Esta TerBlanche, All My Children star, dies at 51

Actress Esta TerBlanche is no more. The South African actress, who is known for her role as Gillian Andrassy Lavery on All My Children, has died. She was 51.

TerBlanche passed away in Los Angeles on Thursday.

Her death was confirmed by her manager Annie Spoliansky. “We are deeply saddened by this news. As for a personal statement, I’d like to say that Esta was such a kind, loving, giving, and caring person,” she said. 

”She cared so deeply for all people and animals. She had squirrels she fed and looked after daily, her two cats and recent kittens that she cared for as her own children. Esta was never anything but generous and lovely to me, and I’m grateful to have known her for the time that I did, and devastated to learn of her passing,” her statement concluded.

The exact cause of death has not yet been revealed. However, as per Deadline, authorities believe that Terblanche’s body was found a day after her death. 

However, her publicist, Lisa Rodrigo in a Facebook post shared that the actress died of natural causes and that an autopsy report is “pending.”

Born in Rustenburg, South Africa, TerBlanche started her career as a daily soap star after she was crowned Miss Teen South Africa in 1991. Her first acting gig was in the famous African show Egoli: Place of Gold as Bienkie Naudé Hartman from 1992- 1995. Instead of working in South Africa, she came to Los Angeles to explore new career opportunities.

After a year of moving to Los Angeles, Terblanche got her breakthrough show All My Children. In the show, she played the character of a Hungarian princess and the love interest of Cameron Mathison’s character Ryan Lavery.