'General Hospital' star Sonya Eddy passes away at 55

"I am heartbroken about the loss of the incredible Sonya Eddy. I truly loved her not only as an actress but as a friend. The lights in the hub of the nurse's station will now be a little dimmer, but her spirit and light will live on in both the show and our set. On behalf of the entire GH cast and crew, we send our deepest sympathy to her family, friends and fans. She will be very missed." Frank Valentini, "General Hospital" executive producer, said in a statement quoted in a report by Variety.

According to Variety, a US-based news outlet, Eddy joined the long-running hospital drama in 2006 as the frank, no-nonsense nurse, and played the role for 543 episodes, appearing as recently as this past October. The mother of Stan Johnson (Kiko Ellsworth), who was killed off from the show in 2007 after a mob hit, the character worked as a chief nurse and a nurse. Eddy was a registered practical nurse in real life as well.

"She left an indelible imprint in every person that she touched, through the screen and off," Tyler Ford, her producing partner at Eddy Ford Entertainment, said in a statement quoted in a report by Variety.

She was born on June 17, 1967, in Concord, California, and started acting in college while studying dance and theatre at the University of California, Davis. Although she started acting in 1990 with Ruby Dee's production "Zora Is My Name," she earned her bachelor of arts degree in 1992. Among Eddy's additional stage performances are "The Comedy of Errors," "Into the Woods," as The Witch, and "South Pacific," as Bloody Mary.

Her television career has included appearances on sitcoms like 'Married... With Children,' 'The Drew Carey Show,' 'Murphy Brown,' 'Seinfeld,' 'Home Improvement,' and a regular part in 'Joan of Arcadia.' Eddy not only played Epiphany Johnson on 'General Hospital,' where she had a long-running role, but she also portrayed the character in the show's short-lived primetime spinoff, 'General Hospital: Night Shift.' (ANI)