Leslie Ann Charleson (February 22, 1945 – January 12, 2025) was an American actress, best known for her role as Monica Quartermaine on the ABC daytime soap opera General Hospital.
Life and career
Charleson was born in Kansas City, Missouri, on February 22,
1945. Actress Kate Charleson was her sister. Her career began on the short-lived
ABC daytime soap opera A Flame in the Wind in 1964. In 1966, she joined the
cast of As the World Turns. In 1968, she played the role of a doctor's daughter
in The Wild Wild West in the episode "The Night of Fire and
Brimstone". From 1967 to 1970, she starred on the CBS soap opera Love
Is a Many Splendored Thing. She played the role of Iris Donnelly Garrison. Her
character was a part of a highly popular love triangle with David Birney and
Donna Mills.
Charleson guest-starred on many series from 1970 to 1977,
including Adam-12; Emergency!; Ironside; Mannix; Marcus Welby, M.D.; Happy
Days; Cannon; The Streets of San Francisco; and The Rockford Files. She had a
supporting role in the 1973 science-fiction film The Day of the Dolphin and
co-starred opposite Shelley Winters in the television thriller Revenge! (1971).
Charleson also had leading roles in several unsuccessful television pilots,
most notably the 1975 sitcom pilot Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.
On August 16, 1977, Charleson returned to daytime television
with the role of Monica Quartermaine in the ABC soap opera General Hospital.
Fred Silverman, then president of ABC, asked her to join the series, which at
that time was near the bottom of the ratings and near cancellation. For her role, Charleson
received four Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama
Series nominations: in 1980, 1982, 1983, and 1995. During her General Hospital
years, Charleson starred alongside Deidre Hall and Colleen Zenk in the 1993
made-for-television movie Woman on the Ledge. She also guest-starred on the sitcoms
Dharma & Greg in 2001 and Friends in 2004. On August 24, 2010, it was
announced that Charleson was being demoted to recurring status. Charleson was
the longest-serving cast member of General Hospital.
Death
Charleson died in Los Angeles on January 12, 2025, at the
age of 79. According to Variety, she had experienced "several
falls", which caused problems with her mobility, and had been
hospitalized from one of them the week before her death. Her death certificate,
publicly reported in February 2025, concluded that the immediate cause of death
was sequelae of blunt head trauma, which was the result of a previous head
injury.
Filmography
Film
1968 A Lovely Way to
Die Julie Uncredited
1973 The Day of the
Dolphin Maryanne
1977 Cheering
Section Locker Girl #2
Television
1964 A Flame in the
Wind Pam Recurring
role
1966 As the World
Turns, Alice Whipple , Series regular
1967 N.Y.P.D. Ginger Episode: "Cruise to Oblivion"
1968 The Wild Wild
West Dooley Sloan Episode: "The Night of Fire and
Brimstone"
1967–1970 Love Is
a Many Splendored Thing, Iris Donnelly, Garrison Series regular
1970 Mannix Marge Lavor Season 3-Episode 16: "A Chance at the Roses"
1971 Revenge! Nancy Grove,r Television film (ABC)
1972 Adam-12 Kathy Royal Episode: "The Princess and the Pig"
1972 O'Hara, U.S.
Treasury Helga Kuyper Episode: "Operation: Deathwatch"
1972 Marcus Welby,
M.D. Lisa Kenny Episode: "Just a Little Courage"
1972 Search Nancy Kubica Episode: "Live Men Tell
Tales"
1972 The Rookies Anne Dawson Episode:
"The Good Die Young"
1972 Emergency! Christy Todd Episode: "Women"
1972 Cannon Katherine 'Kate' Machen Episode: "Sky Above, Death
Below"
1972 Medical Center Patti Episode: "Gladiator"
1973 Ironside Nicky Jameson Episode: "A Special
Person"
1973 The F.B.I. Ginny Wyatt Episode: "The Loper Gambit"
1973 Marcus Welby,
M.D. Alice Henley Episode: "The Circles of Shame"
1973 Owen Marshall:
Counselor at Law Edie Nolan Episode: "They've Got to Blame
Somebody"
1974 Another April April Weston Moss Television pilot
1974 Cannon Joan Stevens Episode: "The Sounds of Silence"
1974 The Streets of
San Francisco Joanna Randolph
Reed Episode: "Death and
the Favored Few"
1975 Kung Fu Amy Starbuck Episode: "One Step to
Darkness"
1975 Happy Days Mrs. Dorothy Kimber Episode: "Get a Job"
1975 Caribe Claire Grune Episode:
"Murder in Paradise"
1975 Guess Who's
Coming to Dinner, Joanna Prentiss, Television pilot
1975 Medical Story Susan Stewart Episode:
"The God Syndrome"
1975 Cannon Susan Baylor Episode: "The Man Who Died Twice"
1975 Barnaby Jones Victoria Norris Episode: "Honeymoon with
Death"
1976 The Streets of
San Francisco Donna Sinclair Episode: "Underground"
1976 Most Wanted Lee Herrick Television
pilot
1976 Bert
D'Angelo/Superstar Episode:
"A Concerned Citizen"
1976 Baa Baa Black
Sheep Captain Anne Schaeffer Episode: "Love and War"
1977 McMillan &
Wife Ginny Lindauer Episode: "Coffee, Tea, or
Cyanide?"
1977 The Rockford
Files Patsy Fossler Episodes: "To Protect and Serve: Part
1" and "To Protect and Serve: Part 2"
1977–2023 General
Hospital Monica Quartermaine Series regular (1977–2010),
recurring cast (2010–2023)
Nominated — Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress
in a Drama Series (1980, 1982–83, 1995)
Nominated — Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Lead
Actress in a Daytime Drama (1986, 1988, 1990)
Nominated — Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding
Supporting Actress (1993)
1993 Woman on the
Ledge Rachel Television film (NBC)
1997 Diagnosis:
Murder Herself Episode: "Physician, Murder Thyself"
1997–2000 Port
Charles Monica Quartermaine Recurring role
2001 Dharma &
Greg Katherine Episode: "Dharma Does
Dallas"
2004 Friends Herself Episode: "The One Where the Stripper
Cries"
2006 The Return of
the Muskrats Waitress Short film
2008 General
Hospital: Night Shift Monica
Quartermaine Episodes: "Truth
and Consequences" and "Past and Presence: Part 2"
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