Leslie Charleson (born February 22, 1945) is an American actress, best known for her role as

Monica Quartermaine Monica Quartermaine is a fictional character from ''General Hospital'', an American soap opera on the ABC network, played continually since August 17, 1977 by longtime soap opera actress Leslie Charleson. She is a cardiologist at the eponymous h ...

in the ABC daytime soap opera ''

General Hospital ''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the longest-running American soap opera in production, and the second in American history after '' ...

''.

Life and career

Charleson was born in Kansas City, Missouri. Actress Kate Charleson was her sister. Her career began on short-lived ABC daytime soap opera ''

A Flame in the Wind ''A Flame in the Wind'' (renamed ''A Time for Us'' in 1965) is an American soap opera that aired on ABC Daytime from December 28, 1964, to December 16, 1966. It was created by Raphael Hayes, co-author of the Cannes Film Festival winner '' One Pota ...

'' in 1964. In 1966 she joined the cast of ''

As the World Turns ''As the World Turns'' (often abbreviated as ''ATWT'') is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS for 54 years from April 2, 1956, to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created ''As the World Turns'' as a sister show to her other s ...

''. 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 {{Unreferenced, date=December 2009 Iris Donnelly Garrison was a fictional character in the American soap opera, '' Love is a Many Splendored Thing''. She was played, most notably, by actresses Leslie Charleson and Bibi Besch. As the first Iris, Lesl ...

. Her character was a part of a highly popular love triangle with David Birney and Donna Mills. 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". She guest-starred on many series from 1970 to 1977, including ''

Adam-12 ''Adam-12'' is an American television police procedural crime drama television series created by Robert A. Cinader and Jack Webb. The series follows Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers Pete Malloy and Jim Reed as they patrol the st ...

''; ''

Emergency! ''Emergency!'' is an American action-adventure medical drama television series jointly produced by Mark VII Limited and Universal Television. Debuting on NBC as a midseason replacement on January 15, 1972, replacing the two short-lived situa ...

''; '' Ironside''; ''

Mannix ''Mannix'' is an American detective television series that ran from 1967 to 1975 on CBS. It was created by Richard Levinson and William Link, and developed by executive producer Bruce Geller. The title character, Joe Mannix, is a private in ...

;

Marcus Welby, M.D. Marcus, Markus, Márkus or Mărcuș may refer to: * Marcus (name), a masculine given name * Marcus (praenomen), a Roman personal name Places * Marcus, a main belt asteroid, also known as (369088) Marcus 2008 GG44 * Mărcuş, a village in Dobârl ...

''; ''

Happy Days ''Happy Days'' is an American television sitcom that aired first-run on the ABC network from January 15, 1974, to July 19, 1984, with a total of 255 half-hour episodes spanning 11 seasons. Created by Garry Marshall, it was one of the most su ...

''; ''

Cannon A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...

''; ''

The Streets of San Francisco ''The Streets of San Francisco'' is a television crime drama filmed on location in San Francisco and produced by Quinn Martin Productions, with the first season produced in association with Warner Bros. Television (QM produced the show on its ...

''; and ''

The Rockford Files ''The Rockford Files'' is an American detective drama television series starring James Garner that aired on the NBC network from September 13, 1974 to January 10, 1980, and remains in syndication. Garner portrays Los Angeles private investiga ...

''. She had a supporting role in the 1973 science-fiction film ''

The Day of the Dolphin ''The Day of the Dolphin'' is a 1973 American science fiction thriller film directed by Mike Nichols and starring George C. Scott. Based on the 1967 novel '' Un animal doué de raison'' (lit. ''A Sentient Animal''), by French writer Robert Merl ...

'' and co-starred opposite

Shelley Winters Shelley Winters (born Shirley Schrift; August 18, 1920 – January 14, 2006) was an American actress whose career spanned seven decades. She appeared in numerous films. She won Academy Awards for ''The Diary of Anne Frank'' (1959) and ''A Patch o ...

in the television thriller ''

Revenge! ''Revenge!'' is a 1971 American made-for-television horror-thriller film directed by Jud Taylor and starring Shelley Winters, Bradford Dillman and Stuart Whitman. The film premiered as the ''ABC Movie of the Week ABC are the first three lette ...

'' (1971). Charleson also had leading roles in a number of unsuccessful television pilots. On August 16, 1977, Charleson returned to daytime television with the role of

in the ABC soap opera ''

''. 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. Charleson replaced Patsy Rahn as Monica, a doctor caught between her husband Jeff Webber and his back-from-the-dead brother, her true love Rick Webber. For her long-running performance on the show, she was nominated for a

Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series The Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series is an award presented annually by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) and Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS). It is given to honor an actres ...

four times. On August 24, 2010, it was announced that Charleson was being demoted to recurring status. Charleson is currently the longest-serving cast member of ''General Hospital''.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Charleson, Leslie 1945 births Living people Actresses from Kansas City, Missouri American soap opera actresses American television actresses 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses