Paul Avery, a character actor whose credits included the television soap opera "All My Children" and the 1978 blockbuster "Superman," died early Tuesday alongside his wife, Sheila, after a fire tore through their home in Blairstown, New Jersey.
New Jersey State Police were called to the couple's home just before 1 a.m. following reports of a residential structure fire with possible entrapment, according to the
Ridge View Echo, a local news outlet that Avery cofounded. Arriving officers found the home completely engulfed in flames, both that outlet and local outlet WFMZ reported.
Firefighters managed to enter the structure and pull the couple out alive, but they were in critical condition. Crews administered CPR on scene, and a medevac helicopter was placed on standby as the fire was brought under control at 1:03 a.m., but neither survived.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation, and no additional details have been released.
The couple's daughter, Kyle Avery, confirmed the deaths in a statement
posted to Facebook on Tuesday. "I'm devastated to share that our parents, Paul and Sheila Garry Avery, passed away early this morning," she wrote. "We loved them so much, and they loved us so much, and nobody ever had to wonder if that was so. We're grateful to the Blairstown Fire Department for their efforts. Service plans to follow.”
Beyond his acting work—which also included appearances on the television series "Soap," according to his IMDb
biography—Paul Avery was a well-known figure in the Blairstown community. He served as a township committeeman, founded and edited the Ridge View Echo, belonged to the local Rotary Club, and was a Vietnam veteran. Friends called him "the real most interesting man in the world.”
Joe Phalon, a colleague at the Ridge View Echo, said the description was well earned. "I always like to call Paul the most interesting man in the world, because he was when you consider everything he's done in his life. Acting, skydiving, Vietnam veteran, started a newspaper," Phalon said in an interview with local outlet
WFMZ.
On weekends, Avery could often be found at Blairstown Airport behind the controls of a glider. Kevin Martin, who owns and operates Jersey Ridge Soaring at the airport, said Avery took to the hobby with ease. "He was a powered pilot previously, so he held some ratings, and so when he came to gliders it was, he was pretty much a natural pilot," Martin told the outlet. "It's going to take a while to get used to not having him here, because it was almost like okay, it's the weekend, we expect to see Paul," Martin added.
In recent years, Avery has devoted much of his time to caring for his wife while remaining active in the community.
