Marise Wipani has passed away.
The Hercules star died June 6, which marked her 61st birthday, according to a post on her Facebook page. No cause of death was given.
The post noted that the New Zealand-born actress was “surrounded by family and friends” at the time of her passing, and included a message in which she quoted the 1989 film Driving Miss Daisy.
“I have shuffled off this mortal coil,” the message read. “Good byyye, good luuuck, good God!!!”
Wipani first entered the spotlight as a contestant in the Miss New Zealand pageant in 1983, and while she ultimately finished as the runner-up, she later expressed relief to have been defeated by Lorraine Downes, who went on to win that year’s Miss Universe competition.
“It would have been my worst nightmare,” she said in a June 2011 interview with The New Zealand Herald. “I dodged a bullet… Seriously, it’s just not my cup of tea.”
