Robyn Bernard, who played Terry Brock on “General Hospital” for 16 years and also acted in France, died Tuesday in San Jacinto, Calif. She was 64.
The Riverside County Sheriff’s department confirmed her death Wednesday and said they found Bernard in an open field behind a business. Cause of death has not been revealed and local detectives are investigating.
Bernard, born May 26, 1959, in Gladewater, Texas, was drawn to performance from a young age. She got her start singing gospel songs with her younger sister Crystal, who went on to star on the 1990 sitcom “Wings.” Bernard was credited as Bernard Robin for her first credited role in Jean-Jacques Beneix’s stylish 1981 French hit “Diva.”
She would go on to guest star on shows such as “Whiz Kids,” “The Facts of Life” and “Simon and Simon.”
Bernard started on “General Hospital” in September 1984. During her time on the drama series, which holds the record for the longest running American soap opera in production, she played feisty Terry Brock, aka Terry O’Connor. Her character would develop a drinking problem that crippled her music career. She exited the show in March 1990 when Terry landed a recording deal and left the town of Port Charles.
While still working on “General Hospital,” Bernard reunited with Beneix for a small role in his 1986 French romance “Betty Blue,” which would go on to score a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and a BAFTA.
After her days on “General Hospital,” Bernard worked infrequently as an actor, appearing in the French miniseries “Maigret” in 1992 and in a Gallic film entitled “Kings for a Day” in 1997. Her final role was as a psychologist in the 2002 film “Voices from High School.”
Bernard is survived by her sisters Crystal and Scarlett as well as her father Jerry Wayne Bernard.