The Bold and the Beautiful actress Andrea Evans dead at 66

Actress Andrea Evans has passed away at age 66. Photo / Getty Images

Legendary American actress Andrea Evans has died at the age of 66.

Evans, best known for playing Tina Lord in the iconic US sitcom, One Life to Live, had breast cancer, according to People magazine.

Both her former manager, Don Carroll and current manager Nick Leicht confirmed her death, with the latter telling the outlet, “I’ve been working with Andrea for the past 7 years. She was such a tremendous talent and an absolute joy to work with.”

Evans first rose to fame in 1979, earning a Daytime Emmy nomination for her role in One Life to Live. In 1981, she said goodbye to the show for a short four years going on to play Patty Williams in The Young and the Restless before returning to her original role in 1985.

Andrea Evans (left) and Erika Slezak on the set of One Life to Live. Photo / Getty Images"

Unfortunately in 1990, Evans made the decision to take an extended break from her life in the spotlight because of a violent stalker. Years later in 2008, she told People magazine, the final straw came when the man was seen outside of the Secretary of State’s office, carrying a picture of Evans and a meat cleaver.

The fear “forever changed me”, she told the magazine adding, “There’s no way it could not.”

Other terrifying moments she endured as a result of the stalker included being accosted in the lobby of the One Life to Live studio and receiving death threats written in his blood.

After hiring a security team and disappearing for almost 20 years, the actress returned to the career-defining TV show for an appearance in 2008 and again in 2011.

She told ABC Radio at the time, “No matter what show I went to, no matter what other work I did or even in my own personal life, people want me to come back to One Life To Live, and at some point, I had to honour their wishes.”

Despite knowing the character inside and out, she confessed she was “a little nervous” to play Tina again. “The minute I walked into the building and I got into costume,” she said, “it just slipped on like an old comfortable glove.”

Evans’ other well-known TV roles included Rebecca Hotchkiss on Passions and Patty Walker on The Bay and The Bold and the Beautiful.

The actress is survived by her husband Steve Rodriguez and their daughter.