Meg Bennett, an accomplished actress and writer known for her work on popular daytime soap operas like “The Young and the Restless,” “General Hospital,” and “Santa Barbara,” has passed away at the age of 75. She died on April 11 following a battle with cancer, her family confirmed.
Bennett’s entertainment career was both diverse and remarkable. She first gained prominence on the Broadway stage, portraying Marty Maraschino in the original 1972 production of “Grease.” By 1974, she transitioned to television, debuting as Liza Walton on CBS’s “Search for Tomorrow,” where she starred alongside Kevin Kline and Morgan Fairchild.
In 1980, Bennett joined the cast of “The Young and the Restless” as Julia Newman, the wife of Victor Newman, played by Eric Braeden. Although her character was eventually written off, the show’s creator, Bill Bell, invited her to stay on as a writer. “I’d been acting on the show for almost two years when this happened, so I knew the characters,” Bennett reflected in a 1985 interview. She continued to make occasional appearances as Julia, most recently in 2020.
Her writing career was equally prolific. Bennett contributed to “Santa Barbara” from 1991 to 1993, where she also played author Megan Richardson, and to “General Hospital” from 1993 until 2011, portraying the villainess Allegra Montenegro. Her writing earned her a Daytime Emmy in 1995 for her work on “General Hospital,” with additional nominations for “The Young and the Restless,” “General Hospital” again in 2000 and 2012, and “The Bold and the Beautiful” in 2003. She also wrote for “Generations” and “Sunset Beach,” winning two Writers Guild of America awards over her career.
Born Helen Margaret Bennett on October 4, 1948, in Pasadena, she was the daughter of Margaret, a psychologist at Pasadena City College. Bennett attended John Muir High School in Pasadena and majored in drama at Northwestern University, where she was classmates with Shelley Long. Her early achievements included being a homecoming queen, a Miss America contestant, a model in Life magazine, and a summer stock performer.
Post-college, Bennett moved to New York in 1970, quickly finding work as a model and appearing off-Broadway in “Godspell” before joining the cast of “Grease.” She also won various prizes on the NBC game show “Three on a Match,” hosted by Bill Cullen.
Reflecting on her dual careers in acting and writing, Bennett once shared, “I’ll admit, acting makes me a little crazy sometimes: You wait to audition. You wait for the part. When you’re writing, you’re in control. I can initiate things on my own when I’m writing.”
Bennett’s survivors include her husband of 19 years, “Sunset Beach” co-creator and nine-time Daytime Emmy winner Robert Guza Jr., whom she met on “General Hospital.” The couple were frequent writing partners on soaps. She also leaves behind two stepdaughters, four grandchildren, and a brother and sister. Together with Guza, she lived in a Beverly Hills home once owned by Boris Karloff and Gregory Peck.
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