Why did GH do this?
Veteran General Hospital fans recall the show’s Golden Age when the quadrangle of Lesley/Rick/Monica/Alan was front and center. Head writer Douglas Marland had thrust heroine Dr. Lesley Webber, played by fan favorite Denise Alexander, into the spotlight, which played an immeasurable role in saving the soap from being axed. Curiously, the show made a decision to end Lesley’s story in 1984.
The rivalry between Lesley and Monica (Leslie Charleson) was epic. Sure, Monica was happily wed to Alan (Stuart Damon) but Lesley wasn’t blind to the attraction between her husband Rick (Chris Robinson) and his fellow surgeon. Lesley keeping secret that her daughter Laura (Genie Francis) had killed David Hamilton (Jerry Ayres) and the subsequent quarantine at General Hospital that put Rick and Monica in close quarters for months put a strain on the Webber marriage.
Everyone initially believing that Rick — not Alan — was the father of Monica’s son AJ put the nail in the couple’s coffin. But there was a twist on the horizon. In one of GH’s most memorable scenes ever, Lesley confronted Monica in the Quartermaine courtyard over Monica’s deception after it came out that Alan was indeed the father of AJ! Monica accused Lesley of not giving Rick any passion in the bedroom, prompting Lesley to slap Monica across the face! (How’s that for passion!? Huh, Monica? Huh?)
Alexander’s endearing portrayal of loving Lesley drove stories on GH for years. Alas, in early 1984, after contract talks reached an impasse, Alexander left the show. Losing the actress was a mistake that the show never should have made. There had to have been a way to work things out! Sadly, Lesley died from injuries she sustained in a car accident on an icy, winter road.
Or so we thought. In 1996, a few years after Francis returned to the show as Laura, a story played out in which viewers learned that Stefan Cassadine (Stephen Nichols), who loved Laura, faked Lesley’s death, and the good doctor was held captive for over a decade After emerging from an understandable catatonic state, Lesley took her place back in Port Charles society.
In a 2018 interview with TV Insider, Francis said that she championed Denise Alexander being brought back to the show. “I said to [then producer Wendy Riche] I could never imagine Laura being on screen without Lesley,” Francis said. “For me, the essence of her character was Laura finding her mother because that goes back to her beginnings when she was tossed back and forth between the Vining family and Lesley. For me, that’s what made Laura ‘Laura.’”
Alas, about four years after Alexander and Lesley came back, the show disrespected Rick and Lesley’s love story by re-writing his character, making him an icky philanderer with a nurse named Theresa Carter. (No such character existed back in the day.)
Matters were made worse after Rick was killed off; he later appeared as a ghost in the 2013 anniversary year. The writers threw in a line in which Rick said that wasn’t what happened, referring to the Theresa Carter mess but a full fix was never done (and, quite frankly, can and still should be).
Two highlights of Lesley being back were when she consoled Nikolas (then, Tyler Christopher) over the death of Emily (Natalia Livingston) and a confrontation with Monica at the nurses’ station when Lesley accessed some medical records in order to help Laura in the show’s 50th anniversary year. The two doctors bonded over loving their mutual children. Monica looked the other way so that Lesley could get the job done.
In early 2021, Alexander had a great scene when Lesley defended Laura from Cyrus (Jeff Kober) at General Hospital just as she had years ago when her daughter needed her. “Back from dead” can become over-used on soaps but GH wisely employed the old “the body was taken from the morgue” switcheroo when it brought back Denise Alexander as Dr. Lesley Webber.
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