Actress Susan Lucci’s husband, Helmut Huber, has died. He was 84.
“Helmut’s passing is a tremendous loss for all who knew and loved him. He was an extraordinary husband, father, grandfather, and friend,” a representative for the family told Us Weekly in a statement on Wednesday, March 30. “The family kindly asks for privacy during this incredibly difficult time.”
People was first to report the news, noting that Huber died peacefully in Long Island, New York, on Monday, March 28. The Pine Valley Productions CEO — who wed the All My Children alum in 1969 — is survived by Lucci, 75, their two children and five grandchildren. The twosome shared daughter Liza Huber, 47, and son Andreas Huber, 31. (Liza and husband Alexander George Hesterberg III are the parents of Royce, 16, Brendan, 14, Hayden, 11, and Mason, 9, while Andreas and wife Courtney Velasco share son Wolf, 5.)
Helmut, who eventually became Lucci’s manager, met his wife in 1965 when they both worked at a local Long Island restaurant. The Austria native, who became a U.S. citizen in January 1994, worked as a chef while Lucci served as a waitress. While the Joy actress eventually accepted a proposal from another man in 1968, she broke off her engagement once she realized she had stronger feelings for the restauranteur.
“I was thinking at the time that he was much more attractive than I even knew, and I shouldn’t be feeling like that. Something is wrong with this picture,” the Dallas alum said during a January 2019 interview with Yahoo! Lifestyle. “But I didn’t know what to do with it.”
After a whirlwind three-month romance, Helmut proposed shortly before she joined the cast of All My Children as Erica Kane.
“I feel so lucky too that Helmut is so secure and I always look to him because he’s very smart,” Lucci gushed to Yahoo! Lifestyle. “I’m not even gonna say supportive, it’s so beyond that. It’s involved, it’s hands-on, really there for me.”
Helmut, for his part, added at the time: “And to love somebody like that, [it] doesn’t happen that often. And if it does happen, it’s the most wonderful thing in the world.”
The pair continued to show off their long-lasting marriage via social media through the years.
“Selfie with my handsome husband—looking for the best lighting? Stand in front of a vanity with surround-lit mirror,” the Devious Maids alum captioned a January Instagram photo with her spouse.
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Nearly one month before Helmut’s death, the pair spent a romantic Valentine’s Day together.
“Happy Valentine’s Day! Sending Love from [a] beautiful dinner at Daniel Boulud’s gorgeous iconic Daniel in New York!! 💘💘,” Lucci wrote via Instagram last month, adding a “Celebrate Love” hashtag to her post.
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