(CNN) South African actress Esta Terblanche, best known for her role as Gillian Andrassy-Lavery on “All My Children,” has died at the age of 51, her manager Annie Spoliansky said.
Terblanche died Thursday in Los Angeles, according to online records from the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office.
The cause of death has yet to be determined.
“Esta was an incredibly kind, loving, generous and compassionate person,” Spoliansky told CNN in a statement Sunday.
“She loved all people and animals so deeply,” Spoliansky’s statement read. “Esta was always a generous and loving presence to me. I am grateful to have known her and devastated to learn of her passing.”
Terblanche played the role of Gillian Andrassy Lavery on the famous ABC soap opera All My Children from 1997 to 2001.
She then reprised the role for one episode in 2011 and has appeared in over 100 episodes.
CNN has reached out to ABC for comment.
Cameron Matheson, who played Terblanche’s husband Ryan Lavery on “All My Children,” paid tribute to his co-star on Instagram Stories on Sunday.
“May my lovely princess rest in peace,” Matheson wrote, adding that Terblanche was “one of the kindest people ever.”
Terblanche began her career as an actress in South Africa, where she was born and raised, before moving to the United States in 1995.
Before emigrating, she was crowned Miss Teen South Africa in 1991 and played the role of Bienke Naude Hartman in South Africa’s first daytime soap opera, Egoli: A Place of Gold, from 1992 to 1995.
In a 2022 interview with Soaps in Depth, Terblanche said that landing the role of “Egoli” was a “dream come true.”
“People were so nice to me,” she said of her experience on the series. “It was my first time working with such professional people in the industry. Everyone was so nice.”
CNN Wire
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