General Hospital Icon Denise Alexander Dies at 85: Inside Her Legendary Soap Career
Marvelous – another daytime drama regular gets a one-way ticket to the afterlife, and this time it’s General Hospital icon Denise Alexander, who died at 85, per a family statement to People Magazine and Deadline. I hardly thought I’d ever miss a soap vet’s exit ramp this much, but here we are. Born Nov. 11, 1939, in San Francisco, Alexander spent more time in front of a camera than most of us spend in actual therapy. Let me spell it out so no one has to Google: she was the original Susan Moore, trading hospital gowns for mob ties in front of millions.
Her journey began on The Doctors in 1964, then hopped over to Days of Our Lives as Linda Patterson in 1967—because why not dip into every canvas this side of Broadway? But it was GH that cemented her legacy. Joining in 1979, Alexander transformed timid girlfriend Susan into a formidable mob wife, stomping through storylines until 1987. Never one to bow out quietly, she popped back from 2006 to 2010, because soap fans demand reruns of every catfight. Along the way she guested on Santa Barbara and Jack and Jill, even snagging a Daytime Emmy nomination for good measure. Deadline notes her nuanced approach turned her character’s angst into prime-time obsession, and People Magazine highlights her magnetic presence off-camera.
Naturally, the internet blew up faster than a catfight cliffhanger. #SusanMoore trended as fans shared grainy childhood snaps and scene highlights—because nothing screams “legacy” like a looped crying face. According to her rep, Alexander passed July 17, 2024, at home of natural causes and is survived by two children who will presumably inherit VHS tapes stacked higher than your patience. Critics may wax poetic about her pioneering portrayal of power dynamics in a patriarchal soap world, but let’s be real: daytime dramas are built on recycled tears and dramatic gasps. Still, you can’t deny she made those tears compelling. I told you so when I mentioned nothing ever really leaves daytime TV. She’s gone, yet her plot twists will haunt budget meetings and streaming algorithms for years. Did anyone expect a different outcome? No? Thought so. And that, dear reader, is why we can’t have nice things.
Sources: Celebrity Storm and People Magazine, Deadline
Attribution: Creative Commons Licensed
