Lorraine Bayly has died after years of "gruelling" health issues. The Australian actress passed away in her Sydney care home on Saturday morning aged 89. Lorraine's friend Craig Bennett paid tribute to the "showbiz legend" in a post on Facebook, writing: "Sad to say we’ve lost another showbiz legend, a bona fide star of stage and screen, a triple Logie winning TV treasure and beautiful friend to many.

"Her much-loved nephew Brad Connelly and his wife Janelle called with the news, and asked me, as a close friend, to make the announcement on behalf of the family. Lorraine had enjoyed a stellar 62-year career on stage and screen, until her retirement 10 years ago. She told me [that], as a kid growing up in Narrandera, she’d sing and dance around draped in the curtains."

Craig added that Lorraine battled serious health conditions after she retired from acting.

He added: "After years of gruelling health issues, she’s now free and off onto her next wild adventure. Big block of chocolate in hand! LB was a self-confessed chocoholic!"

Lorraine was best known for playing matriarch Grace Sullivan in Nine's drama The Sullivans, portraying the role from 1976 to 1979.

She also starred as solicitor Jennifer Carson in Carson's Law from 1982 to 1984, as well as the character Faye Hudson in Australian soap Neighbours between 1991 and 1992.

The soap star won two Silver Logies in 1978 and 1979 for Most Popular Actress in The Sullivans and again for Carson's Law in 1983. In 2021, Lorraine opened up about the health issues she endured over the previous two years. She was diagnosed with pneumonia in 2018 which caused her lung to partially collapse.

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After recovering, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a mastectomy.

She completed cancer treatment, but spent the following months isolating at her home during the Covid-19 pandemic.

"I've spent the past two-and-a-half years going from one illness to another," she said at the time. "You look at the little kids on television who are fighting cancer and all sorts of problems... They're the ones my heart breaks for."

Lorraine trained at Sydney’s Ensemble Theatre in the 1950s before making her TV debut on The Bobby Limb Show in 1962.

"In 1966 she became an original presenter on Play School...and then came an avalanche of stage and screen roles," Craig added in his tribute. "She worked with Kirk Douglas in The Man From Snowy River and Edward Woodward on stage.

"Little-known fact: she hosted her own morning TV show, Clean As You Slim with Lorraine!"

Craig revealed that Lorraine had passed away just a month after her 89th birthday, telling his followers: "She loved spending time with Brad, Janelle and their kids Laura and Patrick on their macadamia farm at Maclean Ridge.

"Every decade Lorraine would learn something new, from playing tennis to the saxophone, to ballroom dancing!"

He concluded the post by describing Lorraine as the "most kind, remarkable and beautiful person".