Nancy Hughes
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| As the World Turns character | |
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| Nancy Hughes | |
|---|---|
| Played by | Helen Wagner |
| Duration | 1956- |
| Date of Birth | August 11, 1918 |
| Marital Status | Widowed |
| Occupation | Homemaker, Secretary (1970s) |
| Family | Chris, Susan (deceased), Don, Penny, Bob, numerous grandchildren |
Nancy Hughes is a fictional character on the CBS soap opera As the World Turns. Since the show's inception in 1956, Nancy Hughes has served as the core family's (and by extension, the town's) matriarch. Since 1987 her full name has been Nancy Hughes McClosky, but she is more known to longtime soap viewers as simply Nancy Hughes. Nancy is played by Helen Wagner.
She is acknowledged by the Guinness Book of Records as being the longest-running character played by one actor, on television, ever.[1]
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[edit] History
She is one of the original characters of the long-running soap, and actually spoke the first line on the debut episode on April 2, 1956 ("Good morning dear, what would you like for breakfast?"). Show creator Irna Phillips modeled Nancy in the mold of a member of a Greek chorus: someone who stays mostly on the sidelines but nevertheless comments on the crises that more dynamic residents of the town faced. In many respects, Nancy's "moral voice" served to further how Phillips wanted certain characters to be perceived by the public. When Nancy spoke out against her son Bob's ex-wife Lisa in the mid-1960s, the Lisa character became, by and large, the character everyone "loved to hate." Likewise, when Nancy forgave Lisa for her past transgressions in the 1970s, public opinion softened toward Lisa and she became a respected character on the program.
Traditionally a housewife, Nancy was bit by the feminism bug in the late 1970s and worked for a time as a secretary. In the early 1980s, she quit that job and returned to keeping house.
In 1936, she married attorney Christopher Hughes, and they had four children (three of which were seen on the show; a daughter died while swimming in a pool during a thunderstorm before the series started). Chris died in 1986, shortly after he and Nancy celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary. After a considerable mourning period, she married Detective Dan McClosky (Chief of the Oakdale Police Department) in 1987. McClosky developed Alzheimer's disease in 1994 and died two years later. She later enjoyed the company of Joe D'Angelo, as the two developed a strong bond over their frustrations at being unable to help their respective offspring with their ongoing problems.
Since Det. McClosky's death, Nancy has lived with her son Dr. Bob Hughes and his wife, Kim, and has spent much of her time with her grandchildren — she is particularly close to her grandson Chris — and extended family. Nancy works as a volunteer at Oakdale Memorial Hospital.
Nancy is nowadays only seen rarely on the program, and she averages about three or four appearances a month when the storyline permits for her to be seen. Unlike many soap actors who have advanced in years (such as Anna Lee and Frances Reid), Helen Wagner has had relatively few health problems, and her lack of appearances on the series were almost solely due to the fact that there was no story for her anymore.
Much of her current screen time in 2006 finds the character "embroiled in a mystery surrounding the publication of a scandalous novel, "Oakdale Confidential," which sheds light on the checkered pasts of several characters."[1]
[edit] Family, marriages, romantic entanglements and children
[edit] Family
- Pearl (last name unknown) (sister)
- Edith Hughes Frey (sister-in-law)
- John Hughes (brother-in-law)
- Jeff Baker (brother-in-law; deceased)
- Neil Wade (brother-in-law; deceased)
- Anton Cunningham (son-in-law)
- Sara Fuller Hughes (daughter-in-law; deceased)
- Jennifer Sullivan Hughes (daughter-in-law; deceased)
- Mary Ellison Hughes (daughter-in-law)
- Kim Sullivan Hughes (daughter-in-law)
[edit] Marriages
Marital status: Single
- Christopher "Chris" Hughes (1936-1986; widowed)
- Detective Dan McClosky (1987-96; widowed)
[edit] Significant Relationships
- Joseph "Joe" D'Angelo (dated platonically, 2000-01)
[edit] Children
- Susan Hughes (daughter; deceased)
- Donald Hughes (son; curerntly living in San Diego, California)
- Penny Hughes (daughter; currently living in the UK)
- Robert "Bob" Hughes (son)
[edit] Grandchildren
- Thomas "Tom" Hughes (grandson, son of Bob Hughes and Lisa Miller Grimaldi; born 1961, now depicted as being in his early fifties after a rapid aging in 1968.)
- Frannie Hughes (granddaughter, daughter of Bob Hughes and Jennifer Sullivan Hughes; currently living in Montega; born onscreen December 24, 1973, character now depicted as being older)
- Sabrina Hughes (granddaughter, daughter of Bob and Kim Hughes; currently living in South America; born 1965)
- Ryder Hughes (grandson; son of Don Hughes and Mary Ellison Hughes; born late 1970s)
- Christina Hughes (granddaughter; daughter of Don Hughes and Mary Ellison Hughes; born late 1970s)
- Christopher Hughes, (grandson; son of Bob and Kim Hughes; born onscreen 1986, character now depicted as being older)
[edit] Great Grandchildren
- Lien Hughes (great granddaughter; daughter of Tom Hughes and unidentified Vietnamese woman, born early 1970s)
- Adam Munson (great grandson, although not biologically; biological son of Margo Montgomery Hughes and Hal Munson, regards Nancy as his great grandmother; born onscreen 1988, character SORASed, depicted as being in college in 2004)
- Casey Hughes (great grandson, son of Tom Hughes and Margo Montgomery Hughes; born 1991, turned 17 in 2005)
- Daniel Hughes (great grandson; son of Tom Hughes and Emily Stewart, born 1998)
[edit] Great Great Grandchildren
- Billy Norbeck. Son of Casey Hughes, born 2005. Died in infancy.
[edit] Honors and awards
Was awarded Gold Medal from the Oakdale chapter of the Women's Service League for fifty years of service, April 3, 2006.
[edit] Medical Crises/Illnesses
- Had a bad fall/arm in a sling (1977)
[edit] References
- ^ a b CNN.com: Fifty years on 'As the World Turns', 30 March 2006
