Telenovela Star Edith Gonzalez Dead at 54 After 3-Year-Long Battle with Cancer
Mexican telenovela actress Edith Gonzalez has died.
The National Association of Actors of Mexico, of which Gonzalez was a member, confirmed her death on Twitter on Thursday morning. She was 54.
Gonzalez’s death comes just three years after she revealed she was diagnosed with cancer in 2016.
Gonzalez shared an Instagram photo of herself lying in a hospital bed and explained that doctors had found “cancerous tissues” in her abdomen.
She said the tissues were removed “in their entirety.”
“I am strong, full of life and working!” Gonzalez added.
According to CNN, Gonzalez suffered from stage four ovarian cancer.
The actress went on to have her ovaries, uterus and lymph nodes removed, according to Entertainment Tonight.
Her cancer entered remission in 2017, CNN reported, but returned this year.
A representative for Gonzalez responded “no comment” to PEOPLE.
Throughout her cancer treatments, Gonzalez remained hopeful, explaining in a 2017 interview with Hola! magazine, “I am not a warrior, I am a lover of life.”
Born in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico, Gonzalez began her acting career in the late 1970s.
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She is most known for her lead role as Monica in the 1993 telenovela series, Corazón Salvaje. She has also starred in Mujer de Madera, Doña Barbara, Palabra de Mujer, Las Bravo and Eva la Trailera.
She most recently served as a judge of the Mexican reality show This Is My Style.
Gonzalez is survived by her husband Lorenzo Lazo and her 14-year-old daughter Constanza from a previous relationship.
A photo posted to Gonzalez’s Instagram page on Thursday shows herself and Constanza smiling widely.
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Since news of her death broke, a number of her fans have expressed their sympathy on Twitter.
“So sad. Growing up in a Mexican household it’s almost impossible to not see a telenovela in the background. Even as a child I noticed Edith Gonzalez always played strong, badass female characters and NOT the damsel in distress trope which infested the genre. RIP, Queen,” one fan wrote.
“I am deeply saddened to hear that Edith Gonzalez has passed away at such a young age due to cancer,” another fan tweeted.
