RIP Elizabeth Hubbard

 

ELIZABETH HUBBARD PASSES AWAY AT 89 

Soap Opera Digest

April 10, 2023

 

Beloved daytime vet Elizabeth Hubbard has passed away at the age of 89. Her son, Jeremy Bennett, posted the news on Facebook, writing, “I’m sorry to say with a broken heart my mum passed over the weekend. Thank you for being an unmovable rock that guided me through life. I will try to honour your memory for as long as I live.” Born in New York City on August 22, 1933, the actress earned a degree in philosophy from Radcliffe College (the women’s college of Harvard University) ad graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London, England, earning the school’s prestigious silver medal. She began her soap career in 1962, playing Anne Benedict Fletcher, then joined EDGE OF NIGHT in 1963 as Carol Kramer. From 1964-69, 1970-78 and 1981-82, she became a fan favorite as Althea Davis on THE DOCTORS, a role for which she earned the very first Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in 1974. Following the cancellation of THE DOCTORS, she did a 1983-84 stint on ONE LIFE TO LIVE as Estelle Chadwick, then was tapped by AS THE WORLD TURNS to play Lucinda Walsh, a role she held from 1984 through the series’ finale in 2010. In her final interview with Digest in 2015, Hubbard voiced her deep appreciation for her loyal fans, saying, “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. I’ve dated many men in my life, but my secret love affair is with the fans.” Hubbard’s on-screen daughter, Martha Byrne (ex-Lily), posted, “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. 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. 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. 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, Elizabeth (Elizabeth Wright Hubbard)

Born: 12/22/1933, New York City, New York, U.S.A.

Died: 4/8/2023, Roxbury, Connecticut, U.S.A.

 

Elizabeth Hubbard’s western – actress:

The Virginian (TV) – 1970 (Mary Marshall)