Leslie Charleson obit

Leslie Charleson, ‘General Hospital’ Icon Who Played Monica Quartermaine, Dies at 79

 

She was not on the list.

Soap Opera icon Leslie Charleson, who for decades played Monica Quartermaine on “General Hospital,” died Sunday morning after a long illness. She was 79.

“It is with a heavy heart that I announce the passing of my dear friend and colleague, Leslie Charleson,” “General Hospital” executive producer Frank Valentini announced. “Her enduring legacy has spanned nearly 50 years on ‘General Hospital’ alone and, just as Monica was the heart of the Quartermaines, Leslie was a beloved matriarch of the entire cast and crew. I will miss our daily chats, her quick wit and incredible presence on set. On behalf of everyone at ‘General Hospital,’ my heartfelt sympathy goes out to her loved ones during this difficult time.”

The beloved actress, who joined the soap in 1977, has had some health ups and downs over the past few years, which has limited her time on the ABC soap, on which she hadn’t appeared since December 2023. In recent years, Charleson suffered several falls that prevented her from getting around. Although it impeded her mobility and resulted in her need for a walker, it never got her spirit down. Charleson was hospitalized last week after one such fall.

The Kansas City native began her long career on daytime television in 1964 when she was just 19 in the short-lived ABC soap opera “A Flame in the Wind.” A few years later she began a three-year run on CBS’ “Love Is a Many Splendored Thing,” where she played Iris Donnelly Garrison, who was in a popular love triangle with characters played by Donna Mills and David Birney. In the 1970s, she guest-starred on many of the best known primetime shows of the time, including “The Rockford Files,” “The Wild West,” “The Streets of San Francisco,” “Marcus Welby, M.D.,” “Mannix,” “Ironside” and “Happy Days,” on which she played divorcée Dorothy Kimber and was the first on-screen kiss for actor-director Ron Howard (who played Richie Cunningham). In 1973, Charleson starred opposite Shelley Winters in the film “The Day of the Dolphin.” She fell in love with the aquatic mammal, and collected dolphins for the rest of her life.

In later years, she guest-starred on “Dharma & Greg,” “Diagnosis: Murder,” “Friends” and starred alongside fellow soap stars Deidre Hall (“Days of Our Lives”) and Colleen Zenk (“As the World Turns”) in the 1993 made-for-television movie “Woman on the Ledge.”

Although her primetime appearances were plentiful, Charleson returned to the world of soap operas in 1977, when she was hired to replace Patsy Rahn as Monica Bard on “General Hospital.” Charleson used to joke that she wasn’t received with open arms by many of the cast and crew, who were upset that her predecessor was given the heave-ho. However, her humor quickly won them over.

During her 40-plus years on “General Hospital,” Charleson’s Monica was part of one of daytime’s biggest and most popular love triangles (Rick/Monica/Alan), has given audiences doses of both comedy (she had a thing for slapping people and was as a member of the super-wealthy, perennially quarrelsome and dysfunctional Quartermaine family) and drama (including surviving breast cancer and the loss of three children) and has been shot and held at gunpoint more than once. Along the way, Charleson earned four Daytime Emmy nominations for outstanding lead actress.

After 30 years on “General Hospital,” Charleson was taken off contract and reduced to recurring status in 2010, which her fans and fans of the show protested. In 2017, Charleson tripped while walking her dog and injured her leg, causing her to be replaced for two months on the show by one-time child star Patty McCormack while she recovered. Several years later, she suffered another fall and was once again recast for a single day. Last October, it was announced that Charleson was unlikely to return. Monica, however, continues to be mentioned in storyline when the Quartermaines are gathered — she’s referred to as being upstairs at their mansion.

I personally knew Leslie. Very well, in fact. She was a very good friend to me. No one was more kind, fun-loving, loyal and generous. I remember times at her beautiful house, when she’d let her turtle wander in her luscious backyard and it would disappear into the bushes; when we’d sit in the kitchen nook and gossip; when I would tease her about her love of Elvis Presley and the Eagles. She was a good laugher, she was. It was deep, and seemed to work its way up from her feet. And there were the things she loved most, such as her horse and “General Hospital.” She loved the show, and being a part of its legacy. And the fans — she loved them with her whole heart. I hope she knows how much she was loved back … and how much she will be missed.

Filmography

Film

Year     Title            Role            Notes

1968    A Lovely Way to Die       Julie            Uncredited

1973    The Day of the Dolphin            Maryanne        

1977            Cheering Section            Locker Girl #2 

Television

Year     Title            Role            Notes

1964    A Flame in the Wind    Pam            Recurring role

1966    As the World Turns            Alice Whipple            Series regular

1967            N.Y.P.D.        Ginger            Episode: "Cruise to Oblivion"

1968    The Wild Wild West    Dooley Sloan            Episode: "The Night of Fire and Brimstone"

1967–1970            Love Is a Many Splendored Thing    Iris Donnelly Garrison            Series regular

1970    Mannix            Marge Lavor   Season 3-Episode 16: "A Chance at the Roses"

1971            Revenge!         Nancy Grover            Television film (ABC)

1972    Adam-12        Kathy Royal            Episode: "The Princess and the Pig"

1972            O'Hara, U.S. Treasury            Helga Kuyper            Episode: "Operation: Deathwatch"

1972    Marcus Welby, M.D.            Lisa Kenny            Episode: "Just a Little Courage"

1972    Search            Nancy Kubica            Episode: "Live Men Tell Tales"

1972    The Rookies            Anne Dawson            Episode: "The Good Die Young"

1972            Emergency!      Christy Todd            Episode: "Women"

1972    Cannon            Katherine 'Kate' Machen            Episode: "Sky Above, Death Below"

1972            Medical Center            Patti            Episode: "Gladiator"

1973            Ironside          Nicky Jameson            Episode: "A Special Person"

1973    The F.B.I.   Ginny Wyatt            Episode: "The Loper Gambit"

1973    Marcus Welby, M.D.            Alice Henley            Episode: "The Circles of Shame"

1973    Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law     Edie Nolan            Episode: "They've Got to Blame Somebody"

1974            Another April  April Weston Moss            Television pilot

1974    Cannon            Joan Stevens            Episode: "The Sounds of Silence"

1974    The Streets of San Francisco            Joanna Randolph Reed            Episode: "Death and the Favored Few"

1975    Kung Fu        Amy Starbuck            Episode: "One Step to Darkness"

1975    Happy Days    Mrs. Dorothy Kimber            Episode: "Get a Job"

1975    Caribe            Claire Grune            Episode: "Murder in Paradise"

1975    Guess Who's Coming to Dinner            Joanna Prentiss            Television pilot

1975            Medical Story  Susan Stewart            Episode: "The God Syndrome"

1975    Cannon            Susan Baylor            Episode: "The Man Who Died Twice"

1975            Barnaby Jones Victoria Norris            Episode: "Honeymoon with Death"

1976    The Streets of San Francisco            Donna Sinclair            Episode: "Underground"

1976    Most Wanted            Lee Herrick            Television pilot

1976    Bert D'Angelo/Superstar                 Episode: "A Concerned Citizen"

1976    Baa Baa Black Sheep   Captain Anne Schaeffer            Episode: "Love and War"

1977            McMillan & Wife            Ginny Lindauer            Episode: "Coffee, Tea, or Cyanide?"

1977    The Rockford Files            Patsy Fossler            Episodes: "To Protect and Serve: Part 1" and "To Protect and Serve: Part 2"

1977–2023            General Hospital            Monica Bard Webber Quartermaine #2        Series regular (1977–2010), recurring cast (2010–2023)

Nominated — Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series (1980, 1982–83, 1995)

Nominated — Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Daytime Drama (1986, 1988, 1990)

Nominated — Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress (1993)

1993    Woman on the Ledge            Rachel            Television film (NBC)

1997            Diagnosis: Murder            Herself            Episode: "Physician, Murder Thyself"

1997–2000            Port Charles Monica Bard Webber Quartermaine #2            Recurring role

2001    Dharma & Greg            Katherine            Episode: "Dharma Does Dallas"

2004    Friends            Herself            Episode: "The One Where the Stripper Cries"

2006    The Return of the Muskrats            Waitress           Short film

2008    General Hospital: Night Shift     Monica Bard Webber Quartermaine #2            Episodes: "Truth and Consequences" and "Past and Presence: Part 2"