Andrea Evans, Beloved Vet of One Life to Live and Bold & Beautiful, Dead at 66
Richard Simms
Monday, July 10th, 2023
Paul Skipper/JPI; Sean Smith/JPI; ABC courtesy of Getty Images; CBS courtesy of Getty Images
Daytime lost another of its most iconic performers with the tragic news that Andrea Evans — best known for her stint as One Life to Live troublemaker Tina Lord — has passed away. The actress was only 66 years old when she took her last breath on July 9 after a bout with cancer.
The Illinois native first caught our attention when she appeared in the 1978 horror flick The Fury. But soap audiences fell hard for the fiery-haired beauty when she was cast as One Life to Live‘s Tina Lord. Almost immediately upon the character’s introduction, Tina — and her portrayer — became fan favorites. Although Evans was written out a few months after her arrival, the show quickly brought her back, revealing Tina to be the secret sibling of the show’s leading heroine, Victoria Lord.
In 1981, Evans left the Llanview-set sudser to join The Young and the Restless, where she played Paul Williams’ younger sister, Patty, who would eventually attempt to murder Jack Abbott upon discovering his infidelity.
But by 1985, Evans was back in Llanview — following several unsuccessful attempts at recasting the role she’d created. And although Tina would have other loves and lovers, it was the pairing of Evans with John Loprieno’s Cord which truly captured the heart of viewers.
It was at perhaps the height of her fame — shortly after securing a Daytime Emmy nomination in 1988 — that Evans would suddenly quit One Life to Live and essentially vanish from the public eye for nearly a decade. In a soap-worthy twist, she would later reveal that the true reason she’d given up her calling was because of a stalker.
Fortunately for her devoted fans, daytime was not ready to say farewell to Evans. She would go on to play one troublemaker (Bold & Beautiful‘s tawdry Tawny) after another (Passions‘ risqué Rebecca). But there was always a draw to Llanview, both for Evans and her fans, so in the summer of 2008 — even as she was appearing in the final episodes of Passions — she returned to One Life to Live.
“The timing is right,” she said in a statement released at that time. “I’m thrilled to be returning to the role of Tina, which I’ve always held near and dear to my heart. I’m looking forward to working once again with all my friends and ‘family’ at One Life to Live.”
Even as we mourn the loss of the much-loved actress, there is at least one bright star on the horizon: She reportedly completed work on her memoir, which will be released in the near future. She is survived by her husband, Steve, and daughter, Kylie.
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Disney General Entertainment Content/Getty Images (2), Sean Smith/JPI, Howard Wise/JP
