Nancy Hughes

Nancy Hughes McClosky
Helen Wagner as Nancy Hughes McClosky
As the World Turns character
Portrayed by	Helen Wagner
Duration	1956–2010
First appearance	April 2, 1956
Last appearance	June 1, 2010
Created by	Irna Phillips
Profile
Occupation	Teacher Volunteer Author
Residence	10 Yardley Place Oakdale, IL 60324
Siblings Pearl Spouse Chris Hughes (1936–1986) Dan McCloskey (1988–1996) Sons Don Hughes Bob Hughes Daughters Penny Hughes Susan Hughes Grandsons Tom Hughes Ryder Hughes Chris Hughes II Granddaughters Frannie Hughes Sabrina Hughes Christina Hughes Amy Lyn Cunningham

Nancy Hughes McClosky is a fictional character from the CBS Daytime soap opera As the World Turns. Portrayed by Helen Wagner for 54 years from the soap's inception in 1956 until 2010, Nancy served as the core family's and, by extension, the town's matriarch.

Wagner was acknowledged by the Guinness Book of Records as being the longest-running character portrayed by one actor on television, and held the title until her death on May 1, 2010. Wagner spoke the very first lines, "Good morning, dear," on the series debut on April 2, 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".

In 2004, Wagner received her first award for her work on the show in the form of a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Daytime Emmys after 48 years on the soap. Wagner died of cancer on May 1, 2010, and Nancy last appeared onscreen June 1, 2010. As the World Turns dedicated two episodes to both the character and actress with surrounding characters illustrating different ways of dealing with her death.

She is one of the original characters of the long-running soap, and 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.