Joan Benedict, a renowned actress best known for her role as Edith Fairchild in the US daytime soap ‘General Hospital’, has passed away at the age of 96.

The star died of stroke-related complications on June 24th at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, according to a family spokesperson. Benedict’s acting credits extend well beyond ‘General Hospital’.

She graced other US soaps like ‘Days of Our Lives’ and ‘Capitol’, proved her comedic chops in variety shows such as ‘The Steve Allen Show’, and played a lost tourist in the original ‘Candid Camera’.

Fans will also recognise her from appearances in TV hits like ‘The Incredible Hulk’, ‘Fantasy Island’, ‘The Smith Family’, and ‘Apple’s Way’. In her personal life, Benedict was wed twice; first to ‘How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying’ actor John Myhers from 1962 until his death in 1992, and later to Rod Steiger, star of ‘On the Waterfront’ and an Academy Award winner for ‘In the Heat of the Night’.

After Steiger’s passing in 2002, she entered a partnership with actor Jeremy Slate until his death in 2006. Reflecting on these relationships in a 2016 interview, Joan revealed: “Strangely, I met all three of these men when I was in New York, just beginning my career while I was still a teenager.”

She went on to sing their praises, adding: “Both of my husbands, and my lifetime partner Jeremy, were wonderful men who respected me as an actress. They all died from different forms of cancer, so my memories are sometimes bittersweet, but with no regrets.”

Joan, shared the screen with Rod in the 2001 film ‘A Month of Sundays’, which was one of his final film roles. The news comes after Joan’s General Hospital co-star Doug Sheehan died aged 75, with his wife by his side