Esta TerBlanche, ‘All My Children’ actress, dead at 51

Esta TerBlanche from “All My Children” has died. She was 51.

The South African actress “died unexpectedly” on Thursday at her home in North Hollywood, her goddaughter, Barbie Ashley, told TMZ Sunday.

Medical personnel think TerBlanche was dead for about a day before she was found, TMZ reported.

Her rep, Lisa Rodrigo, told TMZ the star’s death is under investigation.

TerBlanche rose to fame after she won Miss Teen South Africa in 1991.

Her first acting role was as Bienkie Naudé Hartman on South Africa’s first soap opera, “Egoli: Place of Gold,” from 1992 to 1995.

In 1997, she was cast in the role of Gillian Andrassy in “All My Children.”

Gillian is a Hungarian princess. She starts off as a spoiled and arrogant girl who evolves into a much kinder and compassionate person.

She was killed off the show in 2001.

TerBlanche briefly reprised the role in 2011 as a ghost who appears to Cameron Mathison’s Ryan Lavery. The show ended in 2013.

She talked about her return to the show in an interview with Soap Opera Digest published one week before the news of her death.

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

She stopped acting after leaving “All My Children” and moved back to South Africa.

But in the Soap Opera Digest interview, TerBlanche said she was spending more time in the U.S. and was ready to return to her career in Hollywood.

“It’s definitely something I would like to get back into,” she said.

TerBlanche also talked about her relationship with Mathison, 54.

“I saw Cameron recently; I was babysitting his beautiful dog Red, who had cancer, and he was doing everything for him,” she shared. “He was supposed to stay a day, but I kept saying he could stay longer, and after five nights, he started to walk, and it was such an amazing experience.”

“A few months later, Red did pass away, but he got so much better in that time, and we had a very special time,” she added.

TerBlanche was involved with the South Africa cancer foundation Create Your Breakthrough.

“It’s about helping people with cancer get the treatments they need and help fight this really awful disease,” she said in the interview. “I lost my mom to cancer and my dad also has cancer, so I just feel really passionate about this.

She went on, “I would be so thrilled if in this lifetime, we can come up with some kind of a cure. It would be such a miracle. Seeing someone go through this in front of your eyes is just heartbreaking.” 

TerBlanche was married to André Kock from 1997 until their divorce in 2008.