Actor known for her role on Avonlea

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TORONTO -- Actress Jackie Burroughs, best known for her role as schoolteacher Hetty King on popular television series Road to Avonlea, has died. She was 71.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 24/09/2010 (5833 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TORONTO — Actress Jackie Burroughs, best known for her role as schoolteacher Hetty King on popular television series Road to Avonlea, has died. She was 71.

The British-born Canadian died in her Toronto home Wednesday afternoon while surrounded by family and friends. She had been suffering from gastric cancer.

“To her fans who are missing her, I would say we are all missing her,” said daughter Zoe Yanovsky.

CP
Jackie Burroughs
CP Jackie Burroughs

“She was an amazing actress and she developed her craft and took it very seriously and was also a very real private person with a wonderful life and a family.”

Yanovsky, who is an only child, said her mother was very close to her family, which included a brother and two grandsons.

“She had an incredible life that was so artistic, and generous and kind and interesting,” said the 42-year-old. “She was full of life.”

Goddaughter Maggie Gilmour said Burroughs passed peacefully and wasn’t in any pain in her last moments.

“She was endlessly, boundlessly, generous,” said 32-year-old Gilmour. “And extremely, achingly, painfully, funny.”

Gilmour said Burroughs was actually nothing like the strict schoolmarm she portrayed in Road to Avonlea.

“A week ago, I visited her and she was ill, not feeling well, but she still told me stories and made me laugh,” said Gilmour. “She always made me feel adored.”

Burroughs who appeared on the stage and the screen, made more than 75 feature films and received multiple Genies, Geminis and a Governor General’s award for her work.

Her marriage to Zal Yanovsky, a founding member of musical group The Loving Spoonful, ended soon after their daughter was born. Until recently Burroughs divided her time between a home in Mexico and an apartment in Toronto.

 

— The Canadian Press

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