Soap Opera America's Helen Wagner Lifetime Achievement Award: Colleen Zenk Pinter (2010 Honoree)

Perhaps most famously known for her role as the equally villainess and yet kind-hearted Barbara Ryan on As The World Turns, Pinter has become one of the most talented actresses in daytime, and one of the most beloved by fans.

In 1978, Pinter first appeared on As The World Turns, playing Barbara Ryan: a role which she would become most famously known for. In her thirty-two year stint on As The World Turns, she portrayed Barbara as many types of women, but it was her villainous turn in the 2000's that would garner her much critical acclaim. She earned back-to-back Daytime Emmy nominations in 2001 (Supporting Actress) and 2002 (Lead Actress), and a 2005 Soap Opera Digest Award nomination (Favorite Villain).

Throughout Pinter's stint on As The World Turns she became one-half of the famous super-couple with James Stenbeck (Anthony Herrera). Her rise to fame as Barbara began with Barbara becoming a heroine, suffering many tragedies at the hand of her former lover, James Stenbeck. In 1985, her villainous nature started to show as she broke up popular super-couple Tom Hughes & Margo Montgomery, this proved unpopular and she returned to being a heroine.

In the early 2000's Barbara became involved in a villainous plot to get back at her adversaries, which soon after, she reformed herself and became less of a villain. Yet, Pinter was still able to inject some boldness and brashy-ness into Barbara, creating a strong vibrant woman who we've come to know and love.

Pinter has remained an integral part of many of As The World Turns's storylines, being a regular contract player, and becoming a prominent character as the show started to come to a close in September 2010.

Pinter met her first husband on the set of As The World Turns and the two have a daughter and a grandchild together. She became diagnosed with oral cancer in 2007, and is now a proud cancer survivor, as well as a spokesperson for the disease. In 2008, Pinter agreed to have her character Barbara Ryan have an oral cancer storyline as well, which in turn ended up with Ryan being cancer free.

Pinter is a fantastic actress, a part of As The World Turns history, and a person who created one of the most bold and brazen females in soap history. We wish her great luck on her next acting ventures, and hope to see her soon in another fantastic role.