According to Deadline, South African actress Esta TerBlanche (Spin City, Egoli: Place of Gold) passed away last Thursday at 51. Authorities suspect that TerBlanche had been dead for approximately a day when she died at her North Hollywood home.
TerBlanche’s publicist, Lisa Rodrigo, commemorated the late actress on Facebook yesterday at 7:53 p.m.: “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. 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.”
According to Deadline, TerBlanche was born in the North West province of South Africa on January 7, 1973. She was crowned Miss Teen South Africa in 1991. Soon after, TerBlanche began her acting career when she played Bienkie Naudé Hartman in the South African drama Egoli: Place of Gold from 1992 to 1995.
As reported by Deadline, TerBlanche stepped away from the show and moved to the U.S. to further her career in acting. Two years later, she joined the cast of the popular soap opera All My Children, where her portrayal of princess Gillian Andrassy Lavery would be TerBlanche’s most well-known work. The star stayed on the ABC show from 1997 to 2001.
Following Gillian’s death on the show in 2001, TerBlanche went back to South Africa, where she opened a spa and collaborated on several documentaries with filmmaker Michael Kastenbaum (Lost Angelas, Dogstar).
When TerBlanche passed away, she lived in both South Africa and California. She leaves behind her ex-husband and her goddaughter, Barbie Ashley.