's consternation, was in love with Jim and she had no intention of ending the affair. In addition to worrying about Edith's indiscretion, he also was shocked to receive word that his younger brother, John, was in jail. Feeling as if he let his younger siblings down, by marrying after completing his law degree rather than paying for their education, Chris tried to help the troubled John but was initially met with harsh resistance. However, Chris refused to give up on John, something Nancy couldn't understand since she viewed him as a troublemaker. Meanwhile, Edith's affair with Jim was becoming known by more and more people, including their father and Nancy. Now living with Chris and his family, Pa Hughes let his opinions on the affair be known, but Edith refused to listen to anyone. Things only got worse, with Jim's father, Chris's boss, Judge James Lowell, suffered a heart attack and Jim's wife, Nancy's best friend, Claire, attempting suicide. Though Chris tried to be as supportive of Edith as he could, despite the fact that he wanted her to back away for the good of the Lowell family, Nancy wasn't so understanding and hurt Chris with her condescending attitude toward Edie, demanding that Chris ask Edie to leave town. Though a longtime defender of Edie, Chris reluctantly asked her to leave; but Edie refused, despite how the affair was hurting the Lowell family. However, in the end, it became apparent that perhaps the Lowell marriage shouldn't be saved, especially when Claire herself realized that she never really loved Jim.
In the midst of all this, Nancy's three children were growing up. The oldest, Don, was about to graduate from high school and was madly in love with an older waitress named Janice Turner. Chris believed that, as parents, he and Nancy should do nothing—let the relationship run its course. However, Nancy disagreed. She thought the older Janice was totally wrong for Don. Nancy made her opinion perfectly clear to Don as well as Janice. Unfortunately, all Nancy accomplished was to alienate herself from Don. Don resented his mother's interference, so much that when she returned to town after a thirteen-week absence (to take care of her ill brother-in-law), he refused to see her. Despite Nancy's criticism, Don and Janice continued seeing each other until, as Chris predicted, the affair fizzled out when Don was in college. In addition to Don, the Hugheses also had to deal with their teenage daughter, Penny. Nancy disapproved of Penny's new relationship with a spoiled young man named Jeff Baker. Believing that Nancy loved her deceased sister, Susan, more than her, an insecure Penny used to confide in her Aunt Edie. That was until she learned about the affair. Learning that her aunt was responsible for the breakup of the Lowell marriage, thus hurting Penny's best friend, Ellen, Penny turned her back on her favorite aunt. Confused and hurt, she rebelled and starting seeing more and more of Jeff, openly defying Nancy. Though Chris and his Pa couldn't condone Penny's hostile attitude toward Nancy, they realized that Nancy's self-righteousness was driving a wedge in the family. Then Penny and Jeff suddenly eloped. Chris and Nancy weren't at all happy that their underage daughter eloped and they forced an annulment, telling the couple to wait until Penny was of age. Not long after, Chris successfully defended Jeff when he was charged with killing Al James, who'd died in fight with Jeff. However, Nancy wasn't pleased to see Chris bonding with Jeff, since she thought the older and more responsible Tom Pope was a better choice for Penny. Despite Nancy's wishes, Penny's heart belonged to Jeff and, a year after they first eloped; Chris was very pleased to walk Penny down the aisle. Rounding out the Hughes family was their teenage son, Bob, a happy uncomplicated kid.
Meanwhile, Bob was growing up and had decided to become a doctor. Later, the Hugheses were shocked when he came home with a young woman named Lisa Miller
and announced that they'd eloped. Not liking the idea of Bob marrying a woman they never even met, Chris and Nancy demanded that the couple get an annulment—that was until one thing changed everything: Lisa announced she was pregnant. In a reversal, Nancy accepted the union, while Chris was outraged and was ready to let the couple make their own way without any financial help from him. Luckily, Pa was able to persuade Chris to open his home to his son and new wife. Months later, Lisa gave birth to a son, Thomas Christopher Hughes. When Lisa had a tendency to be too busy having a social life to care for Tommy, and Bob was busy building his medical career, the job of raising Tommy tended to fall on Chris and Nancy. The years would bring more changes for the Hughes. In addition to dealing with the newly married Hugheses, Chris and Nancy also tried to help Penny, who to Nancy's disapproval had gotten a job as a writer. Chris was annoyed when Nancy kept pressuring Penny to divorce Jeff, who deserted her. Penny almost did, until suddenly Jeff returned. A changed man, Jeff had finally found his niche in life as a singer and, in time, Penny agreed to take him back. The one person Nancy wasn't glad to see back was Janice Turner Whipple, now a widow with two teenage daughters. Though her younger daughter, Alice, was a joy to have around, her oldest, Debbie was a terror since she was a sex-pot who smoked, lied, and ran with a fast crowd. Seeing Don renew his romance with Janice displeased Nancy to no end and she warned Don that he'd be making the biggest mistake of his life if he married her. Meanwhile, Lisa was far from the ideal daughter-in-law, making excuses as to why she couldn't do housework, spreading lies that Pa didn't like her and asking him to move out, and even manipulating Nancy into lecturing Bob about spending too much time at the hospital. To Chris's surprise, Nancy liked Lisa, seeing a spark in her that she admired, and formed a bond with her. In the midst of this, Jeff was killed in a car accident that left Penny with amnesia.
In addition to trying to help an amnesiac Penny, the family also had to deal with Bob's marriage to Lisa, which was about to end after Lisa told Bob she was leaving him for a rich salesman. Though Lisa tried to reunite with Bob, to Nancy's disappointment, Bob refused. Meanwhile, Nancy continued to alienate Don thanks to her attitude toward Janice. Finally, one day, in front of the entire family, Don accused Nancy of ostracizing his new family. Though Chris pleaded with Nancy to made amends, so they wouldn't lose their son, her attempts were blatantly half-hearted and, in disgust, Don and Janice left Oakdale. In the meantime, Penny's memory had returned and she found herself falling in love with Neil Wade. A few years later, the Hughes were shocked to learn that Janice had since died. Hurt that Don never told them, Chris wrote him a letter that Don promptly tore up. Resentful that he and Janice were denied years of happiness due to Nancy's interference while he was in high school, Don was finally persuaded by Judge Lowell to return to Oakdale, but remained distant. Happy to have his son back, Chris was infuriated when Nancy started inferring again by setting up Don with her new friend, Sara Fuller since he was afraid Don would leave again. Nancy had bonded with the independent woman so much that, to her family's surprise, the traditional Nancy offered to work part time in Sara's shop. This didn't sit too well with Pa who was used to Nancy's effectiveness in running the Hughes household. Then tragedy struck when Sara died in a fall. Though Chris suspected it was an accident, both Nancy and Don suspected that she was murdered by the daughter she gave up for adoption, Amanda Holmes. When Nancy agreed to act as a witness for the prosecution, Chris, as Amanda's lawyer, mercilessly grilled Nancy on the stand. Though this briefly caused Nancy to be so furious that she demanded he sleep on the couch, in the end Chris was able to prove that Sara's death was indeed accidental. Meanwhile, Bob had married a young woman named Sandy McGuire, who had been sent to jail for a crime she didn't commit. Though Chris liked Sandy, Nancy made no secret of the fact that she wanted Bob to remarry Lisa, even telling Sandy that she'd always consider Lisa to be her daughter-in-law.
The 1970s brought a period of change for the Hughes family. After becoming embroiled in drugs and falsely confessing to Shea's murder, Tom finally got his life together and started working at a medical clinic while studying law. It was at the medical clinic that he met a young woman named Meredith Harcourt who claimed to be too poor to pay her medical expenses. Though Tom fell for her story, even letting her stay at his place, Nancy felt that Meredith was misrepresenting herself; she seemed too “chic” to be a poor waif. Nancy's suspicions were confirmed when Meredith, trying to get on Nancy's good side, bought her a piece of “costume jewelry”. Suspicious, Nancy had it appraised and was shocked when it was valued at $2,000. Not long after, Don returned to town after Chris suffered a heart attack. Now that Don was back, Nancy decided to play matchmaker again and tried to set him up with nurse Jennifer Ryan, still hoping that a divorced Bob would reunite with Lisa. However, things weren't meant to be and Bob ended up falling for Jennifer. Unfortunately, Jennifer's son, Rick, deeply hated Bob. Though Nancy warned Bob that he'd be inheriting a problematic step-family if he married Jennifer, Bob didn't listen and married Jen anyway. Unfortunately, the marriage was a disaster due to arguments regarding Rick and Nancy only aggravated the situation by telling Jennifer that she'd foreseen this development all along. Later, when Jennifer became pregnant, Nancy sincerely tried to make amends, however Jennifer met her efforts with hostility. A few years after the birth of Jennifer's daughter, Frannie, Jennifer would be killed, leaving Nancy to help raise Frannie and regret how she'd treated Jennifer. A few years later, Don shocked the family by becoming involved with the scandalous Joyce Colman. Although Nancy disapproved, Chris warned her to keep her opinion to herself, for fear of losing their son again. This time, Nancy took his advice and kept mum. However, she still didn't entirely trust Joyce and when Joyce later ended up pregnant, a suspicious Nancy wondered if Don was the father, since he had been out of town for weeks. Nancy's suspicious would turn out to be correct, and Don would later divorce Joyce. Later, Nancy was quick to note that Don was falling in love with his secretary, Mary Ellison, and it appeared that the feeling was mutual. Not long after, the Hugheses would celebrate Don and Mary's marriage.
Though Chris and Nancy left Oakdale briefly to retire to Arizona, they returned for Bob's wedding to his long-time friend, Kim. Knowing that Chris was ill, Bob persuaded them to live with him. When the elder Hugheses refused, not wanting to be a burden, Bob converted the upper portion of his garage into an apartment. Not long after Chris and Nancy's celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary, Chris would pass away in his sleep.
A few years later, Nancy found herself courted by the Chief of the Oakdale Police, Dan McClosky, a widower himself, and the two made plans to marry. Although Bob, as well as Dan's daughter, Bernice, initially objected to them marrying, they came around, and Nancy married Dan in a beautiful ceremony at Bob's home. After Dan retired from the police force after suffering a heart attack, he began suffering from memory lapses and was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Not one to shy away from adversity, Nancy vowed to stand by his side and support him. Since Dan's death of a heart attack, Nancy has lived a quiet life at Bob and Kim's, offering advice and a sympathetic ear to her family.
Recently, Nancy has provided guidance to the young people of Oakdale, first to teenager Allison Stewart and then to Tom's sister-in-law, Katie Peretti. In 2006, Katie anonymously wrote a novel called "Oakdale Confidential.” Unfortunately, the novel raised quite a bit of ire and, to take suspicion off herself, Katie begged Nancy to state that she was the one who wrote the novel. Nancy agreed and ended up getting some ire from Lisa in return since Lisa didn't like how she was portrayed in the book. After playing peacekeeper, Kim realized that Nancy wasn't the author after all, but Nancy refused to discuss it. Over a year later, Nancy was at Bob's bedside when he inexplicably fell into a coma. Thankfully, after six weeks, Bob woke up and made a full recovery. Months later, Nancy was on hand to help celebrate Tom and Margo's 25th anniversary.
Much of her screen time in 2006 found the character embroiled in a mystery surrounding the publication of a scandalous novel, "Oakdale Confidential," which shed light on the checkered pasts of several characters.
In 2009, Nancy was still active and worked as a volunteer at the hospital. On Thanksgiving 2009, she gives pieces of advice to Katie after the death of Brad. Nancy again showed up just after Christmas when she heard of Casey's upcoming marriage to Alison. She gave him the engagement ring that Chris gave her. When the engagement was broken off, the ring was returned to Nancy, but she insisted that Casey hang onto it.
Nancy was on hand in 2010 to celebrate Bob and Kim's 25th wedding anniversary. Nancy and the rest of the family were all shocked to find out that they really weren't married. She helped Bob and Kim settle their recent differences and was delighted when Frannie returned to see them wed. In her final appearance on the series, Nancy is seen having breakfast with Casey and Alison, and yet again giving advice to Katie on coping with Brad's death.
It had originally been planned for Nancy Hughes to have the last scene and last line of the show, since she had the first scene on the show, and the very first line spoken on the program. Helen Wagner's death on May 1, 2010 prevented that from happening. Nancy was quietly written out of the show by having her die in her sleep in her apartment and be found by her son Bob. Episodes that aired August 30 and August 31, 2010 dealt with her death, the former episode featuring the death and the latter serving as a memorial.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
on the CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
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...
. From the show's inception in 1956 until 2010, Nancy Hughes has served as the core family's (and by extension, the town's) matriarch. Nancy was played by Helen Wagner
Helen Wagner
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...
for the character's entire run on As the World Turns.
Wagner is acknowledged by the Guinness Book of Records as being the longest-running character played by one actor on television. It was the character of Nancy that spoke the very first lines, "good morning dear" on the show back in April 1956.
Throughout the course of the series, Nancy remained a matriarch figure in the lives of those she cared for. Over the course of the program, Nancy had appeared in some 19,700 scenes and has been described as a straitlaced, proper and unassuming woman who stood for "old-fashioned values".
After 48 years, in 2004 the actress received her first award for her work on the show in the form of a Lifetime Acheivement Award at the Daytime Emmys.
Wagner died on May 1, 2010 from cancer. As the World Turns dedicated two episodes to both the character and actress with surrounding characters illustrating different ways of dealing with her passing.
Characterisation
Wagner began portraying Helen in the first ever episode of As the World Turns in 1956. Six months on, producer Irna PhillipsIrna 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:...
sacked Wagner due to her be dissatisfied with the way that she poured coffee – an important task for a character who provided a sympathetic ear and a shoulder on which to cry. The character was later reinstated.
In a 1968 New York Times interview, Wagner called Nancy Hughes "a tentpole character.""Nothing ever happens to Nancy," Wagner said. "She's the one the others come and talk to."
However again in the 1980s, Wagner and on-screen husband 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....
were again dropped from the show under a new producer who wanted to attract a younger audience. She voiced her displeasure at the sacking in a 1981 Associated Press article, where she claimed she'd been given one line in three months worth of television.
"There just hasn't been anything to Nancy's character. Anybody could read the lines I've been given," Ms Wagner said.
Wagner highlighted in 1998 that the characters were now "destructive, mean, immoral, unattractive and selfish." "They care about nothing but themselves — me, me, me. That's a dead end. That's no life."
She also wished her character hadn't receded into the background in later years while most of the plot developments happened to the younger characters.
"I don't like the making of Nancy into only an extra figure at parties," she said. "She is too dynamic a person to be made into a ghost."
Death
When Wagner died in 2010, the show dedicated two shows to both the actress and the character. In an interview with We Love Soaps, co-star Kathryn HaysKathryn Hays
Kathryn Hays is an American actress. She was born in Princeton, Illinois and grew up in Joliet, Illinois.In the 1966-1967 television season, Hays appeared as Elizabeth Reynolds Pride in the NBC western series The Road West, with co-stars Barry Sullivan, Andrew Prine, Kelly Corcoran, and Glenn...
commented on her death. "I saw her a couple days before she passed on and she was still herself. She knew how she wanted to be. She was definitely an original. She loved her job, loved her position, and loved her character. Even at the end, when she was in the hospital, she knew she had a call to appear on the show the following week. She asked the doctor if they could get her well enough to be there for her call," Hays said.
Legacy
Wagner, as well her character often garnered positive reviews from critics. The New York Times' Melinda Henneberger described her in 1984 as an "icon for a generation of women"."Nancy was Donna Reed
Donna Reed
Donna Reed was an American film and television actress.With appearances in over 40 films, Reed received the 1953 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as the tramp Lorene in the war drama From Here to Eternity. She is also noted for her role in the perennial Christmas...
with real problems in the days before soap characters traveled through time, engaged in espionage or almost routinely were reunited with evil twins," she said.
"She's a beloved presence in the soap world," Jason Bonderoff, managing editor of Soap Opera Digest told the Times, who also called her "daytime's answer to Angela Lansbury
Angela Lansbury
Angela Brigid Lansbury CBE is an English actress and singer in theatre, television and motion pictures, whose career has spanned eight decades and earned her more performance Tony Awards than any other individual , with five wins...
."
Upon her death, New York Times reporter Dennis Hevesi detailed the reason for the actresses longevity. "Ms. Wagner’s Nancy lasted precisely because she remained solid; she wouldn’t join the country club because she considered it elitist, and insisted on cleaning her house because she felt uncomfortable being bossy."
Storylines
Nancy was the beloved matriarch of the Hughes family, and has been around since the show began in April 1956. She was married for over 50 years to attorney Chris Hughes until his death. Though, in her younger years, she was often critical of her children's marital affairs, she still managed to forge a good relationship with all of them. Later in life, Nancy married Detective Dan McClosky with whom she had a wonderful, but all too brief marriage. Dan was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. She remained faithful to Dan throughout this terrible illness, helping him maintain his dignity before he died of a heart attack. Nancy has helped many of the residents of Oakdale through the years with her wise words and attentive ear.Nancy Hughes's quiet suburban life was about to take some interesting turns starting in 1956. Still in mourning over the loss of her oldest daughter, who died swimming in a storm, Nancy, the wife of attorney Chris Hughes, became very protective of her other daughter Penny's close bond with Chris's sister, the unconventional Edie Hughes. The sisters-in-laws' disapproval of each other went both ways with Edie describing Nancy as overly opinionated and hopelessly provincial and Nancy looking down on Edie's single freewheeling lifestyle. Chris, the peacemaker, acted as a buffer between the two women and Penny, defending Edie and indulging Penny. Having just been named junior partner at the law firm of Lowell, Barnes, & Lowell, Chris would discover that Edie was carrying on an affair with his best friend, the married Jim Lowell. Incredulous, Chris pleaded with her to end the affair, so as not to destroy the Lowell marriage. However, Edith, to Chris's consternation, was in love with Jim and she had no intention of ending the affair. In addition to worrying about Edith's indiscretion, he also was shocked to receive word that his younger brother, John, was in jail. Feeling as if he let his younger siblings down, by marrying after completing his law degree rather than paying for their education, Chris tried to help the troubled John but was initially met with harsh resistance. However, Chris refused to give up on John, something Nancy couldn't understand since she viewed him as a troublemaker. Meanwhile, Edith's affair with Jim was becoming known by more and more people, including their father and Nancy. Now living with Chris and his family, Pa Hughes let his opinions on the affair be known, but Edith refused to listen to anyone. Things only got worse, with Jim's father, Chris's boss, Judge James Lowell, suffered a heart attack and Jim's wife, Nancy's best friend, Claire, attempting suicide. Though Chris tried to be as supportive of Edith as he could, despite the fact that he wanted her to back away for the good of the Lowell family, Nancy wasn't so understanding and hurt Chris with her condescending attitude toward Edie, demanding that Chris ask Edie to leave town. Though a longtime defender of Edie, Chris reluctantly asked her to leave; but Edie refused, despite how the affair was hurting the Lowell family. However, in the end, it became apparent that perhaps the Lowell marriage shouldn't be saved, especially when Claire herself realized that she never really loved Jim.
In the midst of all this, Nancy's three children were growing up. The oldest, Don, was about to graduate from high school and was madly in love with an older waitress named Janice Turner. Chris believed that, as parents, he and Nancy should do nothing—let the relationship run its course. However, Nancy disagreed. She thought the older Janice was totally wrong for Don. Nancy made her opinion perfectly clear to Don as well as Janice. Unfortunately, all Nancy accomplished was to alienate herself from Don. Don resented his mother's interference, so much that when she returned to town after a thirteen-week absence (to take care of her ill brother-in-law), he refused to see her. Despite Nancy's criticism, Don and Janice continued seeing each other until, as Chris predicted, the affair fizzled out when Don was in college. In addition to Don, the Hugheses also had to deal with their teenage daughter, Penny. Nancy disapproved of Penny's new relationship with a spoiled young man named Jeff Baker. Believing that Nancy loved her deceased sister, Susan, more than her, an insecure Penny used to confide in her Aunt Edie. That was until she learned about the affair. Learning that her aunt was responsible for the breakup of the Lowell marriage, thus hurting Penny's best friend, Ellen, Penny turned her back on her favorite aunt. Confused and hurt, she rebelled and starting seeing more and more of Jeff, openly defying Nancy. Though Chris and his Pa couldn't condone Penny's hostile attitude toward Nancy, they realized that Nancy's self-righteousness was driving a wedge in the family. Then Penny and Jeff suddenly eloped. Chris and Nancy weren't at all happy that their underage daughter eloped and they forced an annulment, telling the couple to wait until Penny was of age. Not long after, Chris successfully defended Jeff when he was charged with killing Al James, who'd died in fight with Jeff. However, Nancy wasn't pleased to see Chris bonding with Jeff, since she thought the older and more responsible Tom Pope was a better choice for Penny. Despite Nancy's wishes, Penny's heart belonged to Jeff and, a year after they first eloped; Chris was very pleased to walk Penny down the aisle. Rounding out the Hughes family was their teenage son, Bob, a happy uncomplicated kid.
Meanwhile, Bob was growing up and had decided to become a doctor. Later, the Hugheses were shocked when he came home with a young woman named Lisa Miller
Lisa Grimaldi
Lisa Grimaldi is a fictional character on the CBS soap opera As the World Turns. The daughter of Henry and Alma Miller, Lisa grew up in Rockford, Illinois, USA before moving to Oakdale...
and announced that they'd eloped. Not liking the idea of Bob marrying a woman they never even met, Chris and Nancy demanded that the couple get an annulment—that was until one thing changed everything: Lisa announced she was pregnant. In a reversal, Nancy accepted the union, while Chris was outraged and was ready to let the couple make their own way without any financial help from him. Luckily, Pa was able to persuade Chris to open his home to his son and new wife. Months later, Lisa gave birth to a son, Thomas Christopher Hughes. When Lisa had a tendency to be too busy having a social life to care for Tommy, and Bob was busy building his medical career, the job of raising Tommy tended to fall on Chris and Nancy. The years would bring more changes for the Hughes. In addition to dealing with the newly married Hugheses, Chris and Nancy also tried to help Penny, who to Nancy's disapproval had gotten a job as a writer. Chris was annoyed when Nancy kept pressuring Penny to divorce Jeff, who deserted her. Penny almost did, until suddenly Jeff returned. A changed man, Jeff had finally found his niche in life as a singer and, in time, Penny agreed to take him back. The one person Nancy wasn't glad to see back was Janice Turner Whipple, now a widow with two teenage daughters. Though her younger daughter, Alice, was a joy to have around, her oldest, Debbie was a terror since she was a sex-pot who smoked, lied, and ran with a fast crowd. Seeing Don renew his romance with Janice displeased Nancy to no end and she warned Don that he'd be making the biggest mistake of his life if he married her. Meanwhile, Lisa was far from the ideal daughter-in-law, making excuses as to why she couldn't do housework, spreading lies that Pa didn't like her and asking him to move out, and even manipulating Nancy into lecturing Bob about spending too much time at the hospital. To Chris's surprise, Nancy liked Lisa, seeing a spark in her that she admired, and formed a bond with her. In the midst of this, Jeff was killed in a car accident that left Penny with amnesia.
In addition to trying to help an amnesiac Penny, the family also had to deal with Bob's marriage to Lisa, which was about to end after Lisa told Bob she was leaving him for a rich salesman. Though Lisa tried to reunite with Bob, to Nancy's disappointment, Bob refused. Meanwhile, Nancy continued to alienate Don thanks to her attitude toward Janice. Finally, one day, in front of the entire family, Don accused Nancy of ostracizing his new family. Though Chris pleaded with Nancy to made amends, so they wouldn't lose their son, her attempts were blatantly half-hearted and, in disgust, Don and Janice left Oakdale. In the meantime, Penny's memory had returned and she found herself falling in love with Neil Wade. A few years later, the Hughes were shocked to learn that Janice had since died. Hurt that Don never told them, Chris wrote him a letter that Don promptly tore up. Resentful that he and Janice were denied years of happiness due to Nancy's interference while he was in high school, Don was finally persuaded by Judge Lowell to return to Oakdale, but remained distant. Happy to have his son back, Chris was infuriated when Nancy started inferring again by setting up Don with her new friend, Sara Fuller since he was afraid Don would leave again. Nancy had bonded with the independent woman so much that, to her family's surprise, the traditional Nancy offered to work part time in Sara's shop. This didn't sit too well with Pa who was used to Nancy's effectiveness in running the Hughes household. Then tragedy struck when Sara died in a fall. Though Chris suspected it was an accident, both Nancy and Don suspected that she was murdered by the daughter she gave up for adoption, Amanda Holmes. When Nancy agreed to act as a witness for the prosecution, Chris, as Amanda's lawyer, mercilessly grilled Nancy on the stand. Though this briefly caused Nancy to be so furious that she demanded he sleep on the couch, in the end Chris was able to prove that Sara's death was indeed accidental. Meanwhile, Bob had married a young woman named Sandy McGuire, who had been sent to jail for a crime she didn't commit. Though Chris liked Sandy, Nancy made no secret of the fact that she wanted Bob to remarry Lisa, even telling Sandy that she'd always consider Lisa to be her daughter-in-law.
The 1970s brought a period of change for the Hughes family. After becoming embroiled in drugs and falsely confessing to Shea's murder, Tom finally got his life together and started working at a medical clinic while studying law. It was at the medical clinic that he met a young woman named Meredith Harcourt who claimed to be too poor to pay her medical expenses. Though Tom fell for her story, even letting her stay at his place, Nancy felt that Meredith was misrepresenting herself; she seemed too “chic” to be a poor waif. Nancy's suspicions were confirmed when Meredith, trying to get on Nancy's good side, bought her a piece of “costume jewelry”. Suspicious, Nancy had it appraised and was shocked when it was valued at $2,000. Not long after, Don returned to town after Chris suffered a heart attack. Now that Don was back, Nancy decided to play matchmaker again and tried to set him up with nurse Jennifer Ryan, still hoping that a divorced Bob would reunite with Lisa. However, things weren't meant to be and Bob ended up falling for Jennifer. Unfortunately, Jennifer's son, Rick, deeply hated Bob. Though Nancy warned Bob that he'd be inheriting a problematic step-family if he married Jennifer, Bob didn't listen and married Jen anyway. Unfortunately, the marriage was a disaster due to arguments regarding Rick and Nancy only aggravated the situation by telling Jennifer that she'd foreseen this development all along. Later, when Jennifer became pregnant, Nancy sincerely tried to make amends, however Jennifer met her efforts with hostility. A few years after the birth of Jennifer's daughter, Frannie, Jennifer would be killed, leaving Nancy to help raise Frannie and regret how she'd treated Jennifer. A few years later, Don shocked the family by becoming involved with the scandalous Joyce Colman. Although Nancy disapproved, Chris warned her to keep her opinion to herself, for fear of losing their son again. This time, Nancy took his advice and kept mum. However, she still didn't entirely trust Joyce and when Joyce later ended up pregnant, a suspicious Nancy wondered if Don was the father, since he had been out of town for weeks. Nancy's suspicious would turn out to be correct, and Don would later divorce Joyce. Later, Nancy was quick to note that Don was falling in love with his secretary, Mary Ellison, and it appeared that the feeling was mutual. Not long after, the Hugheses would celebrate Don and Mary's marriage.
Though Chris and Nancy left Oakdale briefly to retire to Arizona, they returned for Bob's wedding to his long-time friend, Kim. Knowing that Chris was ill, Bob persuaded them to live with him. When the elder Hugheses refused, not wanting to be a burden, Bob converted the upper portion of his garage into an apartment. Not long after Chris and Nancy's celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary, Chris would pass away in his sleep.
A few years later, Nancy found herself courted by the Chief of the Oakdale Police, Dan McClosky, a widower himself, and the two made plans to marry. Although Bob, as well as Dan's daughter, Bernice, initially objected to them marrying, they came around, and Nancy married Dan in a beautiful ceremony at Bob's home. After Dan retired from the police force after suffering a heart attack, he began suffering from memory lapses and was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Not one to shy away from adversity, Nancy vowed to stand by his side and support him. Since Dan's death of a heart attack, Nancy has lived a quiet life at Bob and Kim's, offering advice and a sympathetic ear to her family.
Recently, Nancy has provided guidance to the young people of Oakdale, first to teenager Allison Stewart and then to Tom's sister-in-law, Katie Peretti. In 2006, Katie anonymously wrote a novel called "Oakdale Confidential.” Unfortunately, the novel raised quite a bit of ire and, to take suspicion off herself, Katie begged Nancy to state that she was the one who wrote the novel. Nancy agreed and ended up getting some ire from Lisa in return since Lisa didn't like how she was portrayed in the book. After playing peacekeeper, Kim realized that Nancy wasn't the author after all, but Nancy refused to discuss it. Over a year later, Nancy was at Bob's bedside when he inexplicably fell into a coma. Thankfully, after six weeks, Bob woke up and made a full recovery. Months later, Nancy was on hand to help celebrate Tom and Margo's 25th anniversary.
Much of her screen time in 2006 found the character embroiled in a mystery surrounding the publication of a scandalous novel, "Oakdale Confidential," which shed light on the checkered pasts of several characters.
In 2009, Nancy was still active and worked as a volunteer at the hospital. On Thanksgiving 2009, she gives pieces of advice to Katie after the death of Brad. Nancy again showed up just after Christmas when she heard of Casey's upcoming marriage to Alison. She gave him the engagement ring that Chris gave her. When the engagement was broken off, the ring was returned to Nancy, but she insisted that Casey hang onto it.
Nancy was on hand in 2010 to celebrate Bob and Kim's 25th wedding anniversary. Nancy and the rest of the family were all shocked to find out that they really weren't married. She helped Bob and Kim settle their recent differences and was delighted when Frannie returned to see them wed. In her final appearance on the series, Nancy is seen having breakfast with Casey and Alison, and yet again giving advice to Katie on coping with Brad's death.
It had originally been planned for Nancy Hughes to have the last scene and last line of the show, since she had the first scene on the show, and the very first line spoken on the program. Helen Wagner's death on May 1, 2010 prevented that from happening. Nancy was quietly written out of the show by having her die in her sleep in her apartment and be found by her son Bob. Episodes that aired August 30 and August 31, 2010 dealt with her death, the former episode featuring the death and the latter serving as a memorial.