Leslie Charleson Reveals Why She Stayed at General Hospital

When Leslie Charleson joined the cast of GENERAL HOSPITAL in 1977 to take over the role of Monica Quartermaine from Patsy Rahn, she had no idea what she was getting herself into! “I figured it would be for a couple years,” the daytime vet admitted to Soaps In Depth. “I never anticipated being on the show as long as I have!”

Charleson credits the late Douglas Marland for creating the strong foundation upon which she has built her daytime career. The legendary daytime scribe was the GH headwriter in the late ‘70s and the one who created the fan-favorite Quartermaine clan. “You don’t get any better than this rich, funny, eccentric, oddball, contentious family,” she raved. “I stayed around because Doug was brilliant, I liked the character, and the storylines were really good. And then it was about the people I was working with, including Stuart Damon (Alan), Peter Hansen (Lee), and Susan Brown (Gail). It got to be a really good cast… why would you leave?”

GH fans couldn’t get enough of the dysfunctional Quartermaine family, and neither could Charleson! (Photo Credit: ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images)

Over the years, Charleson as played everything from love triangles and kidnappings to storylines about addiction and cancer, earning herself four Daytime Emmy nominations for Outstanding Lead Actress for her powerful performances. And when she recently suffered an injury, the actress only let GH replace her temporarily with Patty McCormack before she was back in the saddle again ready to tackle even more scripts. “You just don’t walk away from good material,” Charleson declared. “As an actor, you stick with it — and I did!”

For more on your favorite GH stars, keep reading the ABC edition of Soaps In Depth magazine!

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