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Learn about your favorite General Hospital
characters!
Lila Quartermaine
Played by Anna Lee
Lila Quartermaine was a sweet lady that everyone in town loved and respected.
She was the head of her family, so people knew not to mess with her,
particularly her husband Edward; he bosses around everyone one else but he
knew he couldn't do
that with Lila. They were
married a very long time. The actor who originally played Edward was older,
and he got sick and had to leave the show. The current actor, John Ingle, is
much younger, so Lila (played by Anna Lee) looked older than Edward
for awhile, which was a bit odd for long-time viewers.
Lila's children are Alan and Tracy. Tracy
was always very difficult, craving more love and attention from her father
than he could give. She and Lila were nothing alike. Alan and Lila were very
close, although she would definitely tell him when he was doing wrong.
Lila's grand-children were Emily,
Ned, Jason and
AJ She doted on her children and grand-children.
AJ was frequently a disappointment. When Jason got brain-damaged,
she was the only member of the family that did not judge him or expect
anything out of him, so that's why he took her last name "Morgan" instead of
Quartermaine. Lila also loved her daughter-in-law,
Monica, and her grand-daughter-in-law, Lois.
Lila and the other Quartermaines
were on-screen a lot in the 80's and 90's. She was the traditional
wife on the show, but she was never the type to just sit around and knit. Besides
running the huge mansion and heading the family, she was constantly involved in
charity work.
At one point, the Quartermaines were in financial trouble and had to move out of
the mansion. Lila got the family back on their feet by starting her own
business, Pickle-Lila, with her maid Stella.
Lila had to sit by and watch the family’s terrible problems, but she was
always there to support them when they are doing right and to chastise them when
they needed it. She kept Edward in line when necessary (and when she knew about
his misdoings). Butler Reginald was her friend and pushed her wheelchair; he also kept
her informed of what was going on, much to Edward's consternation.
Edward also didn't like how Lila likes to flirt with some of the town's
best-looking men, such as Sonny and
Luke. Everyone, even mobsters, respected her.
The Quartermaines were first on GH in 1978 when Alan was at the hospital and had
a
relationship with Monica. He was only supposed to be in town a short time
because his family was in Southampton. Alan and then his whole family returned shortly
to live in Port Charles.
Lila was previously married to Crane Tolliver. Crane arrived in town in 1983 to
let Lila know that their
divorce had not been legal, which meant that her
children were all illegitimate. That turned out to be a lie told by
Crane, who was trying to blackmail the wealthy Quartermaines. Also, Lila found
out that same year that Edward had an illegitimate son, Jimmy Lee, from a
previous lover. Later, we also found out that Edward had fathered a child by
African-American singer Mary Mae (during the war), but her son, Bradley, had
been murdered before everyone found out. His son, Justus, was reluctantly
welcomed into the Quartermaine family for a time, but he soon got tired of being
ordered around by Edward.
Because of Edward and Lila's ages, their characters have not really been made
three-dimensional by the writing (soaps tend to focus more on younger
characters). It's only the acting that has given the characters any depth at
all.
They started writing out Lila in the late 90's. When the actress died, they did
have a great funeral for her on GH. Many of her friends and family, including
ones that had left the show like Robin, Kevin, Lucy and others, came to her
funeral, which lasted over three days and had many great clips from the past. It was better than the way she had ever
been treated on the show when she was still alive.
Eventually, they wrote out most of the Quartermaines by either killing them off
or having them leave town. Jason, Edward, Michael and Tracy are the only ones
left.
Proofread by Laura on 1/3/11
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Page updated 4/29/12
 
  
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