The character was originated in 1976 by actress Patsy Rahn, but has been portrayed by actress Leslie Charleson since August 17, 1977.
She is a member of the wealthy Quartermaine family. Her various affairs and quarrels with her husband Alan were major stories on the show throughout the 1980s and 1990s.
In her time on the show, Monica has battled breast cancer, dealt with the loss of three children, her son Jason Morgan's amnesia and decision to become a mob enforcer, and various other conflicts.
She is the owner of the Quartermaine mansion, which she often reminds her family of when they begin quarreling, which is an often occurrence in the Quartermaine quarters. She has been known to throw them out of her house.
Monica was Chief of cardiology at the eponymous General Hospital, an original and on-going setting of the serial. Her various affairs, primarily with fellow doctors Jeff Webber and his older brother Rick Webber, as well as her quarrels with husband Alan Quartermaine and their dysfunctional family, were all major stories on the show throughout the late 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.
In 2006, she only had rare appearances; however, new storylines developed in 2007 (an investigation into the murder of Rick Webber, the deaths of her husband Alan Quartermaine and adopted daughter Emily Quartermaine), and she is being featured more prominently.
With the returns of Denise Alexander (Lesley Webber), Genie Francis (Laura Spencer), and Kin Shriner (Scott Baldwin), Monica remains to be the fourth oldest character on "General Hospital" [5] and Charleson is the show's most tenured performer.
On August 24, 2010, it was announced that Charleson was being demoted to recurring status after 30 years.[6][7]
In May 2011, newly appointed head writer Garin Wolf expressed his interest in having Charleson appear on a much more frequent basis. On June 13, 2011, Charleson announced that after making only one appearance so far in 2011, she would be returning to the front burner. Her first air date was set for July 27, 2011. However, Charleson appeared ahead of schedule on July 13.
On April 17, 2018, Charleson injured her leg while taking her dog for a walk, which ended up causing her not to be able to film upcoming episodes of the show, until she is fully healed and ready to start filming again, actress Patty McCormack will temporarily replace her first appearing on May 7.
On June 30, 2018, it was announced that Charleson is ready to return to GH after recouperating for 2 months. She will start filming her new scenes starting July 23.[8] Charleson returned on August 6, 2018.
Today Monica continues to appear on a recurring basis and is now board chairman at General Hospital.
Charleson was last seen on February 25, 2022. Monica was temporarily recast with actress Holly Kaplan for one episode on March 15, 2022.
On May 13, 2022, Nancy Lee Grahn said on Instagram that Charleson had a fall and will be out for a while but she will return.[9] Charleson's voice was heard as Monica on March 29, 2023 during the tribute episode for the late Sonya Eddy (Epiphany Johnson).
Monica grows up off-screen in an orphanage and was fostered by Dr. Gail Adamson Baldwin. However, Greg, Gail's husband took advantage of Monica and raped her. Gail remained unaware of this for many years but the two 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 GH, Monica had been engaged to Rick Webber. However, he had broken up with her and flew off to Africa where he became caught up 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.
Monica grew up in an orphanage and was fostered by Dr. Gail Baldwin. However, Greg, Gail's husband took advantage of Monica and raped her. Gail remained unaware of this for many years but the two 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 Winthrop, whom she gave up for adoption.
Just prior to her arrival on GH, Monica had been engaged to Rick Webber. However, he had broken up with her and flew off to Africa where he became caught up 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
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s
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 Program, believing that the couple had an idyllic marriage. However, the truth was that Monica had only married Jeff on the rebound. She was still deeply in love with Jeff's brother, Rick Webber, who had been presumed dead in Africa. Thus, the marriage collapsed when Rick was revealed to be still alive and Monica cheated on Jeff with Rick, while Jeff cheated on Monica with Heather Grant, with whom he had a son, Steve Webber. Jeff and Monica divorced in 1977.
Throughout this time, Rick had grown close to Lesley Faulkner and planned to marry her. Monica was devastated, and tried to put a stop to it, blackmailing Lesley into turning down Rick's proposal. If Lesley didn't, Monica would tell the hospital board of Monica's affair with Rick, denying him the opportunity to become Chief of Cardiology at General Hospital. During the argument, a pregnant Lesley fell down the stairs and miscarried. Lesley was despondent, and called off her engagement to Rick, hoping to save Rick's career. Meanwhile, Monica and Rick talk about how important the promotion is to Rick, and Monica realizes she cannot go through with her threat, but doesn't tell Lesley as much. Monica's found out when Lesley's daughter Laura's tape recorder is found to have caught Monica's threats 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 Hardy, 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.
After their 1978 wedding, Alan bought a mansion for Monica as a wedding present, and his family ended up living there as well. 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. Monica gave birth to a son, A.J.. Monica believed that Rick was the father and 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. Eventually, both Monica and Alan realized that AJ was indeed Alan's son and not Rick's. Monica attempted to hide this fact from Rick, but Alan eventually exposed the truth. Rick, disgusted with Monica's continued manipulations, left her and went back to Lesley. Monica felt that she had no other alternative but to stay with Alan.
Following their 'reconciliation,' Monica refused to sleep with Alan and insisted on separate rooms. Alan grew frustrated and in 1981, he embarked on an affair with Susan Moore, who became pregnant and gave birth to Alan's son, Jason. In 1983, Susan was murdered and Alan fought Susan's cousin, Heather (the same Heather whom Jeff had cheated on Monica with seven years earlier) for custody of the baby. Susan was a niece of Alice Grant who was Heather's mother. Monica was not pleased at having her husband's illegitimate offspring in the house at first, but eventually grew to love Jason as if he were her own. She later legally adopted him as well.
In 1986, Monica had an affair with Sean Donely, and kicked all the Quartermaines out of the Mansion. Alan concocted a bizarre scheme to frame Sean for his 'murder' and even went missing for several months as part of the plan. Eventually, Sean left Monica for Tiffany Hill, and Monica reluctantly reconciled with Alan and let the Quartermaines back into the mansion.
Monica went away to a spa resort and ended up sleeping with one of the workers there, a young man named Ward. To Monica's surprise, Ward turned out to be Ned Ashton, the son of her sister-in-law, Tracy Quartermaine, and thus, Alan's nephew. The two agreed to keep the affair a secret, but soon another secret of Monica's would come out. Monica's secret daughter, Dawn Winthrop turned up and began dating Ned. These two secrets proved at last to be the deathblow to Monica and Alan's marriage and the two divorced. Alan later married Lucy Coe in 1990.
Dawn was later murdered and Monica was devastated by her death. After Alan's marriage to Lucy also proved a disaster, Monica and Alan were drawn back together by their son A.J's rebellious behavior. In 1991, the two remarried and the next three years of their marriage were relatively calm, although the return of David Langton (Dawn's father), AJ's relationship with David's daughter Nikki and Alan's friendship with Rhonda Wexler did give the couple some cause for concern.
Monica's life was changed forever when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1994. Monica became despondent and began pushing Alan away, though Alan fought hard to give Monica the support she needed. During this time, Monica befriended Paige Bowen, a fellow sufferer of the disease. Monica was devastated when Paige died, but ended up adopting Paige's daughter, Emily. Finally, Monica went into remission, but she and Alan were drifting further and further apart.
By 1996, AJ's alcoholism, which had been developing for several years, culminated in family tragedy when he and Jason were in a serious car accident. AJ escaped relatively unhurt, but Jason was left with amnesia and brain damage. The family's attempts to make Jason remember alienated him from the family and he eventually rejected all of them including Monica in favor of working for local mob boss, Sonny Corinthos. As a result of all the tragedy in her life, Monica separated from Alan and longed to make herself feel better.
Monica embarked on an affair with Dr. Pierce Dorman,
which predictably ended in disaster when Dorman made false allegations of sexual harassment against Monica. In court, Dorman's lawyers brought up Monica's past indiscretions, including her affair with Ned and ended up winning the case. Monica was fired from General Hospital as a result.
On top of this, Monica had to deal with both AJ's alcoholism and Emily's drug addiction. Monica snapped and kidnapped Dorman, and threatened to give him a lobotomy. Only Jason's intervention stopped her from doing so. Eventually though, Monica was vindicated when Dorman was murdered and revealed to have been a drug dealer.
Monica was shocked to learn that Alan was addicted to painkillers and had become a junkie. She kicked him out of the mansion when he refused to get professional help and took over as chief of staff at GH. Alan's efforts to help kick his addiction took a toll on the marriage. However, When Alan saved the life of Mac Scorpio, after he had been shot at his club, Monica regained faith in Alan. Monica took Alan back when he finally got professional help for his addiction and returned to his old self.
Monica found herself concentrating on her children's lives. When Carly Roberts claimed that her son Michael was Jason's, Monica reached out to understand her estranged son so she could see her grandson. Monica's father-in-law, Edward Quartermaine, wanted to gain custody of Michael and thus Jason, who had been growing close to the Quartermaines was alienated from the family once again. Eventually, it was revealed that Jason was covering for Carly and that he was not Michael's father, but rather AJ's.
Alan and Monica briefly considered trying for another baby in 2001. They later decided to renew their vows only for Skye Chandler to turn up and claim that she was Alan's daughter. While Monica and Skye clashed at first, they eventually established a cordial relationship and Monica even allowed Skye to stay at the mansion after Tracy revealed that she wasn't Alan's daughter after all.
Alan's jealous side came out when later when Rick Webber returned to town to be part of Laura Spencer's upcoming wedding. Alan was livid to see his wife in several animated conversations with Rick and even more upset to see them dancing together at Luke's during a party for the hospital. He warned Rick to keep his hands off his wife, and Monica reveled in Alan's attention. Alan and Monica later reconciled after Rick was killed in 2002.
Emily returned home in 2003 with a secret of her own, she was suffering from breast cancer. Alan found out when Monica tried to have her treated at another hospital. Alan and Monica supported Emily and convinced her to seek treatment and were overjoyed when Emily managed to beat the cancer. Monica and the rest of the family were shocked to learn that A. J. had managed to empty the family's bank accounts and left town with the money.
Emily and Nikolas later announced their engagement and Nikolas had gone bankrupt as well. But their financial problems seemed to be over when Emily and Nikolas announced that they had found a sunken ship that had belonged to the Quartermaines several generations ago.
The ship had contained a lot of treasure and Nikolas and Emily planned to hire Sam McCall to salvage the treasure. Then the families would split it down the middle. Alan and Monica agreed to the split in order to support Emily, Tracy however pretended to go along with it but really made her own plans to pay Sam to give them the whole treasure. Sam later took off with the treasure herself.
The treasure came back to the Quartermaines when Nikolas and Emily were able to figure out where Helena, who had stolen it from Sam, had hidden it. The couple held an auction of the treasure with the intent of splitting the proceeds equally between their two families. Luke however stole the treasure and the PC hotel where the auction was being held caught on fire. The attendees had just started to evacuate when the firefighters closed down the elevators, leaving everyone left trapped in the auction room. Although Alan had wanted Emily to go in the first group, Monica persuaded him to go since doctors would be needed to help the injured. Eventually everyone made it out alive.
Later that year Lila died in her sleep. The whole family was grief stricken, However none of them could claim any of Lila's money for one month. Lila had left a stipulation in her will that a judge would award her estate to the person who acted the most virtuous in the next month. Monica and Alan were disqualified within the first week after they tried to conspire against the rest of the family.
In Summer 2004, A storm knocked out the power in the Quartermaine mansion, an accident on the road left everyone stranded for awhile, and then Sage Alcazar was discovered stabbed to death in the basem*nt freezer. The killer turned out to be Mary, who was after Emily in order to get Nikolas back. In a confrontation, Nikolas shot Mary to protect Emily. Mary was then institutionalized.
In 2005, AJ faked his death as part of a complicated plot to frame his ex-wife, Courtney Matthews, for murder and eventually kidnap his son Michael. Alan and Monica blamed each other for failing to show AJ enough love and attention and once again a rift began in their marriage. When AJ turned up alive and was subsequently murdered, Alan and Monica separated.
Monica also believed that she had witnessed Michael kill AJ and helped in the cover up, though eventually it was revealed that her grandson was not to blame. Alan blamed Jason for A.J.'s death, and paired up with Michael's therapist, Asher Thomas, to help get Michael away from Sonny and back in the Quartermaine mansion. Monica wanted to end their marriage over Alan's treatment of Jason and his handling of the whole affair, and vowed to leave as soon as he recovered.
Alan began acting secretive and Monica finally learned that his secret was that he knew that A.J. had wanted his brother Jason killed years earlier after the accident that left Jason with permanent brain damage. She wanted to leave him, even after his heartfelt confession that he had saved Jason from certain death that night, even though he couldn't be sure how it would turn out. Alan felt like he was given a new chance with Jason when an experimental drug left Jason with complete amnesia, and tried desperately to get his son to come home, but Monica told him the truth. Monica and Alan eventually patched up their differences and decided to remain married.
Alan and Monica were extremely concerned when Emily moved in with Sonny Corinthos. Emily claimed she was only helping Sonny with his children, but Monica and Alan believed a romantic relationship was developing. When Emily turned down an offer from Monica to assist on a rare procedure to spend time with Sonny instead, they confronted her Alan threatened to have her expelled from medical school if she continued to see Sonny and Alan banned her from the family home. Monica was relieved when Emily ended her relationship with Sonny and reconciled with Nikolas.
In Feburary 2007, Monica was frantic when many of her family were trapped and held as hostages inside the Metro Court Hotel. Jerry Jacks locked down the hotel and trapped everyone inside while he waited to open a briefcase from Lorenzo Alcazar. Alan suffered a heart attack while he was held hostage and was the only hostage released early. He collapsed as he exited the hotel and was taken immediately into surgery.
Monica performed surgery on Alan but she knew his chances at survival were slim due to the extensive damage his heart had suffered. She was able to profess her love for her husband one final time before he died. Just a few months after his death, Jason visited Monica and delivered the news that Emily had been murdered, by one of Jason’s enemies. Monica blamed Jason for Emily's death. Even though he was her only child left, she would not have anything to do with him, and turned to alcohol.
Monica's drinking led to her being sued for medical malpractice by her sister-in-law Tracy Quartermaine after a botched surgery that Monica performed on Tracy's husband Luke Spencer. Monica also drank while driving, and hit Sam McCall in a Hit and Run but since Sam decided not to press charges, Monica was sent to a rehab facility instead.
She continued to blame Jason both for her grief and her drinking problem because his job had cost her Alan, AJ, and Emily. Jason wanted to tell Monica about her grandson Jake, but Elizabeth adamantly refused to let him, and begged him not to tell her. Jason did insist that she go into rehab for her drinking problem or he would turn her in to the police. Monica apologized to Jason for the way she treated him over the past few months and told him she accepted him for who he was, he was her son, and she loved him.
Jason told he would help her and promised to be a better son in the future, and hired his lawyer Diane Miller to defend Monica. She pleaded guilty to Sam's hit and run and driving while under the influence, and went into rehab and served six months of community service. Monica made a complete recovery and she was given a unique gift on Christmas of 2008. She received a special pair of glasses that allowed her to see Alan. They quickly fell into their usual pattern of bickering and then exchanged words of undying love.
The next year Monica resumed her position as Chief of Staff at General Hospital. In January 2009 Monica, along with the rest of the operation room 2's surgical staff, were infected with an airborne toxin that Earl Braggs had placed into his stomach. She was taken to the ICU at Mercy, but was quickly released. Monica immediately took to newcomer Rebecca Shaw, Emily's twin sister, and shared with her her own breast cancer struggle. It was revealed Rebecca knew about Emily and planned to use her connection to Emily to con the Quartermaines and Nikolas. When Monica learned the truth, she stood by Rebecca and financed Rebecca’s pursuit of a new life outside of Port Charles.
Monica once again became a key player in the reconstruction efforts for General Hospital, which re-opened on April 23, 2009. In December 2009, she stepped down from her role as Chief of Staff, contacting former physician Dr. Steven Webber (the illegitimate son of her first husband Jeff Webber) to take over for her so that she could re-focus on her specialty of cardiology.
The Quartermaine Mansion became a full house once again in 2010 when Skye and Brook Lynn Ashton returned, as well as the arrival of Edward's great-granddaughter Maya Ward. Monica, Edward, and Tracy later tricked Brook Lynn into stealing from them, which prompted them to throw her out.
When Luke Spencer faked a heart attack to get back into Tracy's good graces, Monica held the information over his head, threatening to kick him out of the mansion. Monica was later absent from the 2010 Thanksgiving festivities at the Quartermaine Mansion. Edward told Michael that since Alan's death, the holidays are rough on Monica, so she was spending the holiday at a spa. Monica was also absent from Luke and Tracy's Christmas wedding.
Monica returned in 2011, and was utterly shocked when her sister in law Tracy revealed to her that the late Jake Spencer, who had been killed months before in a hit and run, caused by Tracy's husband Luke was actually her grandson. That same day, Monica slaps Luke over killing Jake. Monica confronted Jason and Elizabeth separately and shared her anger and sorrow over the opportunity she missed to be a grandmother. Jason apologized for his decision and promised to make more of an effort to include Monica in his life in the future. Monica later presented Sam with Alan's ring to give to Jason on their wedding day. She was thrilled when Sam announced a few months later that they were expecting a child and that she would have a role in the child's life.
When Robin Scorpio-Drake is named a suspect in the murder of Lisa Niles, Monica steps in as Chief of Staff once again. Robin is cleared of murder charges a few weeks later, but tells Monica that she does not want the job back and that Monica is the only one experienced and qualified enough for the job.
Monica feared for her son again when he suffered seizures and had to have brain surgery. Monica briefly imagined what Jason might have been like if he had never been in the accident and Alan never died. She realized his life may not have turned out any better and they may not have been any closer and she decided to accept who Jason had become. The following month, Monica and Edward were later thrilled when Michael, Jason and Sam joined them for Thanksgiving dinner.
On Christmas Eve 2011, Monica mentions that the bracelet she is wearing was the last Christmas gift Alan gave her and that he planned to give her one every year so it would eventually be a band. Tracy sends Alice to the store to buy a bracelet for Monica, but the store closes before she can get there. However, Monica receives a mysterious present under the tree, and it is a bracelet identical to the one Alan bought her.
In early February 2012, Robin Scorpio-Drake was presumed dead in an explosion at the hospital while trying to find a cure for Jason's head trauma. Monica and Sam agree not to tell Jason until he is better about Robin's death, that way it won't cause him to have a setback. Jason later made a full recovery after his surgery and Monica looked forward to her role as a grandmother to Jason and Sam's child.
She was heart-broken when Jason visited her and announced that his twin brother, Franco, had raped Sam and was the father of her unborn child. Monica reminded Jason that she was not his biological mother but she loved him regardless and that Jason would feel the same once he held Sam's child. She hoped that Jason would take her advice but instead she received word that Sam's child had died at birth. Monica was overjoyed when Sam's child was revealed to be alive and Jason decided to raise the baby, Danny Morgan,as his own. However the night Jason took his wife and son home with him, he was involved in a mob-related shooting at the pier and fell into the harbor after being shot. He was presumed deceased and Monica was forced to mourn another family member.
In the midst of the latest tragedy, Monica contacted someone and shared the news of Jason's death. The person was her son A.J.. It is revealed that Monica and Dr. Steve Webber had faked A.J.'s death in 2005. Seeing as A.J. was going to be sent to prison for shooting Alan and kidnapping Michael, Morgan and Kristina, Monica agreed to fake his death, and asked Steve to help her do it. No one, not even Alan, knew that A.J. had survived, except Monica and Steve. Monica was ecstatic when A.J. came to visit after the death of Jason but she asked him to leave town immediately before anyone else learned he was alive. A.J. disregarded her instructions and instead made contact with his son Michael.
A.J. is arrested soon after when Carly finds him alive. Tracy also has Monica and Alice arrested when they knocked her unconscious after she discovered A.J. was alive. A.J. is released on bail after Monica puts the house up as collateral. Meanwhile, Edward is ailing, and Monica takes care of him in his bed. On November 20, Michael, Sam, and Danny come over to say goodbye to Edward. Monica comes in just as Sam is introducing Danny to Edward, andreveals that Jason is Danny's biological father, and Monica is overjoyed when she hears this. Soon after, Edward passes away, and Monica says his last word was "Lila." In his will, Edward left 5% of his ELQ Enterprises shares to Monica.
After Edward's passing, Monica encouraged A.J. to rebuild his relationship with Michael and she supported his decision to date Elizabeth Webber. Monica also helped A.J. gain enough votes to overtake Tracy as the CEO of ELQ. She was overjoyed to see A.J. in such a positive place with Elizabeth and Michael in his life.
However Monica's joy was short lived after Tracy ousted A.J. at the helm of ELQ upon the release of information that he allegedly murdered Connie Falconeri. A.J. turned back to alcohol and was arrested for Connie's murder. As a result of A.J's arrest, Monica lost her position as Chief of Staff at the hospital. Although A.J. was found not guilty he was still unable to recall if he had killed actually Connie while intoxicated, because of this Elizabeth ended their relationship.
Monica desperately tried to help A.J. get his life back on track but her efforts were unsuccessful. A.J. continued to drink until he was shot and killed by Sonny. Monica was forced to mourn the death of yet another child and wished that she could join her children and husband in the afterlife. In her grief, she was visited by the spirits of Emily and A.J., who tried to bring her peace and encouraged her to carry on the Quartermaine torch if not for herself, then for Michael and Danny's sake.
