ABC’s General Hospital has finally mustered up the courage to bid farewell to Monica Quartermaine, given the recent death of actress Leslie Charleson.
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General Hospital’s September 25 episode saw the first of a two-part arc that says goodbye to Monica Quartermaine. And although acting is all pretend and make-belief, the sadness among the actors is palpable.
Leslie Charleson died peacefully earlier this year in January. But the show is only now finally getting around to leaving her character behind.
During the episode, every character reflected on Monica Quartermaine, according to TVLine. They attended a service for Quartermaine, and each said something meaningful about her.
Heartbreakingly, her sister-in-law, Tracy, was overwhelmed with emotion and unable to speak. Jane Elliot, who plays the character, was also overcome with grief when performing that scene.
When speaking to Variety, Elliot described feeling as though she had lost Charleson twice.
Jane Elliot Had A Difficult Time On Set
Actress Jane Elliot described how difficult it was on-set. And not just when filming her memorial, but filming all the episodes leading up to the character’s death.
“It was very, very difficult to play her alive when she had already passed in real life,” she explained. “It extended the mourning because we had to keep her alive when she wasn’t.”
“I had to mourn her death twice.”
“Leslie left two voids in my life,” Elliot continued. “She left a void as an acting partner and a friend.”
The pair met in 1965, so they’d known each other for some six decades. Elliot has known Charleson since she was 18. Although they lost touch for some years, it was sheer coincidence that they ended up in the same show in 1978.
“She was an integral part of my life…It’s hard enough to mourn somebody’s death once, but then to do it again. One was obviously the person, and the other was the character, but at a certain point they blended. You know, Monica was Leslie, and Leslie was Monica. I had shared experience with Monica, and I had shared experience with Leslie, so she left me twice.”