Leslie Charleson, ‘General Hospital’ Icon Known as Monica Quartermaine, Dead at 79

Leslie Charleson has died at the age of 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 [...] Read More... from Leslie Charleson, ‘General Hospital’ Icon Known as Monica Quartermaine, Dead at 79 The post Leslie Charleson, ‘General Hospital’ Icon Known as Monica Quartermaine, Dead at 79 appeared first on LOVEBSCOTT.

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Jan 12, 2025 - 20:00
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Leslie Charleson, ‘General Hospital’ Icon Known as Monica Quartermaine, Dead at 79

Leslie Charleson has died at the age of 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, where she hasn’t appeared since December 2023. In recent years, she has 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. She 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 3-year-run on CBS’s “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 1970s, she guest starred on many of the best known 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,” where she played divorcée Dorothy Kimber and was the first on-screen kiss for actor-director Ron Howard (who played Richie). In 1973, she 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.

During her 40-plus years on “GH,” 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, she earned four Daytime Emmy nominations for outstanding lead actress.

via: Variety

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