All My Children Star Passes Away at 51

Esta TerBlanche, the South African actor best known for her role as Gillian Andrassy Lavery on All My Children, has passed away at the age of 51.

TerBlanche died at her Los Angeles home on Thursday, as confirmed by records from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office. The exact cause of her death has not been disclosed.

Her publicist, Lisa Rodrigo, announced the sad news 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,” she shared.

Rodrigo continued, “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.”

From 1997 to 2001, TerBlanche portrayed Hungarian princess Gillian on All My Children. Her on-screen romance with Cameron Mathison’s character, Ryan Lavery, garnered a significant following among viewers.

Her character’s storyline concluded dramatically when her husband took her off life support after she suffered a bullet wound during an assassination attempt. However, she made a brief return to the show in 2011 as Gillian’s ghost.

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

Mathison paid tribute to his former co-star on Instagram Stories, stating, “RIP my sweet princess,” and described TerBlanche as “one of the sweetest people ever.”

Born on January 7, 1973, in Rustenberg, South Africa, TerBlanche began her career at the young age of 16 by hosting a children’s television and a mathematics show titled Math No Problem. She was crowned Miss Teen South Africa in 1991.

Following her pageant win, she was cast as Beatrice “Bienkie” Naudé Hartman on Egoli: Place of Gold, the first South African soap opera, where she worked from 1992 to 1995. Afterwards, TerBlanche moved to the US and joined the cast of All My Children.

Reflecting on her time on Egoli, she said in a 2022 interview with Soaps in Depth, “People were so kind to me. It was my first time working in the industry with all these professional people. Everybody was really nice to me.”

After her stint on All My Children ended, TerBlanche returned to South Africa. She diversified her career by opening a spa and collaborating with filmmaker Michael Kastenbaum on documentaries. She also took on roles as a television host for shows like Supermodel and Carte Blanche.

Source: Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office, Facebook, Soap Opera Digest, Instagram, Soaps in Depth