All My Children Alum Esta TerBlance Dies At 51

David Nash

All My Children alum Esta TerBlanche, who played Gillian Andrassy Lavery on the ABC sudser from 1997-2001, has passed away at the age of 51.

The tragic news was confirmed by her publicist, Lisa Rodrigo, who wrote on Facebook, "I can not believe I am posting this. It’s with a heavy heart that my friend and client Esta TerBlanche passed away Thursday of natural causes. An autopsy report is pending. I am still processing and in shock. Esta was a beautiful soul in and out. I was proud to know her and work with her. More to come in the days ahead. Thank you for the messages so far. If I haven’t gotten to you, I will soon. May she RIP with the angels that she is."

TerBlanche's goddaughter, Barbie Ashley, told TMZ that the actress's death was unexpected, and took place at her home in North Hollywood.

Born on January 7, 1973, TerBlanche hailed from the North West province of South Africa and was crowned Miss Teen South Africa in 1991. In her native country, she became a star on the popular drama Egoli: Place of Gold , where she played the role of Bienkie Naudé Hartman from 1992-95. When she left the show, she moved to the United States to pursue her acting career, landing her AMC role two year later.

On AMC, TerBlanche's Gillian, a headstrong Hungarian princess and cousin of Dimitri Marick, was paired with Cameron Mathison's Ryan Lavery, and the couple said, "I do" in 1999 and 2001. In the actress's most recent interview with Soap Opera Digest , she recalled of her time in Pine Valley, "The people I worked with were all so wonderful. It was such a privilege to be on the show. Cameron was just phenomenal and I feel so blessed that I was able to work with him. He really made every day just wonderful. It was just magical. I could not have been luckier.”

After Gillian's death was scripted in 2001, TerBlanche returned to South Africa, where she opened a spa and worked on multiple documentaries with filmmaker Michael Kastenbaum, as well as served as the host of several TV shows ( Supermodel , Carte Blanche ). At the time of TerBlanche's passing, she was splitting her time between South Africa and California, and expressed an interest in reactivating her soap career, telling Digest , “It’s definitely something I would like to get back into."

Outside of her creative pursuits, TerBlanche was a passionate animal lover who doted on her own pets and was involved in a prairie dog rescue project.

Soap Opera Digest sends our deepest condolences to TerBlanche's family and friends.