Soap Hub Flashback Friday: Colleen Zenk Recalls Memorable Elizabeth Hubbard Line

Colleen Zenk, as Aunt Jordan on The Young and the Restless, has interacted with Genoa City heavy-hitters Eric Braeden and Melody Thomas Scott, who play Victor and Nikki. During her time on As the World Turns, where she played Barbara Ryan, Zenk also interacted with veteran actors — and one in particular was quite memorable.

Colleen Zenk: Barbara & Lucinda, Two of a Kind

Lucinda Walsh (played by the late great Elizabeth Hubbard) made her ATWT debut in 1984, but it wasn’t until late 1985 that Lucinda and Barbara became pals. It wasn’t necessarily for the best of reasons either, as Barbara developed an arguably more selfish streak during that time. She started looking out for No. 1 and became a successful businesswoman (not unlike Lucinda), launching the fashion line “Simply Barbara.”

After being wrongly convicted of James Stenbeck’s (Anthony Herrera) “murder” (he wasn’t really dead) in late 1987, Barbara, on Christmas Eve, urged a reluctant Lucinda to buy “Simply Barbara” so her son Paul’s (Andrew Kavovit) future would be secure.

Staying in the Moment

“Darling,” a dissuading Lucinda said, “‘Simply Barbara’ simply wouldn’t be ‘Simply Barbara’ without Barbara.” Hubbard delivered that punny line with sincerity. And while the actress was known for her occasional adlibs, Zenk tells Soap Hub that that particular bit of dialogue was indeed planned well in advance.

“It was written that way in the script,” Zenk recalls. The phrasing of the line and Hubbard’s delivery lent a slight bit of humor to Barbara’s otherwise serious situation. Zenk, to her credit, did not break character. “We did the call live on two sets,” she says. “It wasn’t like later [when we’d do our portion of phone calls separately].”

Interior Designing Women

While Lucinda took Barbara under her wing, Zenk says she was actually in business off-camera with the late Kathryn Hays, who played Kim, Barbara’s aunt. “Kathy and I were really, really close friends,” Zenk shares. “I learned a lot [from her]. I’m very involved with interior design. I owe a lot of that to Kathy.”

Zenk says she and her TV aunt would buy houses, redo them, and then sell them in Connecticut. “I always looked up to her like a big sister,” the actress says. “We knew each other’s secrets and passions. Kathy and Eileen [Fulton, Lisa] were my buds on the show. Liz was, too, but to a lesser extent. Liz had Martha [Byrne, Lily].” Zenk says that she and Hubbard did visit each other many times at their respective homes over the years. “I know her son, Jeremy,” Zenk says with a smile.