Paul Avery and his wife Sheila have both been confirmed dead, after a fire ripped through their New Jersey home
Sam Huntley Senior Showbiz & TV Reporter, Jess Phillips Deputy Editor of Screen Time and Adam Care
16:00, 19 Jun 2026Updated 16:33, 19 Jun 2026
Actor Paul and his wife Sheila have died in a tragic house fire – leaving their daughter “devastated”(Image: Facebook)
One of the stars of a popular American soap has died alongside his wife in a house fire.
Paul Avery and his wife Shelia died at their property in Blairstown, New Jersey, in the early hours of Tuesday morning (June 16). He was best known for playing Foxy’s bartender Hughie in the US soap opera All My Children, a role he played for 12 years.
He also appeared in the 1978 Superman film, and shows such as Tales from the Darkside. The New Jersey State Police was called to the property to find the house engulfed in flames.
Paul and Sheila were found unconscious, and firefighters performed CPR – but both sadly died shortly after.
Paul Avery played bartender Hughie in All My Children for over a decade(Image: IMDb)
They daughter Kyle Avery has confirmed their death in a heartbreaking post on Facebook. She wrote: “I’m devastated to share that our parents, Paul and Sheila Garry Avery, passed away early this morning.
“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.”
The Ridge View Echo, the newspaper founded by soap star Paul, also reported the devastating news. An investigation into the cause of the blaze is currently underway, reports the Daily Star.
During his career, Paul also starred in the 1978 Superman film, along with shows like Soap, Three’s Company, and Tales from the Darkside,
Paul also worked as a journalist, writing film reviews for the New Jersey Herald and working as a reporter for the Gazette in Hackettstown. He later became founding executive editor of the Ridge View Echo.
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Tributes have flooded in for the pair, with Paul’s colleague at the Ridge View Echo Joe Phalon saying: “I got a call saying what happened, and I just couldn’t believe it.
“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.”
Blairstown local Kevin Martin, who worked at the local glider company, told WFMZ: “It’s going to take a while to get used to not having him here, because it was almost like, ‘OK, it’s the weekend, we expect to see Paul.’
“He was a powered pilot previously, so he held some ratings, and so when he came to gliders, he was pretty much a natural pilot.”