Helen Wagner
Helen Wagner starred as matriarch Nancy Hughes on CBS’s “As The World Turns” for more than 50 years in the same role. She died May 2 at the age of 91. Wagner said the first words uttered on the soap when it premiered on April 2, 1956, “Good morning, dear.” 2010 was particularly cruel to longtime soap vets. James Mitchell (he played Palmer on “All My Children”) and Frances Reid (she played Alice on “Days of our Lives”) also died. (credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)