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Soap opera star Marj Dusay dead at 83

Actress Marj Dusay, known for her work on “Guiding Light” and four other soap operas as well her role in the 1977 movie “MacArthur,” died Tuesday. She was 83.

Dusay’s death was announced on Facebook by her stepdaughter, Elizabeth Perine.

“She was quite a woman and had quite a grand life,” Perine wrote. “She was deeply loved and will be deeply missed.”

Dusay was born Marjorie Ellen Pivonka Mahoney on Feb. 20, 1936, in Hays, Kansas. She played Alexandra Spaulding on the CBS soap opera, “Guiding Light,” full time from 1993 to 2009, according to Entertainment Weekly. She also appeared as Vanessa Bennett Hayward Cortlandt on “All My Children" and as a temporary replacement as Vivian Alamain on “Days of Our Lives” in 1993.

Dusay also played Myrna Clegg on “Capitol” in 1983 and had the role of Pamela Capwell Conrad on “Santa Barbara,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Dusay appeared in several television shows, playing several diverse roles. She played an alien who stole Spock’s brain on “Star Trek" in September 1968 and was Blair Warner’s mother on “The Facts of Life." Dusay also appeared on “The Wild, Wild West,” “Bonanza,” Hawaii Five-O," “Medical Center” and “Hogan’s Heroes.”

She made her film debut with 1967′s “Clambake,” starring Elvis Presley and played Gregory Peck’s wife in the 1977 film, “MacArthur.”