“The Young and the Restless” Star Marla Adams Dead at 85

Adams played Dina Abbott Mergeron on the soap opera

Marla Adams, known for her role as Dina Abbott Mergeron on The Young and the Restless is dead. She was 85.

Adams died on Thursday, April 25, in Los Angeles, PEOPLE confirms. A cause of death has not been announced.

In a statement shared with PEOPLE, Josh Griffith, the executive producer and head writer for The Young and the Restless, remembered Adams as someone who left an "unforgettable mark" on the soap opera.

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"On behalf of the entire company of The Young and the Restless, we send our deepest sympathies to Marla’s family. We’re so grateful and in awe of Marla’s incredible performance as Dina Mergeron as both Marla and Dina made an unforgettable mark on Y&R," his statement read.

Long before joining the cast of The Young and the Restless in 1982 as the Abbott family matriarch, Adams began competing in pageants.

Born on Aug. 28, 1938, in Ocean City, New Jersey, Adams achieved many titles, including Miss Ocean City and Miss Cape May.

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Apart from finishing as a runner-up in the Miss New Jersey pageant, she was also honored as the Miss Diamond Jubilee Queen during the 1954 celebration of the 75th anniversary of Ocean City’s founding.

Adams began venturing into acting as a student at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Some of her early roles included appearing on Broadway in the 1958 production of The Visit and starring as June in the 1961 feature film Splendor in the Grass.

She starred as Belle Clemens on The Secret Storm from 1968 to 1974 and appeared in more than 40 television and film productions, including The Golden Girls, Hart to Hart, The Love Boat, The Bold and the Beautiful, Days of Our Lives, Generations, and Capitol.

Having appeared on and off in her role on The Young and the Restless for years, she returned full-time to the series in 2017. Her work earned a Daytime Emmy Award in 2021, after having been previously nominated in 2018.

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Adams is survived by her daughter, Pam Oates; her son, Gunnar Garat; grandchildren, Gefjon and Stone; and her great-grandson, Remi.

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