The news of General Hospital star Denise Alexander’s death wasn’t announced until May 2025, but she had died a few months earlier on March 5. The beloved actress began appearing on GH in 1973 as Dr. Lesley Williams, and she played the part up until 2021.
General Hospital, remembering Denise Alexander
Alexander was born on November 11, 1939, in New York City. She began her career acting in radio series including I Remember Mama and Perry Mason. While known for her lengthy run in daytime, Alexander acted in several TV shows, starting with The Ford Theatre Hour in 1949.
Her first soap opera was The Clear Horizon, which told stories about the lives and loves of astronauts and their families. Michael Fox (ex-Saul, The Bold and the Beautiful) appeared on the show, which aired live.
Alexander went on to play the part of Susan Martin on Days of our Lives. Susan went on trial for murdering David Martin, her her husband, following the accidental death of their son, Dickie. (David was pushing Dickie on a swing when he fell, hit his head, and later, died.)
In 1973, Alexander joined the cast of GH. Her moved to Port Charles not only made headlines but it was serendipitous as she had appeared in a pilot for GH (titled “Emergency Hospital”) in 1962, a year before GH debuted.
Alexander was nominated for a Daytime Emmy in the category of Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, but her star on GH truly took off in 1978 when head writer Douglas Marland was the show’s top scribe. He crafted a tale in which Lesley’s daughter, Laura (Genie Francis), accidentally killed her older lover, David Hamilton (Jerry Ayres). Dr. Lesley Webber took the fall for the killing in an effort to protect Laura, who had blocked the incident from her mind.
Alexander also shined in the complicated love quadrangle featuring Lesley, her husband, Rick (Michael Gregory; Chris Robinson), Monica (Leslie Charles), and Alan (Stuart Damon). Rick, divorced from Lesley, was thisclose to marrying Monica, but then he found out that he was not the father of her son, A.J. (Sean Kanan). Lesley gave Monica an overdue slap in the Quartermaine courtyard after the revelation! The following year, Rick and Lesley remarried.
In 1983, Francis returned to GH (following Laura’s escape from Cassadine Island), and the reunion between Lesley and Laura left not a dry eye on the house!
Life after GH and life again at General Hospital
Following her exit from GH in 1984, Alexander created the role of Mary McKinnon (AKA Marissa LaSalle) on Another World in 1986. She stayed in Bay City for three years.
Late historian Christopher Schemering, author of The Soap Opera Encyclopedia (1987), wrote that Alexander was “Probably the most consistenly popular romantic heroine in the history of television soaps.”
Although Lesley had “died in a car wreck in 1984 (after contract negotiations with GH hit an impasse), Alexander, thanks to TV daughter Francis, was brought back to the show. Stefan Cassadine (Stephen Nichols) prevented Helena (Constance Towers) from killing Lesley, and spirited her away where she remained in a catatonic state for nearly 12 years.
In time, Lesley regained her faculties, and remained a presence (on and off) in Port Charles. She supported Laura and Laura’s children, especially Nikolas (the late Tyler Christopher) after Emily’s (Natalia Livingston) murder.
In 2013, GH revisited Lesley and Monica’s dynamic when Lesley “borrowed” a computer at General Hospital to check out Luke’s (Anthony Geary) medical records for Laura.
In one of her final appearances on GH in 2021, Lesley blasted imposing Cyrus Renault (Jeff Kober), after she came up him verbally accosting Laura.
At the Daytime Emmys last year, Alexander was included in the show’s In Memoriam. The GH writers have said that there will be a tribute episode to Lesley in the future.
