A long-running popular US daytime soap detailing the professional and personal lives of the doctors and nurses working at Port Charles General Hospital in Upper New York.
Created by Doris and Frank Hursley, the show was a 30-minute programme when it first aired in 1963 and was not particularly well received by the public or critics at first.
Under the supervision of Gloria Monty, who took over as the producer in the late 1970s, the show’s popularity steadily grew, until in 1980 it was the top-rated daytime drama.
In 1976 the show was expanded to 45-minutes and was seen five days a week. It was then expanded to a full hour, five times a week, in 1978.
In November 1981, an episode that featured the on-screen wedding of popular characters Luke Spencer (Anthony Geary) and Laura Vining (Genie Francis) – with the wicked Helena Cassadine (Elizabeth Taylor) in the background – attracted more viewers than any other single soap opera in television history.
The show’s original cast included former major league baseball player John Bernadino (who died in 1996 and was the last original cast member still on the show) as Dr Steve Hardy; Emily McLaughlin (who died in 1991) as head nurse Jessie Brewer; Lucille Wall as head nurse Lucille March; Rachel Ames as Lucille’s sister, nurse Audrey March; and Ross Elliott (and then Peter Hansen) as lawyer Lee Baldwin.
Later the show moved into stranger areas with plots involving spies and such, and then in the 1990s, it switched to be a show that dealt with serious issues, such as AIDS, Cancer etc, with much of the action centred away from the confines of the hospital.
A spin-off from General Hospital launched in June 1997. The new series was called Port Charles and it focused on the lives of three characters from General Hospital – Scott Baldwin, Lucy Coe and Kevin Collins.
Not to be confused with an English series of the same name, General Hospital is the longest-running daytime show on ABC and on 17 April 2002, the series reached 10,000 episodes.
Dr Lesley Faulkner Webber
Denise Alexander
Dr Jeff Webber
Richard Dean Anderson
Audrey Hobart Hardy
Rachel Ames
Dr Steve Hardy
John Beradino
Head Nurse Jessie Brewer
Emily McLaughlin
David Hamilton
Jerry Ayres
Dr Tony Perelli
Michael Baseleon
P.J. Taylor
Robert Betzel
Rose Kelly
Loanne Bishop
Cal Jamison
Larry Block
Dr Gail Adamson Baldwin
Susan Brown
Susan Moore
Gail Rae Carlson
Dr Gary Lansing
Steve Carlson
Dorrie Fleming
Angela Cheyne
Ruby Anderson
Norma Connelly
Dr Alan Quartermaine
Stuart Damon
Mrs Alice Grant
Lieux Dressler
Tracy Quartermaine Williams
Jane Elliot
Dr Mark Dante
Gerald Gordon
Dr Adam Streeter
Brett Halsey
Lisa/Lana Holbrook
Janice Heiden
Lee Baldwin
Ross Elliott (1)
Peter Hansen (2)
Alan Quartermaine Jr.
Eric Kroh
Edward Quartermaine
David Lewis Helena Cassadine
Elizabeth Taylor Dr Noah Drake
Rick Springfield Jackie Templeton
Demi Moore Holly Sutton Scorpio
Emma Samms Suzanne Stanwyck
Adrienne Barbeau Blackie
John Stamos Janice Lomax
Shari Belafonte Eddie Phillips
Sammy Davis Jr Jennifer Smith
Sally Struthers Jake
Stella Stevens Helena Cassadine Elizabeth Taylor Reginald Durban
George Lazenby Agent Brighton O’Reilly
Billie Hayes Mariah Ramirez
June Lockhart Richard Simmons
Himself
Under the supervision of Gloria Monty, who took over as the producer in the late 1970s, the show’s popularity steadily grew, until in 1980 it was the top-rated daytime drama.
