Eric Braeden's first soap wife Meg Bennett dead at 75

The Young and the Restless star Meg Bennett has passed away aged 75.

The actor and writer appeared on 52 episodes of The Young and the Restless from 1980–2020.

She played the role of Julia Newman, the first of nine spouses of Eric Braeden’s character, Victor Newman.

She also worked on blockbuster daytime soap operas General Hospital and Santa Barbara.

Her family confirmed her death to the Hollywood Reporter, revealing that Bennett had died after a battle with cancer.

She first rose to stardom playing Marty Maraschino for more than two years during the original Broadway run of Grease, which debuted in 1972.

By 1974, she was playing the character of Liza Walton on CBS’ Search for Tomorrow.

Bennett joined The Young and the Restless in 1980 as Julia Newman.

When her character was written off, she was asked by the show’s creator Bill Bell to stay on as a writer.

Bennett wrote for NBC’s Santa Barbara from 1991 to 1993, and played author Megan Richardson.

She also wrote for ABC’s General Hospital from 1993 to 2011, and played Allegra Montenegro.

Bennett won the Daytime Emmy for her work on General Hospital.

She met her husband of 19 years, Sunset Beach co-creator Robert Guza Jr., on the set of General Hospital, and they were frequent writing partners on soaps.

Bennett is survived by her husband, two stepdaughters, four grandchildren, a brother and a sister.