Cape Town - South African actress Esta TerBlanche has passed away at the age of 51.
TerBlanche, best known for her roles as Bienkie in Egoli and Princess Gillian Andrassy in All My Children, was found dead at her Los Angeles home on Friday.
She also had a role in the film Three Thieves and a Wedding and appeared in episodes of TV series such as Spin City and The Syndicate.
According to the Los Angeles County coroner’s office, a 51-year-old woman was found dead at her residence on Friday.
An autopsy was scheduled to determine the cause of death.
Her body was found by police after workers couldn’t contact her for a number of days and alerted law enforcement.
According to reports, TerBlanche had just returned from a visit to South Africa, seeing her aunt and father.
TerBlance hit the spotlight in the early 1990s. The beauty was crowned Miss Teen South Africa 1991. She soon landed the role of Bienkie Naude in Egoli and played the role in 1992, where she remained until 1995.
After deciding to leave the popular M-Net open-time soapie, she packed her bags for Hollywood.
While she didn’t star in huge movies, she landed a role in one of the US’s most popular soapies in 1997 as All My Children’s Gillian, a troublemaking princess.
In 2001, TerBlanche asked to be written out of the show to move back to South Africa.
She’d go on to present segments in the environmental show 50/50.
Tributes have poured in for the former star.
Burgert Muller, former executive producer of Egoli, produced by Franz Marx for M-Net, told website TV with Thinus: “It’s with great shock that I hear the news of Esta. As a young woman in Egoli she was a light in our lives.
“She was the epitome of professionalism, always well prepared, and brought joy to the set. She was beloved by her colleagues and we were very proud of her when she left to go to America and found fame there with All My Children.”
Henry Mylne, a former Egoli director, added: “This young woman had no professional training and she had to portray a main role opposite formidable actors like Christine Basson, Hennie Smit, Brumilda van Rensburg and Sandra Prinsloo.”
Cape Argus