Who Is Ronnie Bard on General Hospital?
Ever since it was first announced that One Life to Live veteran and six-time Daytime Emmy winner Erika Slezak would be appearing on General Hospital, fans began speculating about who she would be playing on the soap. Some wondered if OLTL’s Victoria Lord Buchanan would be taking a trip to Port Charles, as other characters like Todd Manning (Viki’s half brother) had done in the past. But that turned out not to be the case — after the actress’ debut in the September 26 episode of GH, it was finally revealed in the September 29 show that Slezak is playing Monica’s long-lost sister. But who is Ronnie, really?
A Complicated Past
Before Monica Quartermaine set down roots in Port Charles in 1976, she had a difficult upbringing. While she would become a successful doctor and raise a family with husband Alan Quartermaine, Monica — who was born Monica Bard — grew up in an orphanage in St Louis. She had been fostered by Dr. Gail Adamson, who later married Scott Baldwin’s father, Lee Baldwin, and became Gail Baldwin. Monica never mentioned having a sibling … although prior to 1989, she also never mentioned that she had given birth to a daughter, Dawn, and given her up for adoption in her youth.
After Monica passed away in September, a woman named Veronica “Ronnie” Bard arrived in town, and Monica’s sister-in-law, Tracy Quartermaine, was upset to find the woman in the family crypt. Ronnie explained that she was Monica’s sister! She and Monica had been separated as children, and while her sister grew up to become a doctor who married into money, Ronnie’s own story was decidedly less impressive. Still, she was proud of the life she had managed to make for herself.
Ronnie also claimed that although she and Monica had long been estranged, they had reconnected prior to her sister’s passing. Monica had initiated contact by writing her a letter, and the two women had been corresponding with each other for the past year or so. Tracy was naturally skeptical and assumed that Ronnie was looking to collect on some of her sister’s fortune following her death. Ronnie insisted that she had never wanted anything from her sister before and didn’t now.
The other Quartermaine family members were more welcoming of Ronnie, although everyone was stunned when Monica’s will was read and it was revealed that, in addition to a locket containing a photo of the two of them as children, she’d left her the entire Quartermaine estate! Ronnie felt completely overwhelmed, and during a welcome to Port Charles tea party, found herself acting drunk. Arguing with Tracy again, Ronnie accused her of drugging her tea and threw her out of the mansion.
Drew Cain tried to make nice with Ronnie, calling them both Quartermaine outcasts, and offered to buy the house from her. But when she saw how horrible he was to Danny and Rocco, she told him to get out. Pleased to see Ronnie standing up to the congressman, Laura Collins welcomed her to town and hoped she’d stick around a while. Then, Martin Grey visited, and she panicked because he’d said they weren’t supposed to be seen together. It was then revealed that he’d reached out to Monica’s sister and altered the will so that she would get the estate. He demanded that she sell it to Drew as he’d requested, warning that nothing tied him to the scheme so he could make sure she would lose everything.
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