Monica Quartermaine is a fictional character from General Hospital, an American soap opera on the ABC network, played from August 17, 1977, to December 21, 2023, by Leslie Charleson. She is a cardiologist at the eponymous hospital, and widow of physician Alan Quartermaine (Stuart Damon). The role was originated by Patsy Rahn in 1976, who played the role until showrunners replaced her with Charleson. At the time of Charleson's death in January 2025, her tenure in the role was one of the longest in American soap operas.
Character and casting Monica becomes Chief of Staff at General Hospital following the death of her husband, Alan Quartermaine. Her specialty is cardiology. She was previously married to fellow doctor Jeff Webber. Her various affairs, primarily involving Jeff's older brother Rick Webber, and her quarrels with her second husband Alan and their dysfunctional family were all major stories on the show throughout the late 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.
In her time on the show, Monica has battled breast cancer and dealt with outliving four of her children. She is the owner of the Quartermaine mansion, as she often reminds her family when they begin quarreling. She has been known to throw them out of her house.
In 2006, she only had rare appearances. New storylines developed in 2007 (an investigation into the murder of Rick Webber and the deaths of her husband and daughter Emily Quartermaine), and she has since featured more prominently.
With the returns of Denise Alexander (Lesley Webber), Genie Francis (Laura Spencer), and Kin Shriner (Scott Baldwin), Monica remains the fourth oldest character on General Hospital and Charleson is the show's most tenured performer.
On August 24, 2010, it was announced that Charleson was being demoted to recurring status. In May 2011, newly appointed head writer Garin Wolf expressed his interest in having Charleson appear on a much more frequent basis.
In April 2018, it was announced that due to an injury Charleson sustained, the soap would temporarily recast the role of Monica to handle the advanced writing required for the character; Patty McCormack was announced as Charleson's temporary replacement, first appearing on May 7, 2018. Holly Kaplan filled in for Charleson for a single episode on March 15, 2022.
Charleson made several returns as Monica in 2023, with her final episode airing December 21 of that year. Charleson died on January 12, 2025.
Storylines Background Monica grows up off-screen in an orphanage and was fostered by Dr. Gail Adamson Baldwin. Greg, Gail's husband, took advantage of Monica and raped her. Gail remained unaware of this for many years but they were able to reconcile once the truth came out. Monica was able to use her experience with Greg to help Laura Spencer when she was raped.
Monica later had an affair with David Langton and gave birth to a daughter, Dawn, whom she gave up for adoption.
Just prior to her arrival on General Hospital, Monica had been engaged to Rick Webber. He broke up with her and flew off to Africa where he became involved in a civil war and was presumed dead. Monica turned to Jeff Webber, Rick's brother, for comfort and married him, not knowing that Rick was still alive.
1970s Monica arrived in Port Charles in 1976, having recently married Jeff Webber. Steve Hardy, who had been recently appointed as Chief of Staff at General Hospital, invited the couple to take part in his Mr. and Mrs. Intern Programme, believing that the couple had an idyllic marriage. The truth was that Monica had only married Jeff on the rebound. She was still deeply in love with Jeff's brother, Rick, who had been presumed dead in Africa. The marriage collapsed when Rick was revealed to be still alive; Monica had an affair with him and Jeff had one with Heather Grant that produced a son, Steven Webber. Jeff and Monica divorced in 1977.
During this time, Rick grew close to Lesley Faulkner and planned to marry her. Monica was devastated, and tried to put a stop to it by blackmailing Lesley: unless Lesley refused his proposal, Monica would reveal her affair with Rick to the board of trustees, denying Rick the opportunity to become Chief of Cardiology. During the argument, a pregnant Lesley fell down the stairs and miscarried. Lesley was despondent and called off her engagement to Rick. Meanwhile, Monica and Rick talk about how important the promotion is to Rick. Monica realizes she cannot go through with her threat, but doesn't tell Lesley. Monica is caught when Lesley's daughter, Laura, reveals that she recorded Monica's threat to Lesley. Lesley and Rick are married in October 1977.
Rick and Monica's relationship becomes embittered, and Monica nearly loses her job, though Lesley sets aside her personal feelings and vouches for Monica's talents as a doctor to Steve, saving her job. Monica claims to be moving on, but she and Rick are forced to work together with Dr. Alan Quartermaine on plans for a new wing at the hospital. Monica makes a last-ditch effort to bed Rick while trapped in a remote ranger station overnight during a storm while working on the project, but is turned down. While Monica continues to antagonize Lesley and Rick, she soon begins a relationship with Alan, though she's still very much attracted to Rick.
Monica had doubts about her relationship with Alan, but these were soon overshadowed when Monica's foster mother Gail Adamson discovered that Monica had slept with Gail's late husband Greg. Gail did not believe Monica's explanation that Greg had forced her into the affair and cut ties with Monica. Monica turned to Alan for support and agreed to marry him. Eventually Gail and Monica made amends. She was thrilled when Gail found happiness by finally agreeing to marry Lee Baldwin after months of putting him off. Monica became a close confidante to Laura who found that Monica treated her like an adult while her mother continuously treated her like a child.
After their 1978 wedding, Alan bought a mansion for Monica as a wedding present, and his family ended up re-settling in Port Charles as well. Monica adored Alan's parents, Edward (who ran the family empire, ELQ) and Lila, but his sister, Tracy, felt Monica was beneath them and caused problems every chance she got. Monica continued to be a confidante to Lesley's young daughter, Laura, and when nurse Bobbie Spencer began to harass Laura and blamed her for attacking her in the hospital book store, Monica took Laura's side, realizing the extent of her own harassment towards Lesley whom she made an effort to become friends with. However, within a year of her second marriage, Monica once again fell into Rick's arms and the two had a one-night stand. Monica was pregnant and didn't know who the father was. Tracy, who had made efforts to get to know her sister-in-law whom she respected as a physician, suspected the truth and plotted to have the unborn child declared illegitimate so her son Ned would inherit the Quartermaine estate. For many months, Monica was bedridden, and innocent student nurse Amy Vining her only companion. Monica was unaware that the gossipy Amy was totally enamored of the handsome Alan who used her as a spy to keep an eye on his wife. Monica gave birth to a son, A.J. during the middle of a winter storm with only Gail and Lesley present and screamed out that Rick was the father.
1980s Rick and Lesley divorced so Rick and Monica could be together. Alan was enraged by this turn of events and made several attempts to kill Rick and Monica, but was thwarted at every attempt. While both Scotty and Lee found Monica's actions repulsive, their wives Laura and Gail were more compassionate even though Laura was heartsick at seeing Lesley and her adoptive father separated. Monica managed to trick Alan into admitting on tape that he had tried to kill her and Rick and moved into Tracy's old apartment as she prepared to file for an uncontested divorce. Eventually, both Monica and Alan realized that A.J. was indeed Alan's son and not Rick's. Monica attempted to hide this fact from Rick, but Alan eventually exposed the truth that there were rare circumstances when two parents with type O blood could conceive a type B blood baby. Rick, disgusted with Monica's continued manipulations, left her and focused on the formation of the waterfront clinic. A confrontation with Lesley over the revelation of Alan Jr.'s paternity ended up with Monica viciously maligning Lesley's lack of passion and Lesley's surprising response of a hard slap across Monica's face. The next day when Monica went to get her final divorce decree, she discovered that Alan had contested it, and when she confronted him, he threatened her with the loss of her son for her actions, forcing her to return to him even though she couldn't stand the sight of him. Eventually, because of issues concerning Laura on the run, Rick went back to Lesley, having Monica removed as his assistant in surgery, although he later relented, citing their shared excellence in the operating room. Monica felt that she had no other alternative but to stay with Alan, biding her time to find a way out. The only good thing that happened for Monica around this time was Tracy's departure after discovering that her husband Mitch Williams was having an affair with sexy waitress Susan Moore who ended up being manager of the Campus Disco which Alan bought as a side investment after owner Frank Smith was sent to prison for mob activities.