General Hospital Star Leslie Charleson Celebrates Her Birthday

It has been a while since we’ve been graced by the incredible presence of Monica Quartermaine on General Hospital — and especially in the mansion her husband Alan bought for her, but off-screen, her portrayer, Leslie Charleson, is enjoying celebrating a major milestone event.

Happy Birthday, Leslie Charleson

That’s because she was born on February 22, 1945, in Kansas City, Missouri, which means that this beloved actress is turning 79 years old today! Charleson’s career was launched thanks to her portrayal of Pam on the short-lived ABC soap A Flame in the Wind.

A short stint as Alice Whipple on As the World Turns followed in 1964, and between 1967 and 1979, she could be seen on the CBS daytime soap Love Is a Many Splendored Thing playing Iris Donnelly Garrison, one-third of a love triangle that also involved actors David Birney and Donna Mills. The latter would later be her co-star again when she joined GH in the role of Madeline Reeves, mother to Nina and sister of Liesl Obrecht.

Subsequent work included guest spots on series like Mannix, Adam-12, The Rookies, Emergency!, Cannon, The Streets of San Francisco, and Barnaby Jones. On August 16, 1977, the same day that Elvis Presley died — of whom Charleson was a huge fan, she replaced incumbent actress Patsy Rahn in the part of Dr. Monica Bard Webber.

The beloved star has continued as Monica for over 45 years, and the job has earned her two Daytime Emmy Award nominations. Her other work includes episodes of The Wild Wild West, Kung Fu, Medical Story, Baa Baa Baa Black Sheep, McMillan & Wife, and the TV movie, Woman on the Ledge with Deidre Hall (Marlena, Days of our Lives), Michael Zaslow, Peter Bergman (Jack Abbott, The Young and the Restless), and other soap stars.

Soap Hub would like to wish Leslie Charleson a very happy birthday, and you can, too, by clicking on the X (formerly Twitter) link below. Also, share your favorite memory of her work or if you’ve met her personally in the comments section.