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.
Ron Howard and Leslie Charleson in a scene from “Happy Days.”
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.
“General Hospital” Quartermaine family: Michael (Chad Duell), Monica (Leslie Charleson), Ned (Wally Kurth), Olivia (Lisa LoCicero), Tracy (Jane Elliott) and Brook Lynn (Amanda Setton)
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.
