Meg Bennett, a Daytime Emmy Award-winning soap actress and writer whose credits included Santa Barbara and The Young and the Restless, has died. She was 75.
According to her obituary, Bennett passed away of cancer on April 11.
Bennett played Megan Richardson in 1989 on NBC’s Santa Barbara, a soap centered on the Capwells, a wealthy Californian family. Bennett’s Richardson was an author tasked with writing a biography about C.C. Capwell, the family patriarch. Her character ultimately moved into Capwell’s guesthouse and became deeply involved in his life for a brief period of time.
She went on to portray Julia Newman, the wife of Eric Braeden’s Victor Newman, between 1980 and 2000 on The Young and the Restless. She also appeared on episodes of General Hospital (as Allegra Montenegro), The Paper Chase and Search for Tomorrow.
In addition to her on-screen soap work, Bennett was a prolific soap writer. She wrote several episodes of Y&R from 1983 to 1986, Santa Barbara from 1991-1993 and General Hospital from 1993 to 2011. During her decades-long career, she also wrote for Sunset Beach and Generations. Bennett was nominated for five Daytime Emmy Awards, winning once in 1995 for Outstanding Drama Series Writing Team on General Hospital.
Bennett also notably portrayed Marty Maraschino for over two years in Grease starting in 1972 during its original Broadway run.