Leslie Charleson joined General Hospital in 1977 to take over a role, Dr Monica Quartermaine, that another actress had started. She played it for the next 46 years. Charleson died on January 12, 2025, after a long illness. She was 79. The show’s executive producer, Frank Valentini, announced her death and called her a beloved matriarch of its cast and crew.
Early career
Charleson was born in Kansas City, Missouri, on February 22, 1945. She began on daytime television in the 1960s and had a leading role in the soap Love Is a Many Splendored Thing. In the 1970s she also worked in prime time, with guest roles in series including Happy Days, before General Hospital offered her the part that would define her career.
Monica Quartermaine
She replaced Patsy Rahn as Monica, a heart surgeon who married into the wealthy and quarrelsome Quartermaine family. Over the decades Monica survived affairs, feuds, a battle with breast cancer and the deaths of family members, and her stormy marriage to Alan Quartermaine, played by Stuart Damon, became central to the show. Charleson appeared in more than 2,000 episodes, received four Daytime Emmy nominations for the role and also played Monica on the spin-off Port Charles. She also made a cameo appearance in an episode of Friends. For much of her run she worked alongside Stuart Damon, Anna Lee and the other actors who played the Quartermaines, one of the longest-serving ensembles in daytime television.
Last years
Charleson made her final appearance on General Hospital in late 2023. ABC confirmed her death to NPR, and cast members past and present paid tribute to her. She was one of the last performers whose time on the show stretched back to its era as the most-watched soap opera in America.
Few actors play one character for half their lives. Charleson did, and for viewers who had watched General Hospital since the 1970s, Monica Quartermaine was as constant as the theme tune.