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Denise Alexander and Tristan Rogers’ legacies will live on in Port Charles.
Following the deaths of the two beloved General Hospital stars — who portrayed Dr. Lesley Webber and Robert Scorpio, respectively, in the ABC soap opera — co-head writers Elizabeth Korte and Chris Van Etten recently told TV Insider that they plan to honor the late actors with tribute episodes dedicated to their characters.
“He is sorely missed, and we aim to pay tribute to Tristan and Robert the same way that we did for Leslie [Charleson] and Monica [Quartermaine],” the pair said of Rogers, who died at age 79 in August after sharing his cancer diagnosis one month prior.
As for Alexander? Van Etten, 35, continued of the actress, who died of natural causes at age 85 last month, “We want to make sure that we achieve the same goal that I think we have with the story of Monica’s passing. We want a story that will carry [Lesley and Robert’s] names into the future, so that we still feel Robert’s and Lesley’s presence for years to come.”
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Eight months after Leslie Charleson died peacefully in her sleep at age 79, the writers dedicated a two-part farewell to the actress and her character. During the September memorial episodes, everyone reflected on their history with Monica, including Jason Morgan (Steve Burton), Ned Ashton (Wally Kurth) and Drew Cain (Cameron Mathison).
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The writers emphasized how important it was to pay tribute to both the actors and the characters they spent decades portraying. In Charleson’s case, she embodied Dr. Quartermain for nearly 50 years.
“Monica was a pillar of General Hospital,” Korte, 62, explained to TV Insider. “She was the heart of the Quartermaines, and the Quartermaines are our crazy, awesome family. It was very important to show the whole crew, and especially, Jason and Tracy, both for those characters and for those actors.”
