Barbara Ryan is a fictional character from the American CBS soap opera As the World Turns. In the early 1970s, Barbara was played by a succession of actresses, but the actress most associated with the role is Colleen Zenk, who played her since September 1, 1978. She is portrayed as a heroine who experienced many tragedies, mostly at the hands of her controlling ex-husband, the villainous James Stenbeck (Anthony Herrera). Barbara is the daughter of Jennifer Sullivan.
Over her 32 years on the show, Barbara has been shot through the heart, nearly gored by a bull in Spain, kidnapped 15 times, married nine times, burned in a chemical explosion and jumped out of a three-story window.
After years of being a heroine, Barbara was transformed when writer Douglas Marland came on board at ATWT in 1985. He decided to make Barbara a "bitch" of sorts, and had her break up long standing couple Tom Hughes and Margo Montgomery. This proved to be unpopular, and Marland quickly reverted the character back to being "good" by pairing Barbara with Oakdale police detective (and later chief) Hal Munson (Benjamin Hendrickson). Again, in the early 2000s (decade), writer Hogan Sheffer turned Barbara back into a scheming villain. Burned up in a chemical explosion in 2001 with the actress donning special effects make-up for a full year, Barbara returned to her evil ways and culminated in her committing crimes such as drugging a police officer and hiring a hit man to murder Rose D'Angelo (Martha Byrne). She then kidnapped three of her female adversaries (Emily Stewart, Carly Tenney and Rose D'Angelo). Though the character has since reformed and become a more or less law-abiding presence in Oakdale, she can still be manipulative and devious when she feels she needs to be.
Entertainment reporter Lisa Joyner described the character as a "sultry vixen" who'd made the transition from "helpless victim to scheming villain," whilst TV Guide's Michael Logan called the character Oakdale's "firecracker."
Creation and casting
Casting The character of Barbara Ryan was first seen on the show in 1971, she was played by Judi Rolin. Barbara Stranger took over the role briefly that same year, before being played by Donna Wandrey from 1971 to 1972. After six years off screen, Barbara was recast and returned to the show, now played by dancer and actress Colleen Zenk. Zenk began the role on September 1 of that year and stated her maternal grandparents never owned a television until her debut on As the World Turns. "Those were the people I heard from. Back then there was no internet, there was no way of getting any information from anyone until the fan mail started pouring in, which it did. I received a nice response from the beginning. I think that’s because I very quickly settled into such an easy rapport with Don Hastings and Kathy Hays, and Helen Wagner, and then eventually, after awhile with Eileen Fulton," she said.
Awards Zenk has never received a Daytime Emmy for her work however was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in both 2002 and 2011. In 2001, she was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress.
Storylines Barbara Ryan is first introduced to the Hughes family when her mother, Jennifer, marries Bob Hughes. Barbara is very happy for her mother and likes having Bob as a stepfather. Barbara has a fairly uncomplicated teenage life, but suffers from bulimia at age 16.
Barbara returns to town in 1978, having just graduated from art school and fleeing a failed romance with Steven Farrell. Unable to live without her, Steven follows her to Oakdale and gets a job in the cardiology department at Memorial. The couple rekindle their romance, but Steven has a secret past, one he cannot share with the woman he loved. The year ended on a sad note when, on the night Nancy Hughes was to give an engagement party for the happy couple, Steven leaves town, leaving Barbara to nurse a broken heart.
She then began dating her former stepbrother Tom Hughes. At about this time, Barbara began receiving mysterious phone calls. Soon, she was forced to confess a deep, dark secret—three years earlier Barbara had an affair with the aristocratic, very rich James Stenbeck, and became pregnant with his child. Believing he did not want to raise the child, whom she named Paul, she gave him to her friend Claudia Colfax to raise. Claudia's husband, Raymond, proved to be an abusive man and, with Tom's help, Barbara was able to secure custody of Paul. Just then, James came to Oakdale himself. Barbara resisted a romantic reunion with the dashing aristocrat and became engaged to Tom, but Stenbeck soon learned that he was Paul's father and confronted her on her wedding day. Barbara tearfully left Tom at the altar and ran off to the Caribbean with James and they made plans to marry.
The Stenbeck fortune first became a problem for the couple when Charles Ivenstrom, whose daughter was pregnant by James' brother, tried to kill them so that his grandchild-to-be, rather than Paul, would inherit the money. Barbara was shot, but survived and she and James married in her hospital room. Following Charles' arrest, James's brother accused James of marrying Barbara so James would have access to Paul's inheritance. James assured Barbara that this was ridiculous. For Barbara, the marriage proved disastrous. Seeing nothing wrong with having a wife and a mistress, James began an affair with Margo Montgomery, Barbara's private nurse. In addition, James decided to supplement his fortune by smuggling drugs and stolen jewelry through the fashion company he bought for Barbara. Finally, Barbara found out about the affair and the illegal activities. Though James was able to talk Barbara into giving their marriage a chance, it became clear that Barbara was becoming disenchanted.
At the same time she suspected that James was having another affair, this time with Dee Stewart, Barbara started having bizarre visions of a previous life. The visions consisted of a woman who looked just like her, named Bianca, who resided in Paris with her husband Jason (who looked remarkably like James). Bianca would later learn Jason was carrying on an affair with the maid, Daphne (who looked like Dee Stewart). Later, Barbara's flashbacks started to have a mysterious blonde Englishman coming to Paris who, for some reason, was very angry with Jason. The mysterious blonde Englishman challenged Jason to a duel (with Jason getting the upper hand, at first). In the summer of 1982, Bianca (Barbara's doppelganger) learned this mysterious blonde Englishman's name, Geoffrey. Not long after, at the funeral of James's brother, Lars, Barbara was shocked to see a man who looked exactly like Geoffrey: Gunnar St. Clair.
Gunnar surprised the Stenbecks by claiming to be James's cousin. He produced records from the St. Clair orphanage showing that Greta Aldrin, James's ex-nanny, brought him there after his parents died, because James's father didn't want him living in the same house. James ordered an investigation and was determined not to let Gunnar claim any rights to the Stenbeck fortune. In early September 1982, the Stenbecks were surprised when Gunnar showed up at the penthouse. Electrified by his presence, Barbara mistakenly called him Geoffrey. Later, at Fashions, Gunnar saw Barbara holding a blue dress and suggested that she buy it. Later, she had a vision of Bianca wearing a similar dress for Geoffrey. Whenever she wore the blue dress, Barbara felt loved. Barbara was convinced these visions were premonitions of the end of her marriage, and she was afraid of her attraction to Gunnar. Barbara headed for her cabin in Michigan to get away. When Barbara got into her car at the cabin, a masked man put a gun to her head. Barbara's captors were Charles Ivenstrom, the man who had once ordered her death, and his daughter, Ingrid, the widow of James's younger brother, Lars. Ingrid blamed Barbara and James for her husband's death. Lars and James would have had to share the Stenbeck fortune, and Ingrid said Lars futilely begged James to keep him out of bankruptcy. Desperate, Lars got drunk and died in the hiking "accident." In revenge, Ingrid vowed to kill Barbara, and her father, Charles, was helping her get back the money that was rightfully hers.
The kidnappers mistook Gunnar for James, and demanded $2 million in cash for Barbara. They insisted Gunnar make the drop, but captured him as he approached. Alone in a dark cellar, on Halloween Eve, Gunnar and Barbara declared their love. They escaped and hid in a nearby barn. As they slept, a little girl wandered in and told her parents, who contracted the police. James arrived to find Gunnar and Barbara sleeping in each other's arms. Alone with Barbara, James accused her of having an affair with Gunnar, which she denied. Meanwhile, Gunnar found a painting of a woman who bore a striking resemblance to Barbara/Bianca and bought it, telling Barbara the picture meant they were destined to be together. Then he proposed. Soon after, Barbara overheard John Dixon yelling at Dee that Barbara was a fool to stay married to the man who ran him down and who was having an affair with Dee. Shocked, she told James she and Paul were moving out. James's attorney, Mr. Hoyt, warned James about losing control of the Stenbeck fortune. He begged Barbara to reconsider and warned that she and Gunnar would never get custody of Paul. Barbara ignored him and went to Switzerland with Gunnar, leaving Paul with her Aunt Kim and Kim's husband, Nick. Meanwhile, the intensity of the visions was becoming much, with people noticing how distracting she was becoming. Finally Lisa, her partner in Fashions, suggested that Barbara see a psychiatrist, Dr. Ben Forrest.
This suggestion fell right into James's plans for Barbara since he decided to use this as a means to get Barbara locked away so he'd get control of Fashions. Later, he was found dead in Australia. Afterwards, Barbara next set her sights on newspaperman Brian McColl. Soon, the couple fell in love and made plans to marry. Paul was vehemently against the marriage and caused trouble. Continually argumentative, at one point, Paul hit Brian several times and when Brian raised his hand, instinctively, to hit back, Barbara walked in and railed into Brian. Disgusted at Barbara's tendency to let Paul dictate her life, Brian broke off the engagement. With the encouragement of her friend (and Brian's former stepmother) Lisa McColl, Barbara tried to go to his place to take him back, only to find Shannon O'Hara in the room wearing Brian's bathrobe. From that moment, Barbara vowed to no longer be victimized by men. Soon a different Barbara Ryan emerged. Later, Barbara attempted to seduce Tom Hughes, now married to Margo Montgomery (James's former mistress). Though her attempt was unsuccessful, she did put a cramp in the Hughes marriage after lying to Margo that she and Tom had had sex. Since Tom had been drunk on the day in question, he had no idea if it was true or not. When Tom "confessed" to Margo, she left town for several months, leaving Barbara free to comfort a heartbroken Tom.