Andrea Evans, Soap Opera Star, Dead at 66

TV actress Andrea Evans has died. She was 66.

The soap opera star died after a battle with cancer, according to a statement shared by casting director Don Carroll.

Born in Aurora, Illinois, on June 18, 1957, Evans was cast as an extra in Brian De Palma’s 1978 horror classic The Fury before she became a household name. Following her breakout role as the troublemaking teen Tina Lord on ABC's One Life To Live–for which she earned a Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Ingenue in a Drama Series–she went on to appear in some of the most popular TV soaps in the 1970s and ’80s,

After joining the cast of OLTL, she portrayed Patti Weaver on CBS' The Young and the Restless, as well as Tawny Moore on The Bold and the Beautiful, Rebecca Hotchkiss on NBC’s Passions and Patty Walker on Amazon Prime’s The Bay.

In addition to her extensive 30 years of experience entertaining soap audiences, Evans also appeared in the 2014 TV series DeVanity, for which she won the Indie Series Award for Best Guest Actress in a Drama, the 1994 action-comedy flick A Low Down Dirty Shame and the 2016 TV movie I Know Where Lizzie Is, among many others.

Her acting career wasn't the only part of her that was subject to the spotlight as Evans' personal life became national news after it was revealed that her sudden, decade-long disappearance from acting in the late '80s was the result of a dangerous stalker.

As CBS News previously reported, Evans was playing the role of Tina Clayton on One Life to Live in 1987 when a stalker began showing up on set and went as far as severely injuring himself outside the studios, which led to a hospitalization. While there, he continued to taunt the actress, using her name as his next-of-kin to send her death threats written in blood.

After years of harassment, she left the industry and hid from the public eye.

"All of a sudden, I went from a nice happy-go-lucky life to having regular conversations with the police," Evans told The Associated Press at the time. "This was before people were that aware. There was a great disbelief that here this man was trying to harm me and the police could do nothing about it."

A few years after the incident, Evans' stalker was detained outside the Secretary of State’s office in Washington, D.C., carrying a meat cleaver and a picture of Evans, according to a 2008 People Magazine report. The fear, she admitted, "forever changed me."

Eventually, Evans returned to her rightful place on TV. "It’s time to give the audience what they want. And it’s time for me to get closure on why I left in the first place," she said of her comeback.

Those close to the star also said she remained devoted to animal rescue organizations and cancer treatment and research center City of Hope.

Evans is survived by her husband of 25 years, Steve Rodriguez, their daughter, Kylie Lyn Rodriguez, and her ex-husband Wayne Massey.