She appeared on the early soap Valiant Lady, as well as on primetime programs including The World of Mr. Sweeney, Mister Peepers, Inner Sanctum, and the Philco-Goodyear Playhouse.

[4] Before signing a 13-week contract for As the World Turns in 1956, Wagner had been a singer and stage actress, sometimes working as a church soloist to pay the rent.

Wagner later remembered that she and actor Santos Ortega, who played Grandpa Hughes, continued with the scene as it was broadcast live, unaware of the unfolding tragedy until they were told about it during a commercial break.

She returned to the screen with a pivotal role in a 2004 storyline revolving around her grandson's marriage to naïve teenager Alison Stewart (played by Jessica Dunphy).

[3] In 1988, Wagner's alma mater, Monmouth College (Illinois), awarded her an honorary degree of "Doctor of Humane Letters".

The following year, Wagner chaired a national committee that raised more than $1 million to replace the school's "little theater" with a state-of-the-art facility.