Esta TerBlanche

Esta TerBlanche (7 January 1973 – 19 July 2024) was a South African actress, best known for her roles on television soap operas in both South Africa and the United States.

Early life TerBlanche was born in Rustenburg, Transvaal (now North West Province). She was of Huguenot descent. She grew up on a game farm, replete with monkeys, cows, horses, sheep, warthogs, and elands. Within three weeks of arriving in Los Angeles, she found her first job, acting in a hair products commercial. on the American daytime drama All My Children. Gillian, a troublemaking princess, was killed off in 2001 as TerBlanche asked to be written out of the show to move back to South Africa.

TerBlanche made a guest appearance on Egoli: Place of Gold in 2004. She also made additional appearances on South African TV and in movies, but later returned to the United States. In 2010, she was interviewed by the American magazine Soap Opera Digest. She reported then that she had divorced and taken a break from acting. She stated that she had opened a spa, exploring her interest in the medical field and in healing. In August 2011, it was announced that TerBlanche would reprise the role of Gillian during the final weeks of All My Children'''s broadcast on American network television. TerBlanche made a guest appearance on the show on 24 August 2011.

Plays she appeared in include: The Glass Menagerie, Pygmalion, Hear Ye, and Ten Times Worse on Friday. She also starred in the film, Three Thieves and a Wedding. and the children's show, K-T.V.'' TerBlanche was well known in South Africa and appeared on the covers of many magazines.

Death TerBlanche died in Los Angeles on 19 July 2024, at the age of 51. In January 2025, it was announced her cause of death was the result of an intracranial hemorrhage stemming from blunt force trauma, with the belief being this was sustained from a "ground level fall".