Esta TerBlanche, 'All My Children' Actress, Dead at 51

Esta TerBlanche , the actress who starred in All My Children in the late 1990s and early 2000s, has died. She was 51.

TerBlanche died on Thursday of “natural causes,” according to her publicist, Lisa Rodrigo , who confirmed the news in a Saturday, July 20, post on Facebook . The actress’ goddaughter, Barbie Ashley , told TMZ that TerBlanche’s body was found late last week in her home in North Hollywood, Calif.

“I am still processing and in shock,” Rodrigo wrote of the actress she described as her “friend and client.”

“Esta was a beautiful soul in and out. I was proud to know her and work with her,” Rodrigo’s post added. She promised additional information would be forthcoming “in the days ahead,” with an autopsy report already pending. Rodrigo ended her message by writing, "May she RIP with the angels that she is.”

TerBlanche was additionally remembered as a “wonderful, kind and loving person” by her talent manager, Annie Spolianky , in a statement shared with Variety .

TerBlanche was born in South Africa’s North West province on Jan. 7, 1973. She was later named Miss Teen South Africa in 1991 before landing a role on the South African soap opera Egoli: Place of Gold . After moving to the U.S., TerBlanche joined the All My Children cast in 1997. She played Gillian Andrassy, a Hungarian princess, on the popular soap until the character was killed off in 2001.

Recently, TerBlanche expressed an interest in resuming her soap opera career during an interview with Soap Opera Digest published earlier this month. She explained in the interview that she was dividing her time between South Africa, where she had returned after All My Children , and the U.S.

“It’s definitely something I would like to get back into,” TerBlanche said of her interest in acting on another soap.

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