Actor Paul Avery, best known for his role in All My Children, and his wife Sheila Avery have died following a house fire in New Jersey. He was 81.
Firefighters responded to their Blairstown, N.J., home early Tuesday morning and found the couple in critical condition, the New Jersey State Police told the Ridge View Echo, a local news organization founded by the late actor.
When troopers responded to the report of a fire in a residential structure with possible entrapment, they found the house completely engulfed in flames, police told the outlet.
Firefighters entered the home just before 1 a.m. local time and rescued the couple in critical condition. They were both treated with CPR but succumbed to their injuries shortly after being rescued, police added.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Global News has reached out to the New Jersey State Police for further comment, but has not received a response.
In a social media post, Avery’s daughter, Kyle Avery, confirmed the news of his parents’ death, writing, “I’m devastated to share that our parents, Paul and Sheila Garry Avery, passed away early this morning. We loved them so much, and they loved us so much, and nobody ever had to wonder if that was so. We’re grateful to the Blairstown Fire Department for their efforts. Service plans to follow.”
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Avery began his acting career in the ’70s. He played a TV cameraman in Christopher Reeve’s Superman in 1978 and Hughie the bartender on All My Children, who was introduced in the series in 1981 and the role was reprised in 1988, according to his IMDB page.
Avery remained in the recurring role for 12 years before his exit from the soap opera, according to Soap Opera Digest.
He also made appearances in Three’s Company, Soap and Tales from the Darkside.
Avery’s friend and employee at the Ridge View Echo, Joe Phalon, told WFMZ, “I always like to call Paul the most interesting man in the world, because he was when you consider everything he’s done in his life. Acting, skydiving, Vietnam veteran, started a newspaper.”
He added that Avery’s death will “leave a real void in this community.”
According to the Ridge View Echo, Avery was a former Blairstown committeeman, newspaper editor, Vietnam veteran and helicopter pilot and spent his Sunday mornings flying gliders from Blairstown Airport.
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