ABC Soap Opera Star's Death Required Animal Rescue: Latest on Esta TerBlanche

The 'All My Children' alum had just recently talked about returning to her television role.

By Andrew Roberts

Esta TerBlanche, best known as Gillian Andrassy on All My Children, had died. According to TV Insider, her cause of death is under investigation and her body was discovered at her North Hollywood home. She was 51. According to TMZ, police required animal rescue to the scene due to the number of pets the actress had.

The actress' representative spoke with TMZ after the news broke, noting that the actress had been dead for at least a day before being found. Her assistant made the initial discover, finding her on the bathroom floor and calling 911. TerBlanche's goddaughter, Barbie Ashley, noted that the actress death was sudden, confirming the date July 18.

ALL MY CHILDREN
(Photo:

cast shot at the Crystal Ball – 12/8/98 Pictured, back row: Cameron Mathison, Meg Mundy, Vincent Irizarry, Michael Nader, James Kiberd, Marcy Walker, Michael E. Knight; middle row: John Callahan, Paige Rowland, Carolyn Neff, Jill Larson, Esta Terblanche, Robin Mattson, Zen Gesner, Amelia Marshall, Eileen Herlie; bottom row: Cady McClain, Julia Barr, Susan Lucci, Mark Consuelos, Kelly Ripa, James Mitchell AMC98 (ABC/ANN LIMONGELLO) talent: ALL MY CHILDREN CAST (1998) photographer: ANN LIMONGELLO credit: ABC keywords: AMC98 source: American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. cap writer: JY/WW

- Ann Limongello)

According to TMZ, TerBlanche owned a slew of pets that were left behind after her passing. This includes 3 cats, 2 dogs, and prairie dogs, the latter which caused a problem for police at the scene. The Los Angeles animal control wouldn't take the prairie dogs, so a private animal rescue had to be contacted to the scene.

TerBlanche's acting career got its start after she won Miss Teen South Africa in 1991. Her role as Gillian, the Hungarian princess that thrives on drama, on All My Children started soon after in 1997. She stayed on the series until 2001 before leaving the cast to return to South Africa. She would return before the series finale, reprising her role in ghostly form in 2011.

"The people I worked with were all so wonderful," TerBlanche said in a chat with Soap Opera Digest from earlier in the month. "It was such a privilege to be on the show. [Cameron Mathison] was just phenomenal, and I feel so blessed that I was able to work with him. He really made every day just wonderful. It was just magical. I could not have been luckier.

"When I came back, it was really emotional for me and Cameron," she added. "When we saw each other, we both started bawling. Back then, we hadn't seen each other for years, so it was such a touching moment for us."

After exiting the series, TerBlanche opened a spa, worked on documentary projects, was a TV host and devoted time to the Create Your Breakthrough cancer foundation. But in her final interview, she did make a desire to return to soap operas and acting clear. "It's definitely something I would like to get back into," she noted.

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