Why Leslie Charleson Is ‘Unlikely To Return’ As GH’s Monica
Leslie Charleson, the beloved General Hospital star who assumed the role of Monica Bard Webber Quartermaine back in 1977, has been making only sporadic appearances in recent years, and has not been seen on the show since December 2023. Now, according to a story in Closer, a source close to the veteran actress says that in light of health issues, “Although she’d be welcome back to the show with open arms, it’s unlikely she’ll ever return.”
The Rest Is History
As Charleson told Soap Opera Digest in a 2023 interview, she never intended to make a career in Port Charles. She began her daytime career in New York, appearing in short-term roles on A Flame in the Wind and As the World Turns before being cast on Love Is A Many Splendored Thing, where she played Iris Donnelly from 1967-70. After she relocated to Los Angeles, “I had decided I’d had enough of soaps; I was moving on,” she recalled. But when Tom Donovan, who had been her producer when she played Iris, took over as executive producer at GH, he “persuaded me to come in and meet with him and persuaded me to join the cast.”
Even though she would go on to become one of the longest-running players on the show, she did not get off to an auspicious start as Monica, a role originated by Patsy Rahn in 1976. Charleson admitted, “It was a pretty miserable beginning for me as Monica. Nobody really liked me because I guess they had let Patsy Rahn go rather unceremoniously.” Things got even hairier for Charleson when Donovan exited as EP. “And there I was, not knowing who or what a Monica was, not having a clue as to what to do with her,” Charleson reflected. “All Tom said to me was, ‘You make her what you want to make her.’ So, that’s what I was kind of faced with. Looking back now, it was kind of wonderful because i was given free reign because nobody was really saying, ‘Well, Monica wouldn’t do that.’ I didn’t know what Monica would or wouldn’t do, so I went ahead and did what I decided that she would do.”
Stuart Damon and Leslie Charleson in 1991.
The tide began to turn when Charleson found her groove with Stuart Damon, who played Monica’s future husband, Alan Quartermaine. Charleson told Digest, “I met Stuart when I auditioned the Alan wannabes. He was by far the best — and not very hard on the eyes at all!” And while Alan and Monica’s two marriages were marked by long stretches of bickering and contention, off camera, “We really got along,” the actress smiled. “We had a lot of good times.”
Monica, a doctor at G.H., also navigated her own health crises, including alcoholism and breast cancer. Of the landmark 1994 tale of Monica’s cancer, Charleson noted to Digest proudly, “This was one of the first times the show got into [a medical story in such depth] — we stopped freezing the town or Lassa Fever and all of that. It was important and difficult and rewarding because we all did our homework, and I really wanted to portray it in the most honest, realistic way we could.”
As for her longevity on the show, Charleson marveled, “I haven’t really contemplated it because it just sort of went by… There were rough spots, there were really rough spots, but when aren’t there?” She added, “I’m truly humbled and truly grateful.”
In 2018, after Charleson suffered a fall, the role of Monica was temporarily recast with Patty McCormack. In 2022, Holly Kaplan subbed as Monica for one day. A setside source tells Digest that the show intends to hold the role open for Charleson should she feel inclined to return.
On camera, GH has acknowledged Monica’s absence by referring to the various reasons she is not present on screen — for instance, she’s nursing a cold upstairs in the Quartermaine family mansion (which, as longtime fans know, she owns, as it was a wedding present from her late husband, Alan) or is away attending a medical conference.
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