GH Exclusive: Wally Kurth On Leslie Charleson’s ‘Profoundly Touching’ Memorial

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The family, friends and colleagues of Leslie Charleson (ex-Monica Quartermaine), the beloved General Hospital star who passed away on January 12 at the age of 79, gathered on Saturday, February 22 to celebrate her remarkable life. Her longtime friend and co-star, Wally Kurth (who plays Monica’s nephew by marriage and one-time lover, Ned Quartermaine), had a key role in the ceremony, both leading it and providing live musical entertainment — including singing a song hand-selected by Charleson before her death. Soap Opera Digest spoke to Kurth about the emotional event.

In Loving Memory

Kurth’s role in the service began before Charleson’s passing. He explains, “When Leslie was in her final days, a few of us from the show, including Jane Elliot [Tracy Quartermaine], were on a [text] thread with Krista [Zampino], who was her aide and had been sort of her personal assistant for many, many years. She and Leslie were very, very close. So, when she indeed did pass, I believe Jane said to Krista, ‘Why don’t you ask Wally to [be involved in the service]? I think he’d be great.’ I thought I was just going to be asked to sing, but Krista asked me if I wouldn’t mind leading it, as well, and I said, ‘Okay!’ So, I led the ceremony. I opened, I sang two songs and then I closed it, and I also helped everybody [else who was speaking] through what they were sharing.”

Those personal anecdotes, he notes, “became very emotional for people, because Leslie was very, very dear to a lot of people, people that I’ve never met! Leslie and I had a really strong connection, but I had never been to her house, you know what I mean? And there were a number of people there, friends of hers, who said, ‘Leslie loved you, she talked about you all the time.’ And I was so touched by that because we never really hung out that much outside of work. But we were close when it came to General Hospital [Fan Club] weekends, and of course, we had the Quartermaine brunch every year [with fans]. Leslie and I were always bonded in that sense — I think we both regarded fans in the same loving, supportive way. Of course, we worked together, but [Kurth’s predecessor in the role of Ned] Kurt [McKinney] had more of a storyline with her when he first came to the show [in 1988], playing Ned the tennis pro who didn’t know that the older woman he was having an affair with was actually his aunt by marriage. Sadly, I didn’t get to play that out with Leslie. That would have been fun! I would have liked that. Leslie used to always joke about how she regretted it, too, and, you know, ‘Maybe we can try that again! How do we conjure up that storyline again?!’ It was very flattering.”

The event was held at the equestriancenter near and dear to Charleson’s heart. “Leslie really did have two families,” observes Kurth. “Her General Hospital family and her L.A. Equestrian Club family. She spent pretty much every hour that she wasn’t at the [GH] studio over there with her Andalusian horses. She was quite the equestrian, very accomplished; she won a lot of ribbons, a lot of awards. She was a really good rider. It was a passion of hers.”

When it came to song selection, Kurth consulted closely with Zampino. “I was going to sing a Jelly Roll song, because Leslie really liked Jelly Roll,” Kurth smiles. “But there was another song that Leslie actually told someone that she wanted to be sung at her funeral. Krista told me the song was, ‘Keep Me In Your Heart’ by Warren Zevon, and I wrote back to her and said, ‘I know that song!’ When that album first came out, I listened to that song and sobbed a number of times. I’d never learned the song, I never learned how to play it, but I learned it [for the service]. It’s so beautiful: ‘Keep me in your heart for a while.’ I played that song at the very end.”

Kurth opened the ceremony, “and then Steve Burton [Jason] delivered a beautiful, heartfelt prayer,” the actor recounts. “And then Krista came up and gave a eulogy, and then I sang Van Morrison’s ‘Into The Mystic,’ which I’ve always thought was a beautiful song.” Next up was a series of speakers who shared memories of their relationships with Leslie, including Elliot. “Jane shared wonderful, wonderful words,” says Kurth, “as did other people from her life. There were old childhood friends of hers that she was really, really close to, and some other people who spoke, once again just telling great stories about what a great friend Leslie was, how she would do anything for anybody. I think everyone was kind of like, ‘Wow,’ because we knew Leslie, but we didn’t know how much she impacted all these other people in her life. I think it was just that kind of a service that was just sort of really heartwarming, and everyone felt just connected even though we just met that day. When we left, we were like hugging each other, saying, ‘I’m guessing we’ll never see each other again, but it was so nice meeting you.’ ”

After a toast, Kurth closed things out with the Warren Zevon song Charleson had requested, “and it was the perfect song for the moment, especially since Leslie chose it,” nods Kurth. “I was very proud to sing those songs and to lead the celebration of her life.”

In addition to Burton and Elliot, the GH cast, past and present, was represented by Tamara Braun (ex-Carly; Ava, Days of Our Lives), Maurice Benard (Sonny), Ian Buchanan (ex-Duke), Lynn Herring (Lucy), Finola Hughes (Anna), Lisa LoCicero (Olivia) and Kin Shriner (Scotty). People who work or used to work behind the scenes at the show also attended, as did Christopher Damon, the son of the late Stuart Damon, who played Charleson’s GH husband, Alan Quartermaine, and was a dear friend of the actress’s. Teases Kurth, “I said to Christopher after the service, ‘You know, if your dad was here, he’d still be talking! He’d still be up there cracking jokes and we’d be laughing our asses off!’ He goes, ‘Oh, I know!’ ”

Kurth says he believes that Charleson was smiling down on the event. “I remember my mom saying, ‘The person who died doesn’t know who’s going to be there [at their memorial], but you should be there to support everyone and to honor their memory.’ But I disagree with my mother. I think there is something that is shared [at such an event] on a level that Leslie is aware of. I think it’s important to amplify a life lived on this planet with the universe and all of us coming together like we did was very healing, and it was just so profoundly touching — and that, we can carry with us for the rest of our lives, which is why the song was so perfect: ‘Keep me in your heart for a while.’ And that’s really all we can do, is honor the memory of that person that we share our life with, and it was a real honor [to be asked to lead Leslie’s celebration of life]. I was privileged to be handed that opportunity and that role. I told Jane, ‘Thank you for suggesting me. It was an honor.’ ”

As for his own most cherished memories of Charleson, Kurth says, “Leslie and I spent most of our time together, really, just sitting on the set, waiting to act together. She was just such a pro, and we would just laugh — she was such a great laugher! She was funny and smart and I never ever heard her complain. I know she did, but for some reason, her complaining didn’t sound like complaining! It was more like, ‘Well, that’s a legitimate complaint!’ I just thought she was a cool lady, and she went with the flow, and I know she stood up for herself when she had to. She was just solid. Such a good person.”

JILL JOHNSON/JPI

Gone But Not Forgotten: Kurth with Charleson at a 2006 GH Fan Club event.