Monica Quartermaine (Leslie Charleson)

Dr. Monica Quartermaine, MD (née Bard; previously Webber) is a fictional character on the ABC soap opera General Hospital. The character was originated in 1977 by Patsy Rahn, but has been portrayed by Leslie Charleson ever since.

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.

In 2010, Leslie Charleston was taken off contract after 30 years. Today, Monica is Chief of Staff at General Hospital and continues to appear as a recurring character.

Off screen events
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
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 Programme, 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, 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, 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.

1980s
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.

1990s
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.

More family drama ensued in 1998 when Carly Roberts claimed that her son Michael was Jason's. 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. During this time, Alan had become addicted to painkillers, which caused another brief estrangement between Alan and Monica.

2000s
Alan and Monica eventually reconciled and briefly considered trying for another baby. In 2001, they 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 and Monica stayed stable for several years, even as drama occurred amongst their children. AJ lost custody of Michael to Carly and her new husband Sonny Corinthos, while Emily was temporarily paralyzed in an accident and later diagnosed with breast cancer.

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. Monica and Alan eventually patched up their differences and decided to remain married.

Both Alan and Monica were extremely concerned when Emily divorced Nikolas and 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.