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.^[1]

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.^[2]

TerBlanche was crowned Miss Teen South Africa in 1991, and subsequently played Bienkie Naudé Hartman on the South African drama Egoli: Place of Gold from 1992 to 1995. In 1995, TerBlanche decided not to renew her contract with Egoli and, instead, opted to further her acting career in the U.S.^[2] Within three weeks of arriving in Los Angeles, she found her first job, acting in a hair products commercial.^[2] In 1997, TerBlanche was cast in the role of Gillian Andrassy^[3][4][5] on the American daytime drama All My Children. Gillian, a troublemaking princess, was killed off in 2001^[6][7] 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.^[8] She also made additional appearances on South African TV and in movies, but later returned to the United States.^{[citation needed]} 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.^[9] She stated that she had opened a spa, exploring her interest in the medical field and in healing.^[9]

In the interview, TerBlanche also noted that she had begun acting again and had recently filmed a pilot in South Africa.^[9] She expressed interest in returning to All My Children or acting in another soap, citing her time on All My Children as the best of her life.^[9] In 2011, she was briefly profiled in the People magazine tribute to All My Children.^[10] 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.^[11] TerBlanche made a guest appearance on the show on 24 August 2011.^[12]

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.^[3] TerBlanche also worked as a TV presenter in South Africa for the environmental program 50/50^[13] and the children's show, K-T.V. TerBlanche was well known in South Africa and appeared on the covers of many magazines.

TerBlanche died in Los Angeles on 19 July 2024, at the age of 51.^[14][1][15] 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".^[16]

• Esta TerBlanche at IMDb