Tracy Quartermaine (Jane Elliot)

Tracy Quartermaine Spencer (formerly Ashton, Williams, Hornsby & Soleito) is a fictional character on the popular ABC soap opera, General Hospital. She is played by actress Jane Elliot, who originated the role in 1978 and has played her intermittently since that time, primarily on GH (1978–1981, 1989-1993, 1996, 2003–present) and briefly on The City (1996–1997). Briefly in 1989, while Jane Elliot was on maternal leave, Christine Jones took on the role.

Tracy is the spoiled, rich and often badly behaved daughter of the wealthy Edward Quartermaine and Lila Morgan Quartermaine. She has two sons, Ned Ashton (via marriage to Lawrence Ashton) and Dillon Quartermaine (via marriage to Paul Hornsby), a stepson Lucky Spencer (via current marriage to Luke Spencer), a stepdaughter Lulu Spencer (also via marriage to Luke), and one granddaughter, Brook Lynn Ashton (via Ned Ashton). She is currently married to Luke Spencer. Her birthday is April 6.

Background
Tracy was a divorcée and neglectful mother when she debuted on the show. The show established that she had married young to Lord Lawrence "Larry" Ashton and had a son, Ned. When she divorced Larry Ashton, Ned spent a great deal of time with his grandparents or at boarding school while his mother focused on travel or her social life. She was a more involved mother to Ned's much younger half-brother, Dillon. Tracy took Dillon with her to Europe to avoid being charged with a hit and run accident and to keep Dillon's father, Paul Hornsby, from taking custody. She succeeded in keeping Paul out of Dillon's life and raised the boy mainly in Europe. At one point, she lived in the SoHo district of New York City, where she was briefly married to mafioso Gino Soleito. She returned to Port Charles with a teenage Dillon and left him with her parents.

Most of her stories over the years have focused on her unsuccessful attempts to find love, her determination to gain power in ELQ, the family company, and her attempts to one-up family members who have tried to displace her or her sons in the family company or in her father's affections. While Tracy wanted to get giddy with her father, Edward, he still had his eyes on his son and deemed favorite, Alan Quartermaine.

1977-1980
Tracy arrived on the scene of Port Charles in 1978 as the sinister and evil daughter of Edward and Lila Quartermaine. The Quartermaines had resided in Port Charles for just over a year when Alan's little sister, Tracy began to cause trouble for Alan and his wife Monica Webber. She was fueled to cause trouble and mayhem when her first marriage to Lord Larry Ashton failed and she discovered that Monica was having an affair with her first love, Rick Webber. Her mission was to determine that Monica's unborn child was indeed not a Quartermaine heir, but rather a Webber heir. This was a problem as both Monica and Rick were married to other people at the time, Monica to Alan Quartermaine and Rick Webber to Lesley Williams, mother of Laura Vining Webber-Spencer.

Tracy married Mitch Williams, a mod attorney with an interest in politics. After Alan and Monica's son Alan, Jr. was born, Monica signed a hospital deposition at the hospital about what happened during the Lassa Fever. One such event was the event that she and Rick. Rick, being on to Tracy's crap, added to Tracy's intention by letting off the idea that there was much to know from reading Monica's deposition. She was finally able to get some headway when she suggested that there should be a paternity test to prove that Rick was Alan, Jr's father and not Alan, Sr. This was supposed to secure Ned Ashton's place as heir of Edward Qaurtermaine's heir. But Edward was not so amused by Tracy's actions. He spelled Tracy out of his will. To this Edward gives Tracy a last chance to prove her loyalty to Quartermaines by allowing to let her help him when he has a "heart attack". When she fails the test miserably, he admits it was a test and he renounces her as his daughter. With that she sneered at the fact that her son was an heir but not Monica's son. All the while, Tracy's husband is cheating on her with Susan Moore, Alan's later mistress and biological mother of Jason Morgan.

1989-1993
Upon financial need and assistance from her mother Lila, Tracy returned to Port Charles in 1989, just a year after her son, Ned Ashton returned. Upon her return, her first husband Lord Lawrence Ashton was introduced to the scene with his new wife. At the same time, Tracy was reunited with several old friends, including Nikolas van Buren, a fellow con man, just like Tracy. However, Tracy was more concerned about the impending romance between Alan and his friend, Lucy Coe, who became an instant enemy of Tracy's. At the same time that Alan was having an affair with Lucy Coe, Monica was having an affair with Ned Ashton, Tracy's son. Tracy became suspicious of Monica after Alan implied that Ned was creeping with Monica. Not believing that Ned came on to Monica, but indeed the other way around, Tracy defended her son. Tracy also rubbed the affair in Monica's face.

Lord Larry was spending up Tracy's family's money. His adventures led him to the lost civilization, known only as "The Quest". This allowed Tracy and Larry to be civil to each other, for the most part. Tracy was far more interested in Ned's affairs rather than Larry's or the rest of the family.

In 1989, Tracy and the rest of the Quartermaines faced tragedy when it was confirmed that Edward Quartermaine's jet had crashed in a desert island. The news grieved everyone including Lila and Tracy, who was determined to find out what had happened to Edward and his jet. Also in 1989, Tracy was accused of the murder of a man that was later turned out not to be dead at all. Scoot Baldwin was her attorney and later became her romantic flame. At the same time that all of this was happening, both Alan and Tracy were fighting for ownership of ELQ, the family company. As a result of her actions, Alan blackmailed Tracy into resigning from the family company.

In the early 1990s, Tracy and Larry tried to figure out the secrets of her then sister-in-law, Lucy Coe. It was later revealed by Larry that Lucy was pregnant with the child of Scotty Baldwin in luau of Alan Quartermaine. This resulted in divorce for Alan and Lucy and a quick reconciliation for Monica and Alan. Also, Tracy kicked Ashton out and he left town forever. Later on, Tracy became enticed with Paul Hornsby, a young man who had no interest in her whatsoever, but instead infatuated over Jenny Eckert, a distant cousin of Luke Spencer and then wife of Ned Ashton.

Tracy found Jenny to be a threat to her happiness with Paul. Tracy had decided to dig up some information on her to keep her away from Paul. However, Paul found out what had been going on and decided to leave Tracy with their son, newborn baby Dillon Hornsby. In a moment of rage, Tracy made a mistake and ran over Jenny Eckert with her car and fled the scene of her car. Later on, Jenny remembered that it was Tracy she had seen behind the wheel and blackmailed her into getting a divorce from Paul and dividing the custody with Paul of Dillon. Tracy did most of the terms, but in the end, was forced to vacate the Quartermaine house. Edward Quartermaine decided that she should take a long vacation until everything dies down with the family company. Tracy was supposed to take and give Paul Hornsby joint custody of Dillon and share parentage with him, but because she did not like Jenny Eckert and what she did to Ned, she took Dillon with her to Europe. With that, Dillon and Tracy left the scene for three years.

1996-1997; Life in The City
Tracy returned to Port Charles in 1996 and packed quite a punch. Tracy returned with hopes of taking over the company from her son, Ned Ashton. At the time, Ned was leading a double life, one as a son and financier at ELQ, and another as a rock star, known as "Eddie Maine". However, she fell out of favor with the family and soon left town again. She blackmailed her old acquaintance Sydney Chase (Morgan Fairchild) into selling her the building located at 212 Greene Street, in the SoHo section of New York City. Living briefly with Dillon in the building's penthouse, she became involved with local mafioso Gino Soleito, whom she eventually married. Soleito died soon thereafter, and Tracy became—in her words—the crime family's new "godmother". Her new status served as the inspiration for a twisted joke on Thanksgiving Day 1997, when she sent of a group of her henchmen to Port Charles to rob her family at gunpoint and pretend to threaten their lives. In the course of the "joke" the prepared food was ruined, continuing a long-running streak of ruined Quartermaine Thanksgiving dinners which result in the family ordering take-out pizza.

2003;Tracy Returns with Dillon Quartermaine-Hornsby in Tow
In 2003, Tracy Quartermaine returned to Port Charles. This time she came with her now teenage son Dillon Quartermaine. The first time he has met their family, it was apparent to Dillon that they did not approve of him simply because he was Tracy's son. Tracy explained to everyone, including Skye, that she was a Quartermaine, by blood, and that was the distinction between the two of them.

Tracy blackmailed Skye for $5 Million when she told her about her true parentage.Tracy told Skye how Edward sold her on the Black Market right after she was born. Skye refused to give into her blackmail and ultimately revealed to the Quartermaines and Tracy's part in it. The entire family gets angry with Tracy and Lila kicks Tracy out of the mansion. When Tracy leaves town, she leaves Dillon behind with Edward and Lila.

Tracy returns to Port Charles in 2004 after Dillon is arrested. Since no one else is willing to bail him out of jail, his friend Sage Alcazar decides to call his mom, Tracy. By this time, the bond that Tracy and Dillon once shared began to tear and Dillon began to find out the exact kind of person that his mother really was.

Also, in 2004, Tracy was devastated by the lossof her mother, Lila Quartermaine. Tracy lashed out on the entire family once again before having a heart to heart with big brother Alan, Sr.

At the same time, Tracy begins scheming with the help of Jasper Jacks to take over control from her son, Ned Ashton. This included proving that Ned was corrupt and that Edward Quartermaine was not of sound mind. Edward, with the help of Luke Spencer and Skye Chandler-Quartermaine, eluded Tracy and Alan's plots to "take care of Daddy".

Also, Tracy plotted with Helena Cassadine to break up the marriage of Nikolas Cassadine and Emily Quartermaine.

Marriage to Luke Spencer; Tracy and the Spencer clan (2005-2008)
Tracy Quartermaine fell victim to a cruel prank, at the hand of her son, Dillon Quartermaine and his girlfriend, Georgie Jones for Luke Spencer. The plan was to get roughly $15 Million he planted in her bank account to bail Helena Cassadine out of extradition. Since Tracy Quartermaine did not want to give him the money, Luke decided to pull the ultimate prank on her. He would have Dillon call Tracy from Las Vegas and tell her that he and Georgie eloped. Knowing this would get Tracy to Vegas, Luke used this as an opportunity to manipulate Tracy's weakness: alcoholism.

Once Tracy arrived in Las Vegas, it was "too late"- the pair was married. This drove Tracy into a drunken fit. Luke Spencer offered to buy her a few drinks, which made them drunk. Since Tracy drunk more than Luke did, she was completely incapacitated when Luke proposed marriage and she accepted. The following morning, when she woke up in a Vegas bed, Luke revealed everything to Tracy and the conditions to ending their marriage from hell. 

At first her marriage to Luke was platonic, and it continues because of finances, but she is fighting romantic feelings for Luke, who continues to be devoted to his former wife and great love, Laura Spencer, who briefly came out of a catatonic state in late 2006. Tracy is currently dealing with her son Dillon's entanglement with his stepsister Lulu Spencer. She advised Lulu against having an abortion when she became pregnant by Dillon, feeling Lulu would eventually regret her decision but was supportive when Lulu did abort the baby. Tracy told Luke that she is relieved for Dillon's sake that he will not become a father while he is still so young. During the storyline, Tracy referred to her own "three pregnancies" and it was strongly implied that she had an off-screen abortion at some point in her life. Tracy is currently being haunted by her recently deceased brother Alan Quartermaine, who also serves as her moral compass, as she has no moral conscience.

In 2007, Luke and Tracy's marriage has moved more away from platonic and closer to love. Tracy helps Luke to try to maintain custody of Laura Webber. Her son, Dillon, and Lulu Spencer find evidence to suggest that Laura did not kill Rick Webber, but Scott Baldwin in fact did. Tracy and Dillon agree to keep the evidence of the revelation from Luke Spencer, as it will destroy Luke that he caused Laura's physical breakdown.  Tracy has also come to care about Lulu. Edward is up to no good and sends Tracy to a mental hospital after she talks to Alan in front of Lainey and also she found out that her only ally was Lulu.

Tracy discovered that Lulu's friend, Logan Hayes, is the son of Luke's enemy, Scott Baldwin. She has forbidden Lulu to see him but that has not worked. She has asked the Quartermaine's, Nikolas, Lucky, and Elizabeth to keep Lulu away from him. When Tracy decides to crush the family company, Edward Quartermaine has no choice but to let Tracy out of the mental house and she is the only person who can get through to her stepdaughter, Lulu Spencer.

With Tracy Quartermaine out of Shadybrooke, she can now focus on ruining Lulu's relationship with Logan Hayes. The first step is to get Scott Baldwin to admit that Hayes is his son. After receiving iron-clad proof that the two are related, Scott tries to get back into Logan's good graces. As it fails and Tracy is determined to get Luke back home, she offers Logan money to play nice with his father and regain good spirits with Lulu after using her to make Maxie Jones look good. Hayes rejects the offer and suggests to Tracy that Lulu will go back to him when she realizes how real their connection was but both are unaware that Lulu already agreed to Scott that she would give Logan a second chance. Upon realizing this, Tracy slaps Baldwin and resents him more for manipulating Lulu back into Logan's arms. This indicates that Tracy genuinely cares for Lulu's well-being. At the same time, Luke Spencer returns, pretending to be Tracy's masseur, Ramone, finding out that Tracy cheated on him with this guy. 

Upon Luke's return from hiding Laura Spencer from Baldwin, Tracy reveals to Luke what has happened with his daughter and Scott's son. Lulu at the same time gets mixed up with Jason Morgan and Johnny Zacchara, a mobster's son. Now, Luke and Tracy are teamed up to protect Lulu and her safety. Tracy has offered her to come back, but she declined. Luke has asked for Tracy's assistance in the matter, and she accepted,despite Ghost Alan  warning her against interfering with Luke's events. He exclaims to her that he does not want to be "damned to haunt the rest of the Quartermaines together...forever". In response to this, Tracy replies that he is a self-presumed hallucination.  Though Alan continues to haunt his troublesome sister, he still continues to serve as her conscience and sole guardian.

A few days before Halloween 2007, the Spencers received an invitation from Nikolas Cassadine for them to attend a fancy dress Black and White Ball, as it is in Alan Quartermaine's honor. While both Tracy and Luke sneer at the thoughts of that function, Tracy reminds him that if they want to gain leverage on Baldwin and Hayes alike, and keep an eye on Logan and Lulu Spencer, it would be a good idea for them to attend. 

At the actual function, she came late and did not actually appear at Windimere Castle. It was, however implied that Tracy was expected to be late, by Luke Spencer's admission. When she finally arrived at Wyndimere Castle, she was isolated by the burgeoning storm and she stood on the deck by herself for 90 minutes before getting up to Wyndimere. Alfred, the Cassadine family butler, mistakenly scared Tracy Spencer, allowing her to lose her balance and fall down an entire flight of stairs.Luke kissed her, thankful that she was alive and did not fall victim to Anthony Zacchara. He, Scott Baldwin, and Cooper Barrett rescued her from the collapse, while Tracy and Luke and Scott barricaded themselves in the master bedroom, where Luke vowed to "nurse her back to health". When Tracy offered for Luke to go search for Zachara, he told her that he did not want her to be his next victim. 

In 2008, Tracy filed a malpractice suit for her out-of-town again husband, Luke. The lawsuit was filed against her sister-in-law Monica Quartermaine, which resulted in a hospital brawl in the General Hospital elevator. Tracy told Monica not to operate on Luke because of her emotional strain against the deaths of Alan and Emily, however, she did anyway, and froze on the operating table.

Since Tracy filed the medical malpractice suit, she has been kicked out of the family's (esp. Monica's) mansion with frozen access to the family money. When Luke did return, she explained to him that she still loved him, but was not going to continue to be married to him. Luke told her that he was not going to give up on their marriage so easily, but she shrugged and left the monument which was their "Haunted Star Casino".

Recently, she and Luke Spencer left town because Luke was being investigated by his connections with the Zachara family, which invested in his Haunted Star Casino. The mob family left him to take the fall with the I.R.S. because he stole money from them. Afraid of what he would be up to, she agreed to leave with him. Tracy returned without Luke because he was not spending the money and enjoying their time the way that she wanted him to. Upon returning, she discovered Lulu in bed with Johnny and nearly forbade it from happening. Lulu, who has a soft spot for bad guys, shrugged off Tracy's request to stop seeing Johnny.

At this time, Monica Bard, Tracy's sister-in-law, is in rehab after being indicted in court for hit and run. Tracy has visited Monica and has learned that she is doing fine and is ready to return to work in a few weeks, which pleased Tracy. Tracy visited Monica in the rehab and asked for advice about how to save Lulu's life. Monica told Tracy that if she could turn back the clock, she would do everything to save all of her children, especially Jason. With that, she told Tracy that if she want to save Lulu's life, then she has to do everything in her power to drive a wedge between Lulu and Johnny. After that, she visited Johnny in his holding cell where she told him about her brush with the mafia. She explained to him that she was once a mob boss and she heard about how his father Anthony Zacchara murdered his wife, Johnny's mother. She told him that if he really cared about Lulu, he would let her go.

Tracy as Luke's Wife; The return of Laura Webber
In October 2008, when Lulu was in her darkest hour, Tracy had one of her 'men' track down Luke. He turned up in Mexico, so Tracy headed there, but not before blackmailing Edward into getting the money laundering charges drop. Once she's satisfied, she flies to Mexico. She soon finds Luke in a bar, of course, passed out drunk. The bar tender informs her that he's been there a while. She pours water over him, and tells him about Lulu's situation. They prepare to leave after Tracy pays the bar tab, but they're stopped by a police officer. Luke is wanted for destruction of property and not paying bar tabs. Tracy pays off the cop, and is frustrated when he soon returns for more cash. But what she doesn't realize is that it's a different cop; a much more honest one. He takes the money, and arrests Tracy for bribery. Luke tricks the officer, so Tracy doesn't go to jail! But in the end they both end up in jail. In November, it was announced that Laura had awoken from her coma. To this news, it is a question of whether ornot Luke will stay married to Tracy or go back to Laura, the love of his life. On November 20, Tracy will file for a divorce and leave Luke to be with Laura as she has his heart, not Tracy. Luke however told Tracy he loved Laura, but his love for Laura had changed, now Tracy was the only woman for him!

Luke & Tracy; The New Era
With a new dawning beginning as Luke proclaimed his love for Tracy, being unconvinced and stubborn, Tracy shut Luke out lying to him and making him believed they were already divorced. However, the obvious love between the two lead to many ploys by Luke to win the new love of his life back. This happened on New Year's Eve when Luke planned a surprise party for Tracy. Tracy thought that it was a stupid gesture and a waste of her time and money. They played roulette, Tracy asked Luke what Laura's Birthday was. He replied December 21st. Tracy then said that if the ball landed on 21 Luke will leave the country and give her a divorce but if it landed on 6 (Tracy's Birthday) she had to take him back. The ball landed on 6 and they bring in the new year with a passionate kiss.