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After making her television debut in the role of a queen in a fairy tale that General Electric produced on its experimental station in Schenectady, NY, she appeared in numerous dramatic television roles including live productions of Studio One, Philco Radio Television and Suspense. Later, Charlie Ruggles selected her to play his daughter in the series The World of Mr. Sweeney, a role she played for five years. Wagner's Broadway credits include the Sigmund Romberg/Oscar Hammerstein musical Sunny River, Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma!, The Bad Seed, My Name is Acquilon with Jean Pierre Aurmont and Lilli Palmer and Love of Four Colonels with Rex Harrison and Lilli Palmer. She toured as Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire with Lee Marvin and appeared in regional theater in Illinois as Eleanor in The Lion in Winter and in all the women's roles in Lovers and Other Strangers. She has performed in many Off Broadway productions as well as in summer stock, at hospital benefits and in Gilbert & Sullivan tours in the mezzo leads. She has also sung with the St. Louis Municipal Opera. Wagner studied at Monmouth College in Illinois, earning degrees in dramatics and music. In New York, she continued her voice and piano training, gaining experience as a soloist in various church choirs. In 1988, her college alma mater awarded Wagner an honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters. The next year, to replace the college's turn-of-the-century "little theater" with a state-of-the-art theater, Wagner chaired a national committee that raised $1,800,000. On November 1, 1990, Monmouth College's new theater's opening night, Wagner reprised her role as Eleanor in The Lion in Winter, in a production directed by her husband, Broadway producer Robert Willey. Wagner and Willey live north of New York City. She enjoys reading, especially history, needlepoint and knitting at home and during breaks on the set of ATWT. She was born in Lubbock, TX on September 3, 1918. Miscellaneous: Although Wagner is the longest-running performer on daytime, she was originally fired from the role of Nancy Hughes after her first 13-week cycle ended. She was rehired after TPTB realized they made a mistake. Related Links:
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Helen Wagner, who has played the role of
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