Esta TerBlanche, All My Children Vet, Dead at 51

Esta TerBlanche, the actress best known for her role as Gillian Andrassy in ABC’s All My Children , has died. She was 51 years old.

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TerBlanche’s death was confirmed by her goddaughter to TMZ on Sunday, saying that she had been found dead in her North Hollywood home. A cause of death has not been reported; TVLine has reached out to TerBlanche’s representatives for confirmation.

TerBlanche’s career kicked off in 1991 when she was crowned Miss Teen South Africa. She went on to play Beatrice “Bienkie” Naudé Hartman in Egoli: Place of Gold , the first South African soap opera. The series, which ran from 1992 until its cancellation in 2013, followed the day-to-day lives of families living in Johannesburg, nicknamed the City of Gold. TerBlanche ultimately exited the series in 1995.

In 1997, TerBlanche joined the All My Children cast, playing Gillian, who was sent to live in Pine Valley after embarrassing her family with her romantic transgressions. Her character later met her untimely demise after a case of mistaken identity during an assassination attempt. Though she initially survived the shooting, she was ultimately taken off life support and killed off the show.

TerBlanche did briefly return to All My Children ahead of its series finale, when Gillian’s ghost made an appearance in a 2011 episode. The comeback reunited TerBlanche with her longtime on-screen love interest Cameron Mathison (as Ryan Lavery), which she said was a sentimental experience in a recent Soap Opera Digest interview .

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“When I came back, it was really emotional for me and Cameron,” TerBlanche said. “When we saw each other, we both started bawling. Back then, we hadn’t seen each other for years, so it was such a touching moment for us.”

Mathison paid tribute to TerBlanche on Sunday in a series of Instagram stories. The first read, “RIP my sweet princess” atop a photo of the pair on set. In another story , he added, “Esta helped me last year when [my dog] Red was sick and paralyzed and I was struggling. One of the sweetest people ever.”

TerBlanche’s other acting credits included K-T.V., Three Thieves and a Wedding , The Syndicate and Spin City .

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