Soap opera star Andrea Evans dies at 66: The actress who had to leave One Life to Live due to a stalker’s threat passes away after a battle with breast cancer
Soap opera star Andrea Evans has died at the age of 66 after a battle with breast cancer, it has been confirmed.
The actress was famous for playing the vixen Tina Lord on ABC’s One Life to Live; however, she left the series because her role brought unwanted attention from a stalker.
Evans, who also played Rebecca Hotchkiss on NBC/DirecTV’s Passions, died at her home in Pasadena, California, casting director Don Carroll said. the hollywood reporter
Her role as Tina Lord was considered iconic in the soap opera world, with PEOPLE magazine dubbing her character ‘Daytime’s Diva of Dirt,’ which she played from 1979 to 1981 and then again from 1985 to 1990.
Two years later, the two-time Daytime Emmy nominee abruptly left the show and abandoned her career after a stalker confronted her in the lobby of the soap opera’s Manhattan studio in 1987.
Soap opera star Andrea Evans dies at 66: The actress who had to leave One Life to Live due to a stalker’s threat passes away after a battle with breast cancer
The stalker terrorized her until his threats became increasingly violent, and at one point, he reportedly harmed himself on the front steps of the studio to get her attention.
When the man was taken to a mental hospital, he allegedly listed Evans as his next of kin and sent him death threats written in blood.
Although she eventually began to accept acting roles again, she avoided participating in public events thereafter.
In an interview with PEOPLE in 2008, he revealed that it was out of fear that he began to remain largely out of the public eye.
“It changed me forever,” he said at the time. ‘There’s no way I can’t.’
He reprized his role on One Live to Live for a special appearance that same year and again in 2011.
“It’s time to give the audience what they want,” he said at the time. ‘And it’s time for me to clarify why I left in the first place.’
“For many years, both my fans and One Life to Live have wanted me to return,” he had referred to his return in a statement. “Now that the time is right, I am delighted to return to the role of Tina, who has always been near and dear to my heart.”
In 2015, she received her second Daytime Emmy nomination for her portrayal of Vivian Price on the web series DeVanity.
She is also known for playing Rebecca Hotchkiss in Passions from 2000 to 2008 and most recently as Patty and Gillian Walker in The Bay from 2017 to 2020.
Evans also starred in the 1994 film A Low Down Dirty Shame, the 1995 slasher film Ice Cream Man, and the 2011 action thriller Hit List.
Evans had recently completed his next memoir titled My One Life to Live.
She is survived by her husband, Steve Rodriguez, whom she married in 1998, and her 19-year-old daughter, Kylie.
Previously, she was married to her One Life to Live co-star Wayne Massey from 1981 to 1983.
Soap Opera Star: The actress was famous for playing the vixen Tina Lord on ABC’s One Life to Live; however, she left the series because her role brought unwanted attention from a stalker.
