Emmy-award winning

When Guiding Light airs its final episode today, it won't just be the end of a remarkable television success story -- one that has endured on radio and TV for 72 years -- it will also lower the curtain on some of the most memorable characters ever. In the past 25 years that I've been watching Guiding Light, I've had the pleasure of watching the likes of Michael Zaslow, Justin Deas, Michelle Forbes and Kim Zimmer portray some of those characters.

So, in honor of what Guiding Light has achieved, the fabulous writers who have created these stories and characters, and in salute of all the wonderful actors who've brought them to life, here's Guiding Light's 10 greatest characters from the past 25 years.

10. Josh Lewis (played by Robert Newman)
With the creation of Joshua, the Lewis family became a foundation in Springfield, as integral as the Bauers and the Spauldings, and Josh was the key. He started as a young, upstart oilman with a romantic streak and over time has morphed from a business tycoon to a minister. And through all the years, he's had one great love, Reva Shayne.