Beloved soap star dies aged 79 with more than 2,000 episodes under her belt

Charleson is best known to audiences for her longtime role as Dr. Monica Quartermaine on ‘General Hospital’

Leslie Charleson, the beloved soap opera veteran who starred as Dr. Monica Quartermaine in 2,079 episodes of the long-running series General Hospital, has died at the age of 79.

Charleson’s death was announced on Sunday (January 12) by executive producer Frank Valentini from the hit series’ official Instagram page.

“It is with a heavy heart that I announce the passing of my dear friend and colleague, Leslie Charleson,” he wrote, alongside a picture of her headshot.

“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.”

Valentini continued: “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.”

Charleson starred in the ABC daytime soap as Monica, a cardiologist at the eponymous hospital — a role she had been playing since 1977 and for which she earned four Daytime Emmy nominations.

She continued on the show until December 2023 when she was forced to exit the show for health reasons.

Born in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1945, Charleson grew up acting as a child and in high school before studying theater at upstate New York’s Bennett College.

Leslie Charleson was the longest-serving cast member on ‘General Hospital' (Shutterstock / Eugene Powers)

She landed her first on-screen role in NBC’s melodrama A Flame in the Wind in 1964. She was later cast in a 1966 episode of As the World Turns before she moved on to playing Iris Donnelly Garrison on CBS’s Love is a Many Splendored Thing. She appeared in 1,427 episodes from 1967 to 1973.

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Charleson also made brief appearances in other series, including the classic sitcom Happy Days, Cannon and The Streets of San Francisco. She even made a one-off cameo in a 2004 episode of Friends.

But it was in 1977 that she took on her best-known role in General Hospital from Patsy Rahn, who had debuted as Monica the year prior. Charleson additionally reprised the character in other spin-off series, including Port Charles and General Hospital: Night Shift.

Speaking to Digital Journal in 2019, she revealed that she had originally “only signed on for two years.”

“I don’t know what happened,” Charleson said. “Back then, there weren’t a lot of good female roles that had that. It was an amazing time, and it was strong material to act.”