Former General Hospital actress Elizabeth MacRae died at age 88 on May 27, 2024. According to a local report, she was reported to have died peacefully at the Highland House Rehabilitation and Healthcare in Fayetteville, North Carolina. MacRae had an illustrious acting career in film and television.
The former General Hospital actress joined the ABC soap opera in a recurring role in the late 1960s. Besides her credit on the show, MacRae also appeared in several other notable television productions. In honor of the actress, here’s a look at her career, personal life, and death.
Elizabeth MacRae’s Early Years
Although born in Columbia, South Carolina, on February 22, 1936, Elizabeth MacRae was raised in Fayetteville, North Carolina. She was born to an attorney father, James C. MacRae, a native of North Carolina, and an Alabama-native mother, Dorothy MacRae (née Hendon). Her family moved to North Carolina when she was 4 to allow her father to open his law practice. However, her parents sent her to Holton-Arms, a Washington, D.C., independent college-preparatory school for girls, to finish High School.
It was while she was at Holton-Arms that she developed a passion for acting. Certain it was a passion she wanted to turn into a career, she went to Atlanta, Georgia, in 1956 upon her graduation from High School. Her journey to the Southeastern state was to audition for director Otto Preminger’s 1957 historical drama film Saint Joan. However, hers wasn’t a fairytale as she failed to land a part. However, she later admitted Otto Preminger encouraged her to continue her quest to be an actor but should seek professional training.
This ultimately led to Elizabeth MacRae moving to New York City in 1956. For two years, MacRae studied at the Herbert Berghof Studio under the training of Uta Hagen. During her time in New York, MacRae didn’t only seek to acquire skills as an actress but also attended painting and drawing classes at Manhattan’s Art Students League. At a younger age, her mother, seeing she had natural artistic talent, advised her to hone it whenever possible. Elizabeth MacRae supported herself financially in New York City by performing in off-Broadway and summer-stock productions, as well as selling her paintings and drawings. She later moved to Los Angeles in the second half of 1958.
Who Did Elizabeth MacRae Play in General Hospital?
Elizabeth MacRae joined the General Hospital cast in 1969 as Meg Bentley. She was recast after Patricia Breslin left the show after her marriage to former National Football League (NFL) team owner Art Modell. However, MacRae was the third person to play the character after actress Jen Shepard briefly played it for about a month in 1967. Shepard was cast as a temporary replacement after Breslin had an emergency appendectomy.
Before MacRae was recast as Meg Bentley, the character’s storyline saw her become a nurse at the General Hospital and move into Port Charles. Meg was in a love triangle between Dr. Noel Clinton, who she was engaged to, and stepdaughter Brooke Bentley Clinton. At the time MacRae joins, Meg Bentley learns she has breast cancer and has a radical mastectomy. She later has a mental breakdown that leads to her being committed to a sanitarium. Elizabeth MacRae, the last actress to play Meg Bentley, exits General Hospital in 1973 after the character dies.
Elizabeth MacRae’s Other Iconic Roles
Elizabeth MacRae joined the cast of the CBS sitcom Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., in 1966. Cast as the title character’s Gomer Pyle (Jim Nabors) girlfriend, Lou-Ann Poovie, her appearance was initially planned as a one-off. However, the producers liked her chemistry with Nabors and upgraded her to a recurring role. She appeared on the show for 15 episodes from 1966 to 1969. MacRae also has recurring roles in Gunsmoke, Days of Our Lives, Guiding Light, and Search for Tomorrow.
Elizabeth MacRae’s Relationships
Elizabeth MacRae was married three times throughout her lifetime. She first married the son of a prominent North Carolina judge, Amos Morehead Stack, Jr., on August 12, 1955. While the circumstances leading to their divorce remain unknown or how long they stayed married, MacRae’s marriage to Stack, Jr. did not last. A decade after her first marriage began, MacRae married her second husband, Nedrick Young, in 1965. The couple stayed married for about three years before Nedrick Young died from an undefined heart condition in 1968.
Elizabeth MacRae married her third husband, Charles Day Halsey, a Wells Fargo executive. Although they married in California, the couple moved back to North Carolina. MacRae and Halsey remained a happy couple until her death on May 27, 2024. Having lived in her childhood neighborhood of Fayetteville, Elizabeth MacRae was inducted into the Fayetteville Hall of Fame in 2023. As the television world mourns Elizabeth MacRae, check out another General Hospital actor, Johnny Wactor, who was killed in a robbery attempt.
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