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Marnie Schulenburg, known for her roles on “One Life to Live” and “As the World Turns,” has died just days ahead of her 38th birthday.
The news comes after Marnie was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer in 2020. Her rep Kyle Luker of Industry Entertainment told The Hollywood Reporter that Schulenburg passed away on Tuesday in Bloomfield, New Jersey.
Schulenburg was married to “Succession” actor Zack Robidas, and Variety shared his Facebook post confirming the news. “Please don’t say Marnie lost her battle to cancer,” he wrote. “It’s simply not true. I watched her kick cancer’s ass everyday since diagnosis. She is incredible. We chose to attack her diagnosis with blind optimism. We only talked about the future and continued moving forward. I don’t know if this was right but it’s all we knew how to do.”
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She first shared her diagnosis in May 2020, just five months after their daughter Coda was born.
“It was finally confirmed that I had breast cancer,” Schulenburg wrote on Instagram. “A most insidious kind, Inflammatory Breast Cancer which doesn’t look like typical Breast Cancer, is more aggressive, effects younger women, and disguises itself as a breastfeeding infection… Zack and I vacillate between utter devastation and fierce determination. The narrative of the life we signed on for the day we married will never be the same. Now we must adjust, stay present and f**king fight.”
More recently, she opened up about her health in a Mother’s Day post, writing, “It wasn’t a guarantee that I was going to be home this Mother’s Day. I got released late Friday night but had to be sent home with an oxygen machine.”
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She continued, “It’s not my ideal to be a 38 year old Mom who needs an oxygen tank to survive right now. I want to be strong and beautiful for her. I want to show her how to move throughout this world with compassion, strength, vivacity, humor and joy like my Mother showed me.”
“I know that me being here for her is the best gift I can give her but right now it feels like settling since she’s getting a half-life version of myself. My mother showed up 100% all day everyday for me growing up or at least it seemed that way. I want to give Coda the same but I must be kind to myself and remember that nothing is permanent,” she wrote.
Reflecting on her health battle, she remained hopeful, writing, “On May 8, 2020 I found out I had Breast Cancer and truly thought my life was over. Two years later I’m still here and my chances of sticking around her better each month that goes by. So here’s to remembering that nothing is permanent. To soaking up the imperfections and that the best thing you can do for your child is make them feel loved, safe and supported just like my mother did for me. Screw the oxygen mask, just remember how to breathe.”
Marnie was most famous for her roles as Alison Stewart on “As the World Turns” (2006-2010) and Jo Sullivan on “One Life to Live” (2013). She will also appear on the next season of Showtime’s “City on a Hill” in her recurring role as Maggie Caysen, and on an upcoming episode of “Public Service.”
