Esta TerBlanche, known for her role in “All My Children,” has died at the age of 51

CNN
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Esta TerBlanche, the South African actress best known for her role as Gillian Andrassy Lavery on “All My Children,” has died, according to her manager Annie Spoliansky. She was 51.

TerBlanche died Thursday in Los Angeles, according to online records from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office.

The cause of death has not yet been determined.

Spoliansky told CNN in a statement Sunday that “Esta was such a kind, loving, generous and caring person.”

“She cared deeply for all people and animals,” Spoliansky’s statement read. “Esta was nothing but generous and loving to me, and I am grateful to have known her during the time I did, and devastated to hear of her passing.”

TerBlanche starred as Gillian Andrassy Lavery on the hit ABC soap opera “All My Children” from 1997 to 2001.

She later reprised her role in one episode in 2011 and has appeared in over 100 episodes.

CNN has contacted ABC for comment.

Cameron Mathison, who played TerBlanche’s on-screen husband Ryan Lavery on “All My Children,” paid tribute to his co-star on his Instagram Stories on Sunday.

“Rest in peace my sweet princess,” Mathison wrote. He added that TerBlanche was “one of the sweetest people ever.”

TerBlanche began working as an actress in South Africa, where she was born and raised, before moving to the United States in 1995.

Before her move, she was crowned Miss Teen South Africa in 1991 and appeared in South Africa’s first daytime television soap opera ‘Egoli: Place of Gold’ as Bienke Naudé Hartman between 1992 and 1995.

In a 2022 interview with Soaps in Depth, TerBlanche said landing the role in “Egoli” was a “dream come true.”

“People were really nice to me,” she said of her time on the show. “It was my first time working in the industry with all these professionals. Everyone was really nice to me.”