'The Young and the Restless' star Marla Adams has died

Paying tribute, ex ecutive producer and head writer Josh Griffith said: "On behalf of the entire company of 'The Young and the Restless', we send our deepest sympathies to Marla's family.

"We're so grateful and in awe of Marla's incredible performance as Dina Mergeron as both Marla and Dina made an unforgettable mark on [the show]."

And a tweet from the soap's official account read: "We send our deepest sympathies to Marla Adams' family.

"We're so grateful and in awe of Marla's incredible performance as Dina Abbott Mergeron as both Marla and Dina made an unforgettable mark on Y+R."

Marla joined the soap in 1982 and returned over the years for guest stints, winning a Daytime Emmy Award in 2021.

A recurring storyline focused on her alter ego's diagnosis with Alzheimer's disease, and the Alzheimer's Association have thanked her for raising awareness of the degenerative condition.

They tweeted: "We are so grateful to Marla for raising Alzheimer's awareness onscreen through her role on The Young and the Restless and offscreen as an #ENDALZ Celebrity Champion (sic)"

Marla made her on-screen debut in Elia Kazan's 'Splendor in the Grass' alongside Natalie Wood and Warren Beatty and went on to star in 'The Secret Storm' as the villainous Belle Clemens.

She also made appearances in TV shows such as Happy Days', 'Matlock', 'The Golden Girls' and 'Who's the Boss'.

The veteran actress is survived by children Gunnar and Pam, grandchildren Gefjon and Stone, and great-grandson Remi.