Denise Alexander is an American actress, best known for her role as

Lesley Webber Lesley Webber is a fictional character from ''General Hospital'', an American soap opera on the ABC network. Actress Denise Alexander played the role from 1973 through February 28, 1984, as a series regular, and from 1996 to 2009 in a recurrin ...

on ''

General Hospital ''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the list of longest-running television shows by category, longest-running American soap opera in pro ...

'', a role she originally played from 1973 to 1984 (contract), 1996 to 2009, and a guest stint in 2013, in honor of the show's 50th anniversary. Alexander returned to General Hospital for two other guest appearances in December 2017 and April 2019, the latter to commemorate the 56th anniversary of the show. She then reappeared in early 2021.

Life and career

John Beradino Denise Alexander General Hospital 1973

Alexander was born in New York City on November 11, 1939 and raised on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

. She moved to Los Angeles when her father, Alec Alexander, an agent who handled such notables as Frank Gorshin and

Sal Mineo Salvatore Mineo Jr. (January 10, 1939 – February 12, 1976) was an American actor, singer, and director. He is best known for his role as John "Plato" Crawford in the drama film ''Rebel Without a Cause'' (1955), which earned him a nomination f ...

, decided to make the switch from the East to the West Coast. Alexander had appeared on TV and radio by the time she was a junior at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

. She made her feature movie debut at age fourteen in the

Don Siegel Donald Siegel ( ; October 26, 1912 – April 20, 1991) was an American film and television director and producer. Siegel was described by ''The New York Times'' as "a director of tough, cynical and forthright action-adventure films whose taut ...

film ''

Crime in the Streets ''Crime in the Streets'' is a 1956 film about juvenile delinquency, directed by Don Siegel and based on a television play written by Reginald Rose. The play first appeared on the Elgin Hour and was directed by Sidney Lumet. The film, starring J ...

'' starring

John Cassavetes John Nicholas Cassavetes ( ; December 9, 1929 – February 3, 1989) was an American actor, film director, and screenwriter. First known as a television and film actor, Cassavetes also helped pioneer American independent cinema, writing and dire ...

. In 1962 Alexander appeared as Mildred Kroeger on the first season of the TV western '' The Virginian'' on the episode titled "Impasse." Alexander first broke into the soap opera genre by playing Lois Adams on ''

The Clear Horizon ''The Clear Horizon'' is an American soap opera which ran on CBS Daytime from July 11, 1960 to March 10, 1961 and February 26 to June 15, 1962. Manya Starr created the program and was its head writer. Premise ''The Clear Horizon'' (titled ''The ...

'' in 1960. Her big break on soaps came via the role of Susan Hunter Martin on ''

Days of Our Lives ''Days of Our Lives'' (also stylized as ''Days of our Lives''; simply referred to as ''Days'' or ''DOOL'') is an American television soap opera that streams on the streaming service Peacock. The soap, which aired on the American television net ...

'' from 1966 to 1973. In 1973, the character of Susan was written out of the show temporarily during contract negotiations with Alexander.

ABC Daytime ABC Daytime (sometimes shortened to ABC-D or ABCD) is a division responsible for the daytime programming block on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC Network and syndicated programming. The block has historically encompassed soap operas, game ...

rushed to offer her a then-unheard of salary/perks package to join ''General Hospital''. When Susan finally returned to ''Days'', a new actress,

Bennye Gatteys Bennye Gatteys (born November 20, 1940) is an American singer and actress who appeared in many anthology television series and soap operas. Early life Gatteys grew up in Dallas, Texas. The unusual spelling of her first name is because her paren ...

, played her. Alexander's role on ''General Hospital'', Dr. Lesley Williams, became a long-running role. She stayed with the show for eleven years as one of the show's most popular leading ladies, leaving in 1984 after a contract dispute. In 1986, she was offered a big salary to portray McKinnon matriarch, Mary, on '' Another World''. When the commute from her home in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

to ''Another Worlds studio in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

proved to be difficult for her, she left the show, filming her last scene in 1989, but briefly returned for a guest appearance in 1991. In 1996, she returned to the role of Lesley (brought back from the dead after almost 13 years) on ''General Hospital'', which she continued playing on a recurring basis until 2009 when the character simply faded from view. She reprised the role in time for the show's 50th anniversary in 2013 and remained on canvas as a recurring character throughout that year. Alexander reprised her role on ''General Hospital'' in late December 2017 for a short stint, and also for one episode in April 2019 for the show's 56th anniversary. She also reprised the role in early 2021.

Personal life

Alexander is married to television director and actor Richard A. Colla.

Filmography

In November 1949, Alexander played Perry Como's daughter on ''Perry Como's Chesterfield Supper Club'' on NBC. It was a Thanksgiving-themed show with guest Raymond Massey portraying Abraham Lincoln.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Denise Actresses from New York (state) American soap opera actresses American film actresses American television actresses Living people People from Long Island University of California, Los Angeles alumni 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Year of birth missing (living people)