In 1978, Barbara Ryan -- now played by Colleen Zenk -- returned to Oakdale after an absence of several years. She rekindled her youthful romance with Tom Hughes, and was poised to marry him, when James Stenbeck re-entered her life, and she regained custody of Paul, the child she'd had by James and given up for adoption. After discovering what kind of man James truly was, Barbara devoted herself to protecting Paul from James, but one could easily argue that her efforts were for naught, considering how Paul turned out.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Barbara was one of the young heroines of ATWT, but after the death of second husband Gunnar, she underwent a drastic personality change, and pulled out all the stops to steal Tom away from Margo, whom Barbara never much cared for after she had an affair with James while he was still married to Barbara.
One of my earliest vivid storyline memories is Barbara leaving Tom at the altar. What's yours?
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