By Bianca Sierra
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS
Denise Alexander (November 11, 1939 – March 5, 2025) was an American actress best known for her role as Lesley Webber on General Hospital, 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.
Alexander died on March 5, 2025, at the age of 85. Her death was announced two months later, on May 9.
Alexander was born in New York City on November 11, 1939, and raised on Long Island. She moved to Los Angeles when her father, Alec Alexander, an agent who handled such notables as Frank Gorshin and Sal Mineo, 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. She made her feature movie debut at age fourteen in the Don Siegel film Crime in the Streets starring John Cassavetes. In 1962 Alexander appeared as Mildred Kroeger on the first season of the TV western The Virginian on the episode titled “Impasse.”
Her big break on soaps came via the role of Susan Hunter Martin on Days of Our Lives from 1966 to 1973. In 1973, the character of Susan was written out of the show temporarily during contract negotiations with Alexander. ABC Daytime rushed to offer her a then-unheard of salary/perks package to join General Hospital.
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.
