leslie's articles & interviews

Not A Dry Eye On The Set
Oakland Tribune - July 17, 2004

The tears shed this week on "General Hospital" required no acting from the cast.

Last month, when cameras rolled on the set of the ABC daytime drama as it prepared to say goodbye to matriarch Lila Quartermaine and her portrayer, Anna Lee, everyone in the soap's acting troupe braced themselves for an emotional day at the office.

Lee died of pneumonia at age 91 in May. On Wednesday's episode, viewers learned that Lila, a fixture on the series since 1978, died in her sleep. A two-day tribute to Lee and her beloved character aired Thursday and Friday.

"It absolutely transcended acting for us," says "General Hospital" actress Leslie Charleson of taping the emotional on-air memorial service scenes. Charleson has portrayed Dr. Monica Quartermaine on the series since 1977 and off-screen was a close friend of Lee's.

"The (Lila memorial) scenes had been scheduled at the end of the day, and I had to go first with Monica's tribute to Lila. It was pretty much impossible to completely separate my feelings from Monica's while we were shooting. It all just came rushing out."

Stuart Damon, who portrays Dr. Alan Quartermaine, Charleson's screen spouse of nearly 30 years, says the scenes were not rehearsed.

"I don't know that we could have gotten through it if we had rehearsed," says Damon. "Even the writers were crying."