'General Hospital' Actress Found Dead in a Field: Robyn Bernard Was 64
The actress starred as Terry Brock on the ABC soap opera during the 1980s.
General Hospital star Robyn Bernard has died. The Riverside County Sheriff's Office said in a press release Wednesday that the actress, who appeared in more than 140 episodes of the long-running soap during the 1980s, was found dead in an "open field behind [a] business" in San Jacinto, California at around 4:08 a.m. Tuesday.
Bernard's cause of death is unknown at this time. TMZ, which reported the coroner used fingerprints to identify the actress, reported that an autopsy was scheduled for Wednesday, though toxicology testing will take several weeks. Sheriff's Sgt. Wenndy Brito-Gonzalez said, per Deadline, "Foul play was not suspected in this death." An investigation into Bernard's death is ongoing.
Born in Gladewater, Texas on May 26, 1959, Bernard began performing at a young age, originally singing gospel songs with her younger sister, future longtime Wings star Crystal, before going on to make her professional acting debut with a small role in Jean-Jacques Beneix's 1981 French thriller Diva. She went on to appear in 1983's Whiz Kids and The Facts of Life in 1984.
Bernard was best known for her role as Terry Brock (aka Terry O'Connor) in General Hospital, the long-running ABC soap opera that she began appearing on in 1984. The daughter of D.L. Brock (David Groh), Bernard's character developed a drinking problem that hindered her music career. The actress appeared on 145 episodes of the show across 16 years before exiting in March 1990 when her onscreen counterpart landed a recording contract and left Port Charles.
While still working on General Hospital, Bernard reunited with Beneix for a small role in his 1986 French romance Betty Blue. The film went on to score a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and a BAFTA Film Award. Following her General Hospital exit, Bernard starred in the French mystery series Maigret in 1992 and the 1997 Gallic feature Kings for a Day. Her final on-screen performance was as a psychologist in 2002's Voices From The High School. After retiring from acting, Bernard reportedly lived a private life out of the limelight. Variety reports that she is survived by her sisters Crystal and Scarlett, as well as her father Jerry Wayne Bernard.