Best known for her legendary portrayal of Monica Quartermaine on the ABC drama series “General Hospital,” actress Leslie Charleson died Sunday morning following a long illness. She was 79 years old.
In a statement, “General Hospital” executive producer Frank Valentini said, “It is with a heavy heart that I announce the passing of my dear friend and colleague, Leslie Charleson.” He added, “Her enduring legacy has spanned nearly 50 years on ‘General Hospital’ alone and, just as Monica was the heart of the Quartermaine family, 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,” Valentini concluded.
Born February 22, 1945 in Kansas City, Missouri, Charleson made her television debut in 1964 on the soap opera “A Flame in the Wind,” playing a character named Pam. Later, she took on the role of Alice Whipple on “As The World Turns” before truly making a name for herself portraying Iris Donnelly on “Love Is A Many Splendored Thing.”
Joining the cast of the daytime drama series in 1977, Charleson’s Monica famously had an affair with former lover Rick Webber which helped establish one of the most popular love triangles in daytime history with her husband, Alan, notoriously “stalking” the pair as he worked to keep tabs on what the pair thought they were doing behind his back.
While the Monica, Rick and Alan storyline proved popular with audiences into the early 1980s, fans were thrown for a loop when Alan and Monica divorced in 1990. By 1991, however, the pair were reunited and remained together until Alan’s death in 2007.
By the mid-1990s, Charleson took on the revolutionary storyline that saw Monica battling breast cancer. In addition to Monica beating the disease, she and Alan found themselves adopting a daughter, Emily, through Monica’s friendship with Emily’s biological mother who lost her battle with cancer.
Charleson appeared less frequently on “General Hospital” in recent years due to health issues, with Variety noting that the actress has “suffered several falls that prevented her from getting around,” resulting in her mobility being impeded and requiring her need for a walker.
The outlet noted that Charleson was hospitalized last week after “one such fall.”
Throughout her career, Charleson received four Daytime Emmy Awards nominations for her portrayal of Monica Quartermaine, first in 1980 in the category of Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Series, along with nominations in 1982 and 1983 in the same category. In 1995, Charleson received her fourth nomination but by that time the category had been renamed to Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.
Outside of daytime, Charleson appeared in episodes of such shows as “The Rockford Files,” “Dharma & Greg,” “Diagnosis Murder,” “The Streets of San Francisco,” “Barnaby Jones” and “Canon,” among others.
Charleson made her final appearance on “General Hospital” in December 2023, appearing in scenes opposite co-stars Jane Elliot (Tracy Quartermaine) and Michael Easton (ex-Hamilton Finn), among others. She also appeared in scenes at the Quartermaine mansion as the family celebrated the holidays.
Watch scenes from one of Charleson’s final episodes on “General Hospital” below.