Helen Gallagher: A Look Back at Her Storied Career, Including 'Ryan's Hope'

Tony Award and Emmy Award-winning Ryan's Hope legend Helen Gallagher is celebrating her 92nd birthday today.

Born in Brooklyn, Gallagher was raised in Scarsdale, New York for several years until the Wall Street crash which heralded the Great Depression, and her family moved to the Bronx. Her parents separated and she was raised with an aunt. She suffered from asthma.

Gallagher was known for decades as a Broadway performer. She appeared in "Make a Wish," "Hazel Flagg," "Portofino," "High Button Shoes," "Sweet Charity" (earning a 1967 Tony Award nomination for Featured Actress in a Musical), and "Cry for Us All."

In 1952, she won a Tony Award for her work in the revival of "Pal Joey." In 1971, she won her second Tony Award for her role in the revival of the musical "No, No, Nanette," which also starred Ruby Keeler and Patsy Kelly. Her song and dance number with Bobby Van from that show, "You Can Dance with Any Girl", is preserved on the cast album of that revival. She would later take on the role of Sue Smith in the Papermill Playhouse revival of the show, playing the role Keeler played a quarter century earlier.

Her first starring role on Broadway came in 1953 as title character Hazel Flagg, based on the 1937 Carole Lombard movie Nothing Sacred. Gallagher appeared in the 1977 movie Roseland opposite Christopher Walken. An aficionada of Rodgers and Hammerstein, she appeared on a special tribute to Richard Rodgers on The Bell Telephone Hour.

Despite her extensive work on Broadway, she is perhaps best known as the gentle Irish American matriarch Maeve Ryan on the soap opera Ryan's Hope, a role she played for the show's entire 14-year run, from 1975 to 1989. She was nominated for five Daytime Emmy Awards for her work on the serial, winning in 1976, 1977, and 1988.  She would go on to appear on Another World, All My Children and One Life to Live.

Below are some clips from Gallagher's storied career, her iconic Ryan's Hope days, and an amazing interview and musical performance she did on The Mike Douglas Show in 1979.

Happy Birthday, Helen!

FLASHBACK: 'General Hospital' Stars Anthony Geary & Genie Francis Host 'Fridays'

Fridays was ABC's weekly late-night live comedy show, which aired on Friday nights from April 11, 1980 to April 23, 1982. The program was ABC's attempt to duplicate the success of NBC's Saturday Night Live. At the time, SNL was in its fifth and (what was thought to be) final season featuring the original "Not Ready for Primetime" cast, along with several writers who had been promoted to feature player status, as well as newcomer Harry Shearer. The Fridays cast included Larry David, Michael Richards, Rich Hall and Melanie Chartoff. On Friday, October 9, 1981, General Hospital stars Anthony Geary and Genie Francis (Luke and Laura) hosted. GH was at the height of its popularity, with Luke and Laura's wedding just over a month away.

Sketches in the episode included "Aborted Star Trek Sketch," "Ron the Ripper," "The Friday Edition," "The Man with a Major Overreaction to Minor Pain/Shatner Contacts Spock," "Friday Short Film: Little Girl Plays Baseball," "Fluffy the Dog Man," and "Friday Edition Special Report: Air Traffic Controller Strike." Kim Carnes performs "Bette Davis' Eyes," "Under My Thumb" and "Miss You Tonight."

Watch clips from the episode below.

CLASSIC CLIP: Kathie Lee Gifford Plays Nurse Callahan on 'Days of our Lives' (1976)

Kathie Lee Gifford on Days of our Lives in 1976.

The cast of Days of our Lives was in New York on Tuesday for a book signing, but first appeared on the fourth hour of Today. To help celebrate Days' 50th anniversary, Today dug up an old clip of co-host Kathie Lee Gifford playing Nurse Callahan in 1976.

While trying to break into Hollywood, Gifford worked as an "atmosphere" extra on the show before being promoted to a "dismembered body voice," actress with under five lines and, eventually, "the most minor character ever," she revealed Tuesday morning.

"Her name is Nurse Callahan," co-host Hoda Kotb said to introduce a vintage clip of Gifford in action. "We have not seen this video. This is gonna be fun."

Watch the clip below:

CLASSIC CLIPS: Jeanne Cooper (Updated)

Jeanne Cooper

Jeanne Cooper was born on October 25, 1928. Long before she joined the cast of The Young and the Restless in 1973, Cooper had a long career on the stage, in film and primetime television. But it was her portrayal of Katherine Chancellor on Y&R that gave us some of her finest work, and some of the best moments in daytime television history.

Below is a collection of classic Jeanne Cooper clips which celebrate her unforgettable work in The Young and the Restless, along with her appearances on The Bold and the Beautiful and Guiding Light.

1974: Jill (Brenda Dickson) takes a drunk Katherine home from the salon and sees the inside of the Chancellor mansion for the first time.



1975: Phillip Chancellor (Donnelly Rhodes) finds Katherine drunk and pleads with her to sign the divorce agreement.
1975: Katherine begs Phillip for one more chance just before his fatal car crash.

Victor and Nikki Remember Their First Christmas on 'The Young and the Restless'

The Young and the Restless' Victor Newman (Eric Braeden) showered his wife, Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott), with gifts for Christmas this year, including a special strawberry. Watch Victor give his wife a present below that triggers a memory of their first Christmas.

CLASSIC CLIP: Steve Meets Alice on ANOTHER WORLD 1968

Steve Frame (George Reinholt) and Alice Matthews (Jacqueline Courtney) were one of the most popular couples in soap opera history. They first met at Walter Curtin and Lenore Moore's wedding reception in July 1968. Alice was instantly taken with the up-and-coming young businessman and the two of them began spending time together.

Watch a clip below of their very first meeting. The clip also includes their first encounter with Alice's sister-in-law, Rachel Davis Matthews (Robin Strasser).

CLASSIC CLIPS: Brock Reynolds on THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS

Katherine Chancellor (Jeanne Cooper) and Brock Reynolds (Beau Kazer)

With THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS beginning the storyline of Katherine Chancellor's death, we thought it was a great time to look back on the character of Brock Reynolds, Kay's son. Y&R has not officially announced returning actors for the upcoming storyline (Eric Braeden tweeted Michael Damian was coming back) but the show can not possibly tell a story about the passing of Jeanne Cooper's beloved character without Beau Kazer playing Brock once again.

Brock first appeared in 1974 and has been on the show on and off ever since, becoming both a lawyer and a minister over the years. Kazer last appeared as Brock in October 2011.

Brock was Katherine's son with high school sweetheart, Gary Reynolds. After his father's death, Brock rebelled by using drugs and becoming a playboy. Eventually, he ran off to Europe with his friend Lorie Brooks (Jaime Lyn Bauer). Once Brock returned to Genoa City in 1974, he tried to make peace with his mother as he had found religion and become a minister.

WATCH: Whitney Houston On AS THE WORLD TURNS (1984)

Whitney Houston appeared on AS THE WORLD TURNS on August 1-2, 1984, with Jermaine Jackson singing two duets off a new album he was releasing at the time including "Nobody Loves Me Like You Do." They taped their appearance on July 25 at CBS Studios in New York City. In the episodes, Marcy (Marisa Tomei) was crowned the grand prize winner of the Cinderella Sweepstakes by Oakdale newspaper The Argus.

CBS was trying to counter-program the Olympics on ABC by airing these episodes which also featured Phyllis Diller as Marcy's Fairy Godmother.

"It's definitely an opportunity to keep our viewers loyal while enticing new audiences," CBS director of daytime programming Laurence Caso said at the time.

Check out the "Nobody Loves Me Like You Do" performance below. In the storyline, Betsy (Meg Ryan at the time, now played by Lindsay Frost) had written the lyrics to the song and gave them to Steve (Frank Runyeon) on their wedding day.

CLASSIP CLIP: Reuben's "Dream Street" Fantasy On ANOTHER WORLD (1990)

In January 1990 Torrey McClinton guest-starred on ANOTHER WORLD as a Michael Jackson look-a-like guiding angel who showed Reuben Lawrence (Clayton Prince) the way to "Dream Street" in a fantasy sequence which played out over a few episodes after Reuben was knocked unconscious. Ronnie (B.J. Jefferson), Tess (Kasi Lemmons), Courtney (Valarie Pettiford, who made her TRUE BLOOD debut last night), Zack (James Pickens Jr.), Esther (Sandra Reaves-Phillips, who sang "Believe In Yourself") and much of the cast were featured as well.

Check it out below.

CLASSIC CLIP: The Daisy Awards 1989

One of the most memorable events in soap history occurred in 1989 on ONE LIFE TO LIVE with The Daisy Awards.

Connie Passalacqua (the future and current Marlena De Lacroix) explained at the time:

OLTL's ongoing FRATERNITY ROW soap-within-a-soap story line has been a continuing delight for both viewers and soap insiders. But it was never as much fun as the recent Daisy Awards, which parodied the real-life Daytime Emmys airing on the same day.

For weeks, the show primed us with all the intrigue that goes on behind the scenes in the nomination and winning process. Fighting FRATERNITY ROW's own Megan Gordon (played by Jessica Tuck) for Best Actress honors was Megan's personal nemesis Spring Skye (played by Sharon Schlarth), the best bad actress we've ever seen. Spring arrived at the awards in a hot tube inside a limo, and the fun went on from there.

Check out the opening segment below which was given a shoutout on last night's Daytime Emmy Awards:

CLASSIC CLIP: Liberace Guest Stars In ANOTHER WORLD

Liberace on ANOTHER WORLD in 1986

HBO's Liberace biopic Behind the Candelabra, starring Michael Douglas and Matt Damon, garnered 2.4 million Total Viewers for its Sunday premiere, ranking as the cable network's highest rated original movie since Something the Lord Made in 2004.

The real Liberace made appearances on NBC daytime soap opera ANOTHER WORLD in the years before he passed away. He came on the show for for a two week stint in May/June 1985. He returned in February 1986 for Felicia and Zane's wedding. Liberace was a friend of Felicia Gallant (Linda Dano) and played the piano at her wedding reception. The classic clip below is from his 1986 appearance.

CLASSIC CLIP: Helen Wagner

Legendary actress Helen Wagner died three years ago today. Below is a rare classic clip of Wagner playing Nancy Hughes in 1979 in a scene with Barbara Rodell's Joyce and Don MacLaughlin's Chris.

CLASSIC CLIP: Michael Forest in AS THE WORLD TURNS (January 1980)

Actor Michael Forest is celebrating his 84th birthday today. His seven decade career includes soap opera stints as Nick Andropoulos in AS THE WORLD TURNS and Jim Davis in THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS. Check out a rare clip of his AS THE WORLD TURNS introduction in January 1980 below with the legendary Eileen Fulton playing Lisa Colman. Nick and Lisa had a fun chemistry, but Nick eventually married Kim Stewart.

CLASSIC CLIP: Nate (Rob Gorrie) Is A Victim Of the Oakdale Slasher

ONE LIFE TO LIVE fans are looking forward to the show's return on April 29. Rob Gorrie stars as the new Matthew Buchanan. Back in the summer of 2006, he appeared in AS THE WORLD TURNS as Nate, a friend of Maddie's (Alexandra Chando) who was the second victim of the Oakdale Slasher.

"I feel hard for Maddie but she was into Casey," Gorrie explained to We Love Soaps. "I got killed off on the Slasher storyline. It was Alex Chando and Zach Roerig. He's doing his thing [on THE VAMPIRE DIARIES] and Chando is killing it too."

Check out Rob Gorrie below in a classic clip of Nate's demise on ATWT. And check back on Wednesday for our brand new interview with Rob where we talk about his new gig at ONE LIFE TO LIVE.

CLASSIC CLIP: HOLLYWOOD SQUARES Soap Star Week 1979

1979 DAYS OF OUR LIVES stars Richard Guthrie and
Tracey Bregman (now Lauren on THE YOUNG AND
THE RESTLESS).

In early December 1979 NBC's HOLLYWOOD SQUARES are a Soap Stars special week featuring many of the stars of the day (a few of which are still starring in daytime today).

The panel consisted of the following pairs:
* Nancy Pinkerton & Franc Luz (THE DOCTORS)
* Susan Keith & Paul Stevens (ANOTHER WORLD)
* Richard Guthrie & Tracey Bregman (DAYS OF OUR LIVES)
* Dennis Cooney & Kelly Wood (AS THE WORLD TURNS)
* Sherry Mathis & Rod Arrants (SEARCH FOR TOMORROW)
* Brenda Dickson & Bob Colbert (THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS)
* Bill & Susan Hayes (DAYS OF OUR LIVES)
* Quinn Redeker & Brenda Benet (DAYS OF OUR LIVES)
* Wayland & Madame (center square)

Watch the December 4, 1979 episode of HOLLYWOOD SQUARES below:

CLASSIC CLIP: Mike Bauer Sings A Christmas Medley On GUIDING LIGHT

The Bauer family was filled with mixed emotions as Christmas approached in 1979. Everyone was thrilled when Ed Bauer's ex-wife, Holly, was released from prison, but his troubles with current wife, Rita, curbed their enthusiasm. But the annual hospital Christmas show followed by a gathering at church helped fill the citizens of Springfield with the holiday spirit. In the clip below, Mike Bauer sings a medley of Christmas songs including "O Come All Ye Faithful," "Joy To The World," "The First Noel" and the Bauer family favorite "Silent Night."

CLASSIC CLIP: Mike Bauer Sings 'Silent Night' On GUIDING LIGHT

For years, it wouldn't be Christmas in Springfield unless Mike Bauer sang. Watch a clip of Mike (Don Stewart) singing for family and friends in 1980 below. And tell us which Christmas song and memories on soaps have been your favorites over the years.

CLASSIC CLIP: Dr. Bob Hughes Reads 'Twas The Night Before Christmas On AS THE WORLD TURNS

On the December 25, 1995 episode of AS THE WORLD TURNS, Dr. Bob Hughes (Don Hastings) read "'Twas The Night Before Christmas" to the family and friends that were gathered at Tom and Margo's house. Can you identify all the children? They certainly grew up fast. Watch it below:

CLASSIC CLIP: Dr. Ed Bauer Reads The Story Of The First Christmas On GUIDING LIGHT

In 1979 on GUIDING LIGHT the staff of Cedars Hospital in Springfield, along with patients, friends and family gathered at Cedars Hospital to hear Dr. Ed Bauer (Mart Hulswit) read the story of the first Christmas. Watch it below and be sure to notice young Phillip, Chrissy (later known as Blake) and Freddie (later known as Rick). How many characters do you recognize?

J.R. Ewing's Best Moments (Video)

Larry Hagman entertained millions of fans around the world playing J.R. Ewing in DALLAS from the first episode in 1978 continuing through to the new series on TNT. In the video below, check out some of J.R.'s "greatest hits" from the original series.