Actor Paul Avery and wife die in New Jersey house fire

A blaze at a Mohican Road home in Blairstown Township killed actor Paul Avery and his wife, Sheila Garry Avery, before dawn, ending the life of a man known both on screen and in his own community. Avery was 81. Their son, Kyle Avery, confirmed the deaths on Facebook and thanked the Blairstown Fire Department for its efforts.

New Jersey State Police and the Blairstown Fire Department responded shortly after 12:38 a.m. Tuesday to the fire in Warren County. The blaze was declared under control at 1:03 a.m. The couple were found unconscious inside the home, and despite CPR attempts after firefighters rescued them, both died shortly afterward. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Paul Avery’s public profile stretched well beyond a single role. He was best known for playing Hughie, the bartender at Foxy’s, on All My Children for about 12 years, and he also appeared in the 1978 film Superman as a TV cameraman. His television credits included Three’s Company, Soap, Tales from the Darkside and ABC Weekend Specials, roles that placed him in some of the most familiar corners of American screen history.

Outside entertainment, Avery was a Vietnam veteran, journalist and pilot who also served as a former Blairstown committeeman. He founded and served as executive editor of the Ridge View Echo, where colleagues said he remained a force in local civic life. Joe Phalon, a writer at the Ridge View Echo, called Avery “the most interesting man in the world” and said his death would leave “a real void” in Blairstown and surrounding towns.

The loss hit as an ordinary domestic fire became a public tragedy, the kind that strips away celebrity and leaves only urgency, grief and questions. Family members said funeral or service plans had not yet been announced. In Blairstown, the home on Mohican Road now stands as the center of a broader reckoning about how quickly a house fire can overwhelm a family, even one known to so many people.