'All My Children' Actor Paul Avery Dead: Soap Opera Star Dies in House Fire Alongside Wife — As Couple's Daughter Cries 'I'm Devastated'

Paul Avery, best known for his work on the iconic soap opera, All My Children, has died, RadarOnline.com can reveal.

The actor reportedly died alongside his wife, Sheila, in a fire inside their home in Blairstown, New Jersey.

According to reports, Avery and his wife were found in critical condition by firefighters in the early morning of Tuesday, June 16. While CPR is said to have been administered, the pair died.

The cause of the fire has yet to be determined.

The couple's daughter, Kyle, confirmed the tragic news on Facebook, with a heartbreaking statement, as she said, "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," she concluded.

Following their deaths, Avery's pal, Joe Phalon, who works at the Ridge View Echo, the community paper the star founded, mourned, "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, "His death is going to leave a real void in this community. Not just Blairstown, but the towns around as well. I think we’ll really miss him, and I think it’s going to become more apparent over time."

Fans on social media also reacted, as one person grieved, "Such tragic news, may they both rest in eternal peace."

"No words can do this kind of loss justice," another user added, as one said, "I'm so sorry to hear this devastating news."

Avery played Hughie the bartender on All My Children, which ran for 25 seasons until its final episode in 2011. He also appeared in one episode of the popular sitcom Three's Company and had an uncredited role as a TV cameraman in the iconic 1978 film, Superman.

The actor also appeared in over 300 commercials, and in 2023, he remembered some of the more memorable ones in a touching interview with his own paper.

"I made two commercials for Odor Eaters," he said at the time. "In one, I was sitting on a couch with my stockinged feet on the coffee table, green fumes rising from my feet, as my acting wife complained to the camera about the smell."

Avery recalled, "In the next, shot several years later, I was a mailman in the locker room taking off my shoes, and the guy sitting on the bench next to me passes out. Commercials were lots of fun, always something new and different."

For his role on Superman, Avery only had one line after Superman flies above him: "What the hell's that?" During the awards season, Avery recalled one of his friends, a screenwriter, had made a makeshift Oscar just for him for the "Best Performance by an Actor of Two Lines or Under."