Leslie Charleson

Life and career

Charleson was born in Kansas City, Missouri. Her sister is actress Kate Charleson, who died in 1996. Her career began on short-lived ABC daytime soap opera, A Flame in the Wind in 1964. In 1966 she joined the cast of As the World Turns". 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. Her character was a part of a highly popular love triangle with David Birney and Donna Mills.

In 1970, Charleson left the show and began career on primetime. She guest starred on many series from 1970 to 1977, including Emergency!, Ironside, Marcus Welby, M.D., Happy Days, Cannon, The Streets of San Francisco, and The Rockford Files. She had a supporting role in the 1973 science-fiction film, The Day of the Dolphin, and co-starred opposite Shelley Winters in the made for television thriller Revenge (1971). Charleson also had leading roles in a number of unsuccessful television pilots.

In 1977, Charleson returned to daytime television with the role of Monica Quartermaine in the ABC soap opera, General Hospital. 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 four times. On August 24, 2010, it was announced that Charleson was being demoted to recurring status.