“All my Children” star Paul Avery and his wife, Sheila, tragically died in a devastating house fire in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
According to WFMZ, the actor, who was 81, and his wife were inside their Blairstown, New Jersey home when it went up in flames.
Firefighters got the residence before 1 a.m. on Tuesday and pulled the couple out of the engulfed house.
However, Paul and Sheila were in critical condition and died shortly after, per Ridge View Echo.
At the time of his death, Paul was the founder and executive editor of the Ridge View Echo.
Paul’s friend and writer at the paper, 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 Paul’s passing will “leave a real void in this community.”
“Not just Blairstown, but the towns around as well,” Phalon expressed. “I think we’ll really miss him, and I think it’s going to become more apparent over time.”
The cause of the blaze is currently under investigation.
The pair’s daughter, Kyle, took to Facebook to confirm the news on Tuesday.
“I’m devastated to share that our parents, Paul and Sheila Garry Avery, passed away early this morning,” she penned.
“We loved them so much, and they loved us so much, and nobody ever had to wonder if that was so,” Kyle added.
As a teen, Paul was a skydiver before serving as a helicopter crew chief in the Vietnam war. He continued to fly planes as a hobby after exiting the military.
Paul starred on the soap opera “All My Children” for twelve years in the 1980s.
He portrayed a bartender at Foxy’s named Hughie.
Paul also played a cameraman in 1978’s “Superman” and appeared on episodes of “Soap” and “Three’s Company.”
After retiring from acting, the late vetern dove into journalism, first working at The New York Times before landing as founding editor of Ridge View Echo.
According to Soap Opera Digest, Paul became his wife’s full-time caregiver in 2018 after she suffered a stroke.
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