Joan Benedict, 'General Hospital' and 'Candid Camera' Actress, Dead at 96

Joan Benedict Steiger has died. The longtime actress died atCedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, on June 24, a family spokesperson confirmed to multiple outlets . Benedict, who died due to complications from a stroke, was 96.

The Brooklyn-born actress initially studied dance before changing her focus to acting.Benedict began her TV career in the '50s, appearing on Candid Camera and The Steve Allen Show .

Stints on The Incredible Hulk and Fantasy Island followed, as did roles in movies such as The Happy Hooker Goes to Washington and Perfect Victims .

Benedict also had a role on Days of Our Lives and recurred on General Hospital as Edith Fairchild. Her final onscreen appearance came in the 2017 film Opus of an Angel .

Benedict was married toJohn Myhers for 30 years. After Myhers' death in 1992, she reconnected with actorRod Steiger, whom she'd first met as a teenager, and married in 2000. Steiger died in 2002, and Benedict entered into a relationship with Jeremy Slate, who died in 2006.

"Both of my husbands, and my lifetime partner, Jeremy, were wonderful men who respected me as an actress," she told Women Fitness in 2016."They all died from different forms of cancer, so my memories are sometimes bittersweet, but with no regrets."

Benedict is survived by her daughter, Claudia, and granddaughters, Hanna and Ashley, multiple outlets report.

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