Edward Quartermaine is a fictional character from General Hospital, an American soap opera on the ABC network. The character was created in 1978, originally played by David Lewis. John Ingle stepped into the role in 1993, and besides a brief hiatus from 2004 until 2006, he portrayed Edward up until his death on September 16, 2012.
Casting David Lewis originated the role of Edward in 1978. In 1987 and 1988, Les Tremayne stepped in temporarily due to Lewis' health. Starting on May 3, 1989, Lewis was forced to step down due to his illness. The character was killed off in a plane crash, but Lewis' voice was still heard whenever Lila spoke to her late husband's ghost. After recovering, Lewis returned as Edward on November 26, 1991. His health declined again and he left as the role was recast with John Ingle on August 17, 1993. Ingle received an award for Outstanding Scene Stealer at the Soap Opera Awards in 1999. Ingle was fired in December 2003, and the show planned to again kill off the character, but a last minute storyline change kept the character and Ingle on in a recurring capacity. However, Ingle opted for a contract role of Mickey Horton on Days of Our Lives, and Jed Allan was brought on to play Edward starting on March 1, 2004. In 2006, Allan was let go when Ingle was released from his Days of Our Lives contract and was re-hired for the Edward Quartermaine role. Allan last appeared on December 30, 2005. Ingle reprised the role on April 18, 2006. Following a decline in health and the death of his wife, rumors began circulating that Ingle's Edward was being written out.
In September 2012, soap opera gossip site, Daytime Confidential reported that Ingle could possibly be making his last appearance. Former General Hospital scribe, Michele Val Jean also commented on Ingle's potential departure through Twitter. Ingle died on September 16, 2012. He filmed his final scenes on August 24, and the episode aired on September 11, 2012. Uncredited actors portrayed the role briefly in 2014 and 2019, when the character appeared as a ghost to help escort A. J. Quartermaine and Oscar Nero to heaven.
Character background Edward was born on September 2, 1918 (according to the date in the family crypt). Edward and his wife Lila are considered to be two of the wealthiest individuals in the fictional town of Port Charles, New York. Edward is the Founder & Chairman, former CEO, and principal shareholder of E.L.Q. Industries. Many of his storylines involve health concerns, such as multiple heart attacks, a bout of amnesia in 1989, a stroke and faked coma, and a time in 2004 when his daughter Tracy had him committed to the Shadybrook Sanitarium, though he later escaped with the assistance of Luke Spencer. Portrayer John Ingle describes, "Edward likes to think that he's taught everyone around him how to be ruthless."
Storyline
1970s Edward first showed up in Port Charles in 1978, making occasional visits to Port Charles with his wife Lila before moving in with his son, Alan and daughter-in-law, Monica. Edward quickly established himself as one of the most influential residents of Port Charles, becoming a member of the hospital board and a good friend to Steve Hardy and Lee Baldwin. Edward and Lila liked Monica, but warned her about their daughter, Tracy Quartermaine, who wanted to get the Quartermaine estate for her son, Ned Ashton. Edward was thrilled when Monica gave birth to a son, Alan James Quartermaine Jr., whom he hoped would inherit the Quartermaine estate one day. Edward decided to test daughter Tracy's loyalty after she tried to prove that Alan Jr. was fathered by another man, by pretending to have a heart attack. He created a will that would disinherit Tracy, but before he could sign it, he collapsed on the floor. He pleaded with Tracy to give him his heart medicine; she refused unless he promised not to sign the will. Tracy had failed the test, and Edward banished her.
1980s Edward teamed up with his niece Alexandria Quartermaine to make money with her friends, Victor and Tony Cassadine, by finding the Ice Princess. The plan quickly got out of hand as the Cassadines planned to use the secret formula hidden in the Ice Princess to take over the world. Luke Spencer thwarted the plan in time and Alexandria wound up dead in the end. Alexandria's will left her ELQ shares to Lila. Edward tried to acquire the shares, but Lila was wise to his game. Edward became involved in Luke Spencer's schemes to make money, with little success. When Holly Sutton arrived in town, Edward immediately schemed to become financially involved in her alleged oil discovery, and charmed her in order to try to get in. When it was revealed that Holly's family, the Durban's, were perpetrating an oil scam, Edward blamed Luke for the whole mess.
The Quartermaine's biggest problem arrived in the form of Susan Moore, Alan's ex-mistress and mother of his son, Jason. She and Crane Tolliver, Lila's first husband, had proof that Lila had never officially divorced him; this meant that Lila and Edward weren't legally married, and Alan and Tracy were illegitimate. Susan then blackmailed the Quartermaines with Crane's information. When Susan was killed, the whole Quartermaine clan was a suspect. Edward was concerned that the presence of Celia Quartermaine might cause Edward to lose ELQ because of the scandal. However, the real killer was Crane, who was exposed by Jimmy Lee Holt, Edward's son by Beatrice LeSeur. Lila and Edward were later married legally. Beatrice appeared in Port Charles to blackmail the Quartermaines, but she dropped dead at a charity gala, before she got the chance. Edward was suspected of poisoning her, but it turned out Beatrice had accidentally killed herself. Edward discovered what it was like to be broke when Monica and her new flame Sean Donely, found their way into ELQ's boardroom and took the company away from the Quartermaines. Monica then threw the Quartermaines out of the mansion, and they were forced to live above Kelly's. Lila rescued their family by starting a new business she called "Pickle-Lila," which was a success and restored the Quartermaines' fortune and lifestyle. When Edward's cousin, Herbert, was killed, Edward was one of the suspects in Herbert's murder, but was proven innocent.
While the Quartermaines remained important figures in Port Charles, things remained pretty calm for Edward at ELQ. Edward helped Alan fake his death during Monica's affair with Sean, but eventually helped reconcile the couple. News of Tracy's return after a decade of banishment threatened Edward's health; he was in bed, allegedly sick with a cold. Their reunion had Edward grabbing his heart medication from his dresser, leaving Tracy to remember her actions as a greedy young woman. Edward disappeared shortly after Tracy's return, and was presumed dead when he went on a fishing trip to the Bermuda Triangle. He rewrote his will, leaving everything to Ned, much to the family's dismay.
1990s Two years later, Anna Devane found Edward playing beach bum in the Bahamas and dragged him back to civilization. He teamed up with Ned and got ELQ away from Paul Hornsby. In 1993 Edward banished Tracy a second time after she ran down Jenny Eckert. Edward set his grandsons against each other by loaning A.J. money to buy into the Port Charles Hotel, which was Ned's domain. Edward was arrested and tried for the murder of Bradley Ward, whose body had been discovered on the Spencers' front lawn. Just as it seemed certain that Edward was going to be put in prison, Bradley's mother Mary Mae Ward took the stand. She revealed that Bradley was Edward's son from the affair that they had during the war. Edward was then acquitted. Though Edward never knew his son, Bradley, his grandson, Justus Ward, was in Port Charles. Justus and Edward formed a bond when Edward set up a foundation to help businesses on Charles Street.
Edward became so anxious to shut down Ned's singing career that he bought Ned's record company, L&B, right out from under the noses of Ned's wife, Lois, and her business partner, Brenda Barrett. Lois got her company back with the help of Jasper "Jax" Jacks, and Jax got a spot on the ELQ board, which did not make Edward happy, especially when Jax teamed up with Tracy to take over ELQ. When this plan came to light, Edward banished his daughter a third time. When Edward found out Jason fathered a child, Michael, Edward became obsessed with bringing Michael home. He even tried to kidnap the child. This plan drove Justus away from the family and into the mob with Jason. Growing frustrated, Edward promised A.J. the CEO position at ELQ if he could bring Michael home to the Quartermaines, pitting him against Ned. A.J. couldn't believe his luck when it was revealed that Jason wasn't Michael's father – A.J. was. Edward was thrilled as well, but he was forced to eat his words when A.J. was able to bring Michael into the Quartermaine fold by marrying Michael's mother, Carly. A.J. threatened to leave with his new family if Edward didn't fork over the CEO position. So A.J. was appointed as CEO, and Ned left, telling Edward that he would not come in and save the family again.
Edward tried to keep a long lost family secret from being found out by Luke Spencer and Felicia Scorpio. Despite Edward and Reginald's efforts, Luke and Felicia discovered what they thought was the truth: Edward had killed Lila's fiancé, Elliot Thompson, and married her in his place. Edward initially denied it, and then told them they were right. But Lila refused to let her husband take the blame and revealed the truth: she had killed Elliot in self-defense. The crime was covered up by the family. Luke and Felicia agreed to keep the murder a secret. Edward tried to ruin Ned and Chloe Morgan's sham of a marriage. He needed Ned back as CEO of ELQ, so he paired with Chloe's aunt, Gertrude, who also wanted to ruin Chloe's marriage. Edward planned to destroy Ned's record company, and then Gertrude would get her design company. Edward couldn't seem to make his plan work. When Chloe was the victim of a hit and run, Edward dropped his vendetta against the marriage, but not his plans to get Ned back at ELQ. However, Ned had no intention of returning to ELQ and managed to thwart Edward's plans yet again. All of Edward's efforts to keep Carly and Michael failed when Jason produced evidence that A.J. was responsible for burning down Jason and Sonny Corinthos' warehouse earlier that year. Sonny used the evidence to blackmail A.J. out of his parental rights, and igiving Carly a divorce. Edward was furious with A.J., kicked him out of ELQ, vowing to make him pay.
2000s
Edward tried to recruit Jax as CEO, in hopes that Ned would swoop in to save the company. Ned remained true to his promise, though, of not returning. Jax forgot about ELQ, though, to go after a drug company. Jax sold his shares of ELQ, which had come from A.J. and Tracy, to Edward. Edward then took over as CEO.
Over the next several months, Edward's granddaughter, Emily was kidnapped, A.J. became an alcoholic again, and Ned announced his engagement to Alexis Davis. When Emily fell for her kidnapper, Zander Smith, Edward tried to keep them apart. Emily was nearly killed in a shootout after Zander's release, and she was sent away to boarding school amid her protests. Lila sided with Emily and against Edward, as did the household staff. Zander found Emily and they returned to Port Charles, but Emily refused to live at the mansion. Desperate to keep Emily and Zander apart, Edward faked his own mugging and blamed Zander. Zander was arrested and Edward promised to drop the charges if Emily stopped seeing Zander. But the truth about the mugging came out and Emily continued to see Zander.