Lila Quartermaine (Anna Lee)


 * Lila redirects here. For other uses of the name, see Lila (disambiguation)

Lila Morgan Quartermaine was a fictional character on the ABC soap opera General Hospital.

She was the wife of the late, Edward Quartermaine, and the matriarch of the wealthy Quartermaine family.

Lila often served as the rational party and peacemaker in the constant Quartermaine squabbles, and was adored by pretty much everyone she came in contact with.

The character was created in 1978 and, except for a temporary recast in 1994, was portrayed by Anna Lee from 1978 until Lee's death on May 14, 2004, making her last appearance on May 30, 2003.

The character was written out of the show in July 2004, said to have died peacefully in her sleep. Lila died when Anna Lee died herself.

Casting
Anna Lee originated the role of Lila in 1978. On January 7, 1993, Lee was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the first actress to receive a star while on a daytime drama.

On July 1, 1994, made her onscreen debut as the temporarily recast Lila until Lee's onscreen return on September 20, 1994.

In 2003, Lee was dropped to recurring status. Her last appearance was on May 30, 2003.

Lee was awarded the at the 2004 Daytime Emmy's, but died one week prior.

Storylines
Lila Quartermaine came to Port Charles with the rest of her family in 1978 when Alan decided to stay at General Hospital and bought a house in town. In 1981, Lila's first husband Crane Tolliver pays her a visit. He has proof that his and Lila's divorce was not legal, and therefore her marriage to Edward is illegal and all the Quartermaines are illegitimate. He teams up with Susan Moore, Lila's son Alan's former mistress (and Jason's mother), to blackmail the Quartermaines. Susan backs out, and Crane kills her. Crane himself dies shortly after. Lila legally marries Edward in 1983.
 * -|1970s-90s=

In 1986, Alan's wife Monica and her lover Sean Donely bankrupt the Quartermaines and Monica throws all of them out of the Quartermaine Mansion, of which she is the owner. The family moves in above Kelly's Diner, but Lila does little complaining. She founds her own business, called Pickle-Lila, which is a delicious relish that sweeps the country. This venture puts the Quartermaines back in the black. In 1989, When Edward disappeared into the Bermuda Triangle and was thought to be dead; Lila did not appear to be fazed as she preferred conversing with his portrait, which actually talked back to her. Lila was reunited with Edward in 1991, when their daughter Tracy discovered him playing beach bum in the Bahamas.

In 1992, Lila takes a bad spill and is badly injured. She opts not to have surgery, and therefore has to use a wheelchair the rest of her life. In 1993, Lila took on a personal assistant, Brenda Barrett. When the teenager's sister, Lila's grandson Ned Ashton's lover Julia, left Port Charles, Lila invited Brenda to live with them. In 1996, When Lila's grandson Jason Quartermaine was stricken with permanent amnesia after a car crash. Lila reached out and Jason only bonded with his grandmother and sister Emily. Jason later wanting to distance himself from the family, takes the name "Jason Morgan" as a tribute to her.

Ned Ashton asked Felicia Scorpio-Jones to write Lila's memoirs. Lila told Felicia about love letters Edward had sent her during World War II. Lila had given them to her cousin for safekeeping. In the process of writing Lila's memoirs, Luke Spencer and Felicia uncovered a family secret. They found out that Edward had killed Lila's fiancé and married her instead. Lila, however, revealed the truth. She said that Eliot had forced himself on her after discovering that Edward had been sending her love letters he signed as Eliot. So, Lila had hit him over the head with a fireplace poker, killing him. Luke and Felicia agreed to keep the truth a secret.

Tracy's 2003 return to Port Charles delighted Lila, that is until Tracy revealed that Skye was not really a Quartermaine. Disappointed, Lila kicked Tracy out of the mansion. She returned not long after with her teenaged son Dillon Quartermaine in tow.
 * -|2000s-10s=

2004 saw many changes to the Quartermaine family. The Port Charles Hotel, which the family had owned for many years, caught fire and burned to the ground trapping Edward, Alan, Monica, Tracy, Jason, Emily, Skye, and Dillon inside. The whole situation caused Edward to have a near fatal heart attack. Ned and Reginald were left to try and keep Lila away from the television, worried that the news would kill her.

One evening in July of 2004, Lila told Edward that she loved him before going to bed. She then died peacefully in her sleep. The entire family and town were shocked at her passing. The family continued to bicker as they dealt with their grief. The Quartermaines and the rest of Port Charles came together to say goodbye to Lila at her funeral. Even old friends Lee and Gail Baldwin, Lucy Coe, Kevin Collins, Robin Scorpio, and Amanda Barrington all returned home for Lila's funeral and many of her family members spoke of what a wonderful person she was. Emily then took over as family peacemaker and always encouraged Jason to have more contact with the Quartermaines, as a favor to Lila. As the family sings before Thanksgiving Dinner in 2012 the ghost of Lila appears with the ghost of Edward.

On April 1, 2014, A.J. dies and she returns alongside the ghosts of Edward, Emily, and Alan. They later escorts him into heaven as Monica watches on.