All My Children alum Esta TerBlanche’s cause of death has been released, more than half a year after she died aged 51.
The actor, who starred as Hungarian princess Gillian Andrassy Lavery on the soap opera from 1997 to 2001, passed away at her Los Angeles home last July.
Now, seven months after her death, the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner has determined TerBlanche died from an intracranial hemorrhage “due to blunt force traumatic head injury likely due to a ground level fall.”
Her death has been ruled an accident.
At the time, her death was announced by her publicist, Lisa Rodrigo, who wrote in a Facebook post: “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,” she added. “May she RIP with the angels that she is.”
TerBlanche’s enemies-to-lovers plot with Cameron Mathison’s Ryan Lavery on All My Children was extremely popular with viewers.
TerBlanche’s storyline ended after her husband removed her from life support following a bullet wound suffered during an assassination attempt. She returned in 2011 as Gillian’s ghost.
“When I came back, it was really emotional for me and Cameron. When we saw each other, we both started bawling,” TerBlanche told Soap Opera Digest.
“Back then, we hadn’t seen each other for years, so it was such a touching moment for us.”
Born on 7 January 1973 in Rustenberg, South Africa, TerBlanche started her career at 16 hosting a children’s television show and a maths show called Math No Problem.
She was crowned Miss Teen South Africa in 1991.
Soon after, she was cast as Beatrice “Bienkie” Naudé Hartman on Egoli: Place of Gold, the first South African soap opera.
She worked on it from 1992 to 1995, before moving to the US and getting cast on All My Children.
“People were so kind to me,” she told Soaps in Depth in 2022 about her time on Egoli.
“It was my first time working in the industry with all these professional people. Everybody was really nice to me.”
After her run on All My Children ended, she returned to South Africa. She opened a spa and worked with filmmaker Michael Kastenbaum on documentaries. She also hosted television shows like Supermodel and Carte Blanche.
