Elizabeth Hubbard has died at age 89.
The soap actress’s son shared the news of her death in a Facebook post on Monday morning. “I’m sorry to say with a broken heart mi mum passed over the weekend,” Jeremy Bennett wrote alongside a photo of Hubbard.
“Thank you for being an unmovable rock that guided me through life,” he connected. “I will try to honour your memory for as long as I live. Love & Prayers. Jeremy”
No immediate cause of death was shared. In the wake of Hubbard’s passing, her TV daughter Martha Byrne shared a heartfelt tribute on Instagram. “As many of you are finding out this morning, Elizabeth Hubbard passed away. First and foremost I want everyone to know I made sure she was aware of how much everyone loved her. I would share your comments from social media, videos and your fond memories of her as Lucinda, Althea, every time I saw her,” wrote Byrne, who worked with Hubbard on As the World Turns.
“She loved the audience and fought like HELL to bring truth and honesty to her performances. On a personal level there aren’t words to describe how much she meant to me. Only feelings, which override words in so many cases when it comes to love,” she continued. “I will be sharing more so we can all grieve together but here are our last words together only just a few days ago. I said, ‘Liz, do you know how much you have done for me?’ She said, ‘You can do more.’ Because of what she has done for me over the last 38 years, the strength and fearless nature in how she lived her life, she is right, I can AND WILL do more.”
Byrne added, “I look forward to sharing more about her life, which encompasses so much more than her INCREDIBLE career on daytime television. She also said to me when I told her how much the fans loved her… ‘I tried.’ She more than tried. She left it all on the screen. I’ll miss her every day but grateful the universe gifted me with such a force of nature, of which the world will not see the likes of again. ”
Hubbard was best known for her role as Dr. Althea Davis on the drama series The Doctors, which aired between 1964 and 1982. She appeared in a whopping 2741 episodes of the show.
She’s also known for playing Lucinda Walsh in As the World Turns, which aired from 1975 to 2010. She appeared in 1975 episodes of the show.
Her last on-screen appearance was on the soap series Anacostia, playing Eva Montgomery in nine episodes airing between 2015 and 2018.
For her success in the daytime television world, Hubbard garnered 11 Daytime Emmy nominations. She won the Daytime Emmy for Best Actress in Daytime Drama in 1974 for her role as Dr. Althea Davis. She also won the Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Special Emmy in 1967 for her role in First Ladies Diaries: Edith Wilson.
In 2015, Hubbard was awarded a lifetime achievement award by Gold Derby. She also accumulated 11 Soap Opera Digest awards nominations, though she did not win in any categories.
Giving one of her last formal interviews to Soap Opera Digest in 2015, Hubbard spoke lovingly of her dedicated fanbase.
“I love them and I mean that. They’re in my heart… let the fans know that I love them and honor them and I still look at the poems I sent them,” she said. “I’ve dated many men in my life, but my secret love affair is with the fans.”
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