Leslie Charleson, General Hospital’s Monica Quartermaine, dies at 79

Soap opera icon Leslie Charleson, who played Monica Quartermaine on “General Hospital” for decades, 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,” announced “General Hospital” executive producer Frank Valentini. “Her lasting legacy spans nearly 50 years on ‘General Hospital’ alone and just as Monica was the heart of the Quartermaines, Leslie was a beloved matriarch to the entire cast and crew. I will miss our daily conversations, her quick wit and incredible presence on set. On behalf of everyone at ‘General Hospital,’ my sincere condolences go out to her loved ones during this difficult time.”

The beloved actress, who joined the soap in 1977, has had some health issues in recent years, limiting her time on the ABC soap, which she hasn’t appeared on since December 2023. In recent years, Charleson has fallen several times, preventing her from attending. Although it hindered her mobility and caused her to need a walker, it never made her despondent. Charleson was hospitalized last week after such a fall.

The Kansas City native began her long career in daytime television in 1964 when she was just 19 on 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 found herself 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 era, including “The Rockford Files,” “The Wild West,” “The Streets of San Francisco,” “Marcus Welby, MD,” “Mannix” , “Ironside” and “Happy Days,” in which she played divorcee 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 co-starred with fellow soap stars Deidre Hall (‘Days of Our Lives’) and Colleen Zenk (‘As the World Turns’ ). ) in the 1993 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 always joked that she wasn’t welcomed with open arms by many of the cast and crew, who were angry that her predecessor took the big hit. However, her humor soon convinced them.

During her forty-plus years on “General Hospital,” Charleson’s Monica has been part of one of daytime’s biggest and most popular love triangles (Rick/Monica/Alan), and has given audiences doses of comedy (she had a penchant for punching people and was as a member of the super-rich, perpetually quarrelsome and dysfunctional Quartermaine family) and drama (including surviving breast cancer and losing 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 released from contract and reduced to recurring status in 2010, which was protested by her fans and fans of the show. In 2017, Charleson tripped while walking her dog and injured her leg, resulting in her being replaced on the show by one-time child star Patty McCormack for two months while she recovered. Several years later she fell again and was redeployed again for one day. Last October it was announced that Charleson was unlikely to return. However, Monica is still mentioned in the storyline when the Quartermaines are gathered – she is referred to as being upstairs in their mansion.

I knew Leslie personally. Very good, actually. She was a very good friend to me. No one was more kind, cheerful, loyal and generous. I remember the times when she would let her tortoise wander around her lush backyard in her beautiful home and then disappear into the bushes; when we sat in the kitchen corner gossiping; when I teased her about her love for Elvis Presley and the Eagles. She was a good laugh, she was. It was deep and seemed to work its way up from her feet. And there were the things she loved most, like her horse and “General Hospital.” She loved the show and was part of its legacy. And the fans – she loved them with all her heart. I hope she knows how much she was loved… and how much she will be missed.