1. Helen Wagner played the role of Trudy Bauer during the initial TV years of Guiding Light in the early 1950s.
17 Facts About Helen Wagner
1. 2.
Helen Wagner appeared on the early soap Valiant Lady, as well as on primetime programs including The World of Mr Sweeney, Mister Peepers, Inner Sanctum, and the Philco-Goodyear Playhouse.
3.
Helen Losee Wagner was born on September 3,1918, in Lubbock, Texas, one of two daughters of Charles and Janette Wagner.
4.
Helen Wagner studied music and drama at Monmouth College in Illinois where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1938.
5.
Helen Wagner died of cancer on May 1,2010, at the age of 91.
6.
Helen Wagner played the soap opera's matriarch, Nancy Hughes, from its debut on April 2,1956, until her death.
7.
Helen Wagner was acknowledged in Guinness World Records for having the longest run in a single role on television, a position she held until 2010.
8.
On November 22,1963, Helen Wagner inadvertently became part of broadcast history.
9.
Helen 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 tragedy until they were told about it during a commercial break.
10.
Helen Wagner later met and married Dan McClosky and was part of a storyline in which Dan was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.
11.
Helen Wagner returned to the screen with a pivotal role in a 2004 storyline revolving around her grandson's marriage to naive teenager Alison Stewart.
12.
In 2005,2006, and 2007, Helen Wagner averaged around three appearances a month on the serial.
13.
Helen Wagner was prominently featured in the show's 50th anniversary episode in April 2006.
14.
Helen Wagner's death came less than two months before As The World Turns taped its final episode.
15.
Many fans had hoped that Helen 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.
16.
Helen Wagner was presented with a "Lifetime Achievement" Emmy in May 2004.
17.
On opening night in Monmouth's new Wells Theater, Helen Wagner played the role of Eleanor in The Lion in Winter.