Helen Wagner

Vocation

Notable

American actress best known for her long-running role as the matriarch, Nancy Hughes McClosky, on the soap opera As the World Turns. Wagner played Nancy from the show’s debut on 2 April 1956 until her death from cancer on 1 May 2010, at the age of 91. She had the longest run in a single role on television. On 22 November 1963, Wagner inadvertently became part of broadcast history when a live scene featuring her character was interrupted by the first news bulletin that President John F. Kennedy had been shot in Dallas, Texas. Wagner left the serial in the early 1980s, returning in 1985. In 1986, the Nancy Hughes character became a widow. After the death of her second husband from Alzheimer's Disease, Wagner faced many years with little to no part in the story. Her final appearance, taped in March, aired on June 1, 2010 — exactly a month after her death. As the World Turns soon taped its final episode. Although Wagner played Nancy for more than 50 years, she never won a Daytime Emmy Award. She received a "Lifetime Achievement" Emmy in May 2004. In 1988, Wagner's alma mater, Monmouth College (Illinois), awarded her an honorary degree of "Doctor of Humane Letters." Link to Wikipedia biography