Bob was played by actor Don Hastings from October 1960 until the series' final episode on September 17, 2010.

Bob was also the last character seen on the show, leaving his office at the end of the final episode with the words "Good night," which mirrored the first words spoken on the show, "Good morning, dear," spoken by Helen Wagner as she portrayed Bob's mother, Nancy Hughes.

[2] When Bob succumbs to Lisa's charms and they are secretly married, Bob's parents tried to have the marriage annulled on the basis of the couple being too young, Lisa's announcement of her pregnancy put an end to Chris and Nancy plans and the couple moved in with the Hugheses.

Not long after his divorce from Lisa, Bob fell for a sweet nurse named Sylvia Hill who was suffering from lupus.

Bob continued to be busy building his medical career and became best friends with the older Dr. David Stewart.

Searching for him, the Hugheses discovered that he was placed in a military school in California and Bob and his father, Chris, retrieved the boy and brought him home.

Soon after, Bob received word that Lisa had gone to L.A. looking for Tommy, so he flew over to meet her only to find her nearly catatonic following a rape.

Bob's next wife was Sandy Wilson McGuire, a woman who was unjustly put in prison, and had a son from a previous marriage named Jimmy.

This put Bob at odds with his sister, especially when Penny talked Roy into marrying her to ensure that he would get custody.

Unfortunately, Rick's poor performance at Memorial put a strain on their marriage because Jennifer continually accused Bob of being too hard on her son, who was an aspiring doctor.

Finally, at a convention in Florida, Bob was pleasantly surprised to see Jennifer's sister, Kim Sullivan Reynolds.

Late that year, as Jennifer gave birth to their daughter, Frannie, while Kim was told that she had suffered a miscarriage.

Though things got easier when Rick left town, tragically, Jennifer would lose her life in a car accident, leaving Bob to raise Frannie alone.

Accusing Bob of having an affair with Sandy, Norman suddenly suffered a heart attack and was admitted to Memorial where he later died after having another argument with someone.

After an uneventful relationship with Kim's former sister-in-law, Valerie Reynolds Conway, Bob found himself intrigued with a woman named Karen Peters, who confessed to running off with a file that would clear her father (a judge) of the wrongdoing that he was accused of.

Shortly after, Karen's hotel room was ransacked and she fled town, but Vested lured her back by having his thugs go after Bob.

Not long after, Bob was shocked to learn that Karen herself was also involved in the white collar crimes and she was placed in jail.

Sympathetic to her plight, Tom and Margo agreed to locate the girl and convince Bilan of her mother's love.

Unbeknownst to them, Mr. Big was hoping to uncover a missing treasure that had belonged to Bilan's father; he was also looking for the teenager.

Tom and Margo traveled from a convent in Paris to the island of Drasue where they found Bilan in a jungle village—but Mr. Big's men had followed them.

Although truth be told, Miranda found the Hughes family hopelessly provincial and, when her suave old flame arrived, he was easily able to persuade her to leave Bob.

Soon after their marriage, Bob and Kim became involved in a mystery surrounding a young woman from England named Sabrina who looked an awful lot like Frannie.

Tracking down Lansing for confirmation, Bob found him and demanded to know if Sabrina was the baby that Kim was told had died years earlier.

The biggest crisis to hit the Hughes marriage was when Bob had an affair with his old friend, Susan Stewart, Kim's old rival.

A few years later, after having left Oakdale to work in Pittsburgh and then Africa, Chris returned home with none other than Emily.

Immediately, Chris was at loggerheads with his father over a research project conducted by Evan Walsh IV.

However, they discovered the man who initially performed their wedding ceremony was a clergyman and a fraud, thus making their marriage invalid.

In the fall of 2010, after the death of his beloved mother, Nancy, and a health scare for their son Chris, Bob and Kim decided to retire from their demanding jobs, so that they could spend time together.