Soap opera veteran Denise Alexander, best known as Lesley Webber on “General Hospital” and Susan Hunter Martin on “Days of Our Lives,” died on March 5. Her death has only now been revealed.
“I am so very sorry to hear of Denise Alexander’s passing. She broke barriers on-screen and off, portraying Dr. Lesley Webber – one of the first female doctors on Daytime Television – for nearly five decades,” “GH” executive producer Frank Valentini said on social media. “It meant so much to have her reprise her role in recent years and I am honored to have had the opportunity to work with her. On behalf of the entire General Hospital family, I extend my heartfelt sympathies to her family, friends, and longtime fans. May she rest in peace.”
Alexander’s acting career dates back to the early 1950s when she made her Broadway debut in “The Children’s Hour” and guest starred in such television classics as “Father Knows Best,” “The Twilight Zone” and “The Danny Kaye Show,” 1960 was the year that changed her career trajectory when she made joined the cast of the CBS soap, “The Clear Horizon.”
Two years later, she was a dayplayer in an ABC soap pilot called “Emergency Hospital,” which later became known as “General Hospital” — but not as Lesley Webber. Instead, she was cast as Susan Martin on “Days of Our Lives” in 1966, where she planted her roots for the next seven years. When she chose to leave the enormously popular soap in 1973, fans were not happy.
That is when Alexander joined “GH.” Ratings were not the best during that time, and ABC was looking to add exciting new characters and stories. Alexander’s Lesley became one corner of one of daytime’s hottest triangle — Lesley, Rick Webber (played by Chris Robinson) and Monica Bard (played by the late Leslie Charleson, who died earlier this year). Lesley was also up to her ears in trouble because she confessed to the murder of David Hamilton, a crime her daughter Laura (Genie Francis) committed. Her acting earned Alexander a Emmy nomination for outstanding actress in a Daytime drama series.
When storyline called for Lesley to be killed off in a car accident, fans once again were outraged. It wasn’t until 12 years later in 1996 that it was revealed that — in true soap fashion — Lesley was actually alive. In between the two soaps, Alexander appeared on NBC’s “Another World,” working opposite her former “GH” husband, Robinson.
Alexander last appeared on “General Hospital” in 2021.
