Leslie Charleson, who played Dr. Monica Quartermaine on “General Hospital” for nearly half a century, has died, according to the show’s executive producer, Frank Valentini. She was 79 years old.
“It is with great sadness that I announce the passing of my dear friend and colleague, @lesliecharleson,” he wrote in a thread on X on January 12.
“Her enduring legacy has spanned nearly 50 years at @GeneralHospital alone, and just as Monica was the heart of the Quartermaine family, Leslie was a beloved matriarch to the entire cast and crew,” he continued. “I will miss our daily chats, his quick wit and his incredible presence on set.
“On behalf of everyone at #GeneralHospital, my deepest condolences to your loved ones during this difficult time,” he concluded.
“General Hospital” also shared Valentini’s words on its Instagram page.
Charleson appeared in more than 2,000 episodes of the long-running daytime show from 1977 to 2023, according to IMDb. He earned four Daytime Emmy Award nominations for his work on the show. She also played Monica on the “GH” spin-off, “Port Charles.”
One of his first on-screen roles was in a 1966 episode of “As the World Turns.” She soon became a familiar face on the small screen, appearing in the cast of the CBS soap opera “Love Is a Many Splendored Thing” and landing roles on shows such as “The Wild Wild West,” “Mannix,” “Adam-12 “. ”, “Emergency!”, “Medical Center”, “Happy Days” and “The Streets of San Francisco”.
She joined “GH” in 1977 to replace Patsy Rahn as Monica, but things got off to a rocky start.
“I started the show the day Elvis Presley died and, because I’m a big fan, of course I was very angry when I drove to the studios and when I got there they told me that they hoped I had brought my own costumes and makeup because there was no strike , and that was before I even entered the building,” he told Soap Opera Digest in 2022.
“Then I walked into the building and realized that no one really liked me, because the girl who played Monica before me was fired very rudely.”
Charleson became a staple of “General Hospital,” with the roller-coaster marriage of Monica and Alan, played by the late Stuart Damon, often a centerpiece of the show. Her character also had a well-known story when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in the 1990s.
“It was important, difficult and rewarding, because we all did our homework. “I really wanted to portray it as honestly and realistically as possible,” he said in 2023, according to Soap Opera Digest.
