Edward Quartermaine
Actor History
David Lewis (1978 to 1989; 1991 to 1993)
Les Tremayne (1988)
John Ingle (contract: 1993 to February 27th, 2004; April 18th, 2006 to present)
Jed Allan (recurring: March 1st, 2004 to 2006)
Occupation
E.L.Q. Shareholder and C.E.O. (on and off over the years)
Resides At
66 Harbor View Road (Quartermaine Mansion)
Marital Status
Single
Past Marriages
Lila Morgan (deceased)
Heather Webber (annulled)
Relatives
George Quartermaine (father; deceased)
Ida Zemlock (mother; deceased)
Herbert Quartermaine (brother; deceased)
Quentin Quartermaine (nephew)
Alexandria Quartermaine (niece; deceased)
Celia Quartermaine (paternal cousin)
Children
Alan Quartermaine Sr. (son; with Lila)
Tracy Quartermaine (daughter; with Lila)
Bradley Ward (son; with Mary-Mae; deceased)
Jimmy Lee Holt (son; with Beatrice)
A.J. Quartermaine Jr. (grandson)
Jason Morgan (grandson)
Justus Ward (grandson; deceased)
Emily Bowen Quartermaine (granddaughter; via adoption)
Skye Chandler Quartermaine (granddaughter; via adoption)
Ned Ashton (grandson)
Dillon Quartermaine (grandson)
Michael Corinthos III (great-grandson)
Brook Lynn Ashton (great-granddaughter)
Lila Rae Quartermaine (great-granddaughter; via adoption)
Flings & Affairs
Mary Mae Ward (deceased)
Beatrice LeSeur (deceased)
Janine Matthews (fake affair)
Heather Webber (kissed)
Crimes Committed
Covered up the murder of Lila's fiancé Elliot Thompson when Lila killed him in self defense years ago
Sold Skye Chandler at birth and arranged for her parents to think she had died
Faked a heart-attack as a test of loyalty for Tracy [1980]
Faked his own death [1989]
Arrested for the murder of Bradley Ward; innocent and later acquitted [1994]
Tried to kidnap his great-grandson, Michael Corinthos III.
Faked his own mugging to try and keep Emily away from Zander [2002]
Coerced Skye into a contract in which she agreed to help him ruin Jax [2002]
Faked a heart attack and then pulled his own respirator plug to make it look like Skye had tried to kill him [2002]
Plotted to take baby Kristina away from Ned and Alexis [2003]
Criminal Negligence; refused to shut down the P.C. Hotel, even after a security technician informed him that the hotel's electrical system was hazardous [4 February 2004]
Pretended to be senile to prevent his family from being affected by lawsuits following the P.C. Hotel fire [February 2004]
Impersonating a nun, he escaped General Hospital with the help of Luke and Skye [February 2004]
Escaped the Shadybrook Sanitarium with Luke Spencer's help [March 2004]
Attempted to bribe Dillon with a movie career in order to win his vote [16 March 2004]
Maladies and Hospitalizations
Had several heart attacks
Amnesia caused him to believe he was a beach bum [1989]
Stroke; faked a coma afterwards [August 2002]
Suffered a heart attack while Lucky Spencer was arresting him for criminal negligence [13 February 2004]
Admitted into the Shadybrook Sanitarium by a scheming Tracy [9 March 2004]
Brief Character History
Edward showed up in Port Charles in 1978, and moved into the house that
his son Alan had bought for his wife, Monica. In 1980, Edward decided to
test daughter Tracy's loyalty, by pretending to have a heart attack. He
created a will that would disinherit Tracy, but before he could sign it,
he collapsed on the floor. He pleaded with Tracy to give him his heart
medicine; she refused unless he promised not to sign the will. Tracy had
failed the test, and Edward banished her.
Edward teamed up with his niece Alexandria Quartermaine to make money
with her friends, Victor and Tony Cassadine. The plan involved finding
the Ice Princess. But the plan quickly got out of hand as the Cassadines
got a hold of the statue and took off to an island where their other
brother Mikkos planned to use the secret formula hidden in the Ice
Princess to take over the world. Luke Spencer thwarted the plan in time
and Alexandria wound up dead in the end.
Edward's next biggest problem arrived in the form of Susan Moore and
Crane Tolliver. Crane, Lila's first husband, had proof that Lila had
never officially divorced him. This meant that Lila and Edward weren't
legally married and Alan and Tracy were illegitimate. Susan, Alan's
former fling and the mother of Jason, blackmailed the Quartermaines with
Crane's information. When she was shot, the whole Quartermaine clan was
a suspect. However, the real killer was Crane, which was proven by Jimmy
Lee Holt, Edward's son by Beatrice LeSeur. Jimmy found the unsigned
divorce papers, which were taken care of and Lila and Edward were
married legally. Then in 1984, Beatrice appeared in Port Charles and
threatened to expose the Quartermaines' cover-up. But she dropped dead
at a charity gala, before she got the chance. Edward was suspected of
poisoning her, but it turned out Beatrice had accidentally killed
herself, by sipping Lila's heart medication. Edward discovered what it
was like to be broke when Monica and her new flame Sean Donely found
their way into ELQ's boardroom and took the company away from the
Quartermaines. Monica then threw the Quartermaines out of the mansion
and they were forced to live above Kelly's. But Lila rescued their
family by starting a new business she called "Pickle-Lila." Her new
relish earned the Quartermaines a new fortune and they were back in the
lap of luxury. In 1989, Edward disappeared, and was presumed dead when
he went on a fishing trip to the Bermuda Triangle. But first he rewrote
his will, leaving everything to Tracy's son, Ned Ashton, much to the
family's dismay. Two years later, Anna Devane found Edward playing beach
bum in the Bahamas and dragged him back to civilization. He teamed up
with Ned and got ELQ away from Paul Hornsby. In 1993 Edward banished his
daughter a second time, after Tracy ran down her daughter-in-law, Jenny
Eckert. Up to his old tricks again, Edward set his grandsons against
each other by loaning AJ money to buy into the Port Charles Hotel, which
was Ned's domain. In 1994, Edward was arrested and tried for the murder
of Bradley Ward, whose body had been discovered on the Spencers' front
lawn. Just as it seemed certain that Edward was going to be put in
prison for a crime he didn't commit, Bradley's mother Mary-Mae Ward took
the stand. She revealed that Bradley was Edward's son from the affair
that they had during the war. Edward was then acquitted. Though Edward
never knew his son, Bradley, his grandson, Justus Ward, was in Port
Charles. Justus and Edward formed a bond when Edward set up a foundation
to help businesses on Charles Street. Justus and Edward got along pretty
well for awhile.
In 1996, Edward became so anxious to shut down the singing career of
grandson Ned that he bought Ned's record company, L&B, right out from
under the noses of Ned's wife, Lois, and her business partner, Brenda
Barrett. But Lois got her company back with the help of Jasper "Jax"
Jacks, and Jax got a spot on the ELQ board, which did not make Edward
happy, especially when Jax teamed up with Tracy to take over ELQ. When
this plan came to light Edward banished his daughter a third time.
When Edward's estranged grandson Jason Morgan, fathered the first
Quartermaine great-grandchild, Michael Morgan, Edward became obsessed
with bringing Michael home. He even tried to kidnap the child. This plan
drove Justus from the family and into the mob with Jason. Growing
frustrated, Edward promised AJ the CEO position at ELQ if he could bring
Michael home to the Quartermaines. If AJ succeeded, Ned would be out of
a job. AJ couldn't believe his luck when Robin revealed to him that
Jason wasn't Michael's father because AJ was. Edward was thrilled as
well, but he was forced to eat his words when AJ was able to bring
Michael into the Quartermaine fold by marrying Michael's mother, Carly.
AJ threatened to leave with his new family if Edward didn't fork over
the CEO position. So AJ was appointed as CEO, and Ned left, telling
Edward that he would not come in and save the family again, especially
when the whole thing blew up in his face.
In the summer of 1999, Edward tried to keep a long lost family secret
from being found out by Luke Spencer and Felicia Scorpio (who was
writing Lila's memoirs). He also decided to ruin the plan between Chloe,
Lila's cousin who had recently come to town, and her newfound friends
Jax, Ned, and Alexis to fulfill the requirement in her uncle's will to
be married in order to keep her design company. Despite Edward and
Reginald's efforts, Luke and Felicia discovered what they thought was
the truth: Edward had killed Lila's fiancé, Elliot, and married her in
his place. Edward initially denied it, and then told them they were
right. But Lila refused to let her husband take the blame and revealed
the truth: she had killed Elliot. When Elliot found out Edward had been
romancing her while writing letters under Elliot's name, he tried to
force himself on Lila, and she hit him in the head with a fireplace
poker. He died and the crime was covered up by the family. Luke and
Felicia agreed to keep the murder a secret.
So Edward went back to trying to ruin Ned and Chloe's sham of a
marriage. He needed Ned back as CEO of ELQ, so he paired with Chloe's
aunt who also wanted to ruin Chloe's marriage. Edward planned to destroy
Ned's record company again and then Chloe's aunt would get her design
company, which had recently partnered with Ned's company. But Edward
couldn't seem to make his plan work and the foursome continually evaded
his efforts. When Chloe was the victim of a hit and run, Edward dropped
his vendetta against her marriage, but not his plans to get Ned back at
ELQ. However, Ned had no intention of returning to ELQ and managed to
thwart Edward's plans yet again.
Edward was floored to learn that the next addition to the Quartermaine
clan was not actually a Quartermaine, but a Corinthos. Carly had gotten
pregnant again and was pretending that the baby was AJ's. However, the
baby was really the result of a one-night stand with Sonny. All of
Edward's efforts to retain Carly and Michael at the Quartermaines failed
and all hope was lost when Jason produced evidence that AJ was
responsible for burning down Jason and Sonny's warehouse earlier that
year. Sonny used the evidence to blackmail AJ out of his parental rights
and into giving Carly a divorce. The Quartermaine family, especially
Edward, was furious with AJ for taking part in the fire and for losing
Michael. Edward kicked AJ out of ELQ and vowed to make AJ pay for what
he'd done.
With ELQ without a CEO (Ned would not come back), Edward made an odd
move in courting corporate raider Jax. Edward hoped that Ned would swoop
in to save the company like he had done previously when Jax tried to buy
out ELQ. But Ned remained true to his promise of not returning. Edward
had a stroke of luck when Jax forgot about ELQ to go after a drug
company to obtain medication for Chloe from Helena Cassadine. Jax sold
his shares of ELQ, which had come from AJ and Tracy, to Edward. Edward
then took over as CEO of ELQ.
More family crises and events unfolded over the next several months.
Emily was kidnapped, AJ returned to the bottle, and Ned announced his
engagement to Alexis. Emily's kidnapping proved to be the most intense
problem. She returned safely, but she had fallen for her kidnapper,
Zander Smith. Edward tried to keep them apart and even implored Alan and
Monica to do their part. They finally relented when Emily was nearly
killed in a shootout in front of the PCPD after Zander's release from
jail. Emily was sent away to boarding school amid load protests from
her. Lila sided with Emily and against Edward, as did the household
staff. Zander found Emily and they returned to Port Charles, but Emily
refused to live at the mansion. She went to live at Kelly's despite
Edward's attempts at preventing her. Desperate to keep Emily and Zander
apart, Edward faked his own mugging and blamed Zander. Zander was
arrested and Edward made a deal with Emily: stop seeing Zander and
Edward would get him released. But the truth about the mugging came out
and Emily continued to see Zander.
In 2001, Skye Chandler breezed into the mansion, announcing that she was
the daughter of Alan and Rae Cummings. Alan was dumbfounded that the
baby he thought had died was alive. Unbeknownst to Alan, Edward sold the
baby and had the doctor tell Rae that the child had died.
Edward welcomed Skye to the family, hoping to use her in his conflicts
with Ned and AJ, not realizing Skye had payback on her mind. After
various plots (including paying a lounge singer named Janine to lie that
she and Edward were lovers), she managed to gain enough voting power to
wrest control of ELQ from him. Edward, always suffering from a weak
heart, suffered another heart attack. During his stay in the hospital,
he grew close to his nurse, Melissa Bedford, who always listened to his
problems when his family wouldn't. He cut his family out of his will and
put her in. Alan began digging into her background and after repeated
requests, Edward took Melissa out of the will. He had also been
blackmailing Skye with the information that she had been faking her
attacks from Sonny so that Jax would rescue her. He wanted ELQ back and
demanded she give him the CEO spot or he'd spill her secret to Jax. But
Skye turned the tables and came clean to Jax first, ruining Edward's
efforts although he didn't know it. After making dramatic statements
about being prepared to die, Melissa comforted him. Later, Melissa was
discovered to be the Dr. Kevorkian of Port Charles, thus continuing
Edward's pattern of befriending unbalanced women (Katherine Bell being
the first).
When Jax sold controlling interest of ELQ to Lila, Edward hoped she'd
make him CEO again. But Lila told him that he would be co-CEO with Skye.
Edward had no choice but to accept Lila's decision. Edward and a stunned
Quartermaine clan welcomed AJ's new bride Courtney into the family and
Edward invited them to live at the mansion. He told AJ that he had to
keep Courtney happy in order for their plan to get Michael back to work.
But Edward was less than pleased to hear Courtney state she was not
ready for kids and that she hoped Carly, who had been in an accident and
was presumed dead, was alive for Michael's sake. Carly did turn up
alive, and Edward and AJ went back to utilizing Courtney in their fight
for custody of Michael and insuring that she remained devoted to AJ. But
AJ actually fell in love with Courtney, and he refused to continue his
plans to get custody of Michael. The newlyweds moved out and Edward
froze AJ's accounts, virtually bankrupting AJ and forcing him to find a
real job. Edward also bribed Courtney's mother into not giving any money
to the couple.
Edward then went to battle against Jax and used Skye as his pawn. He
played on her vulnerabilities regarding Jax and got her to sign a
contract with him stating that she would get him info on Jax's holdings
in exchange for being named the sole Quartermaine heir. Although she
felt somewhat guilty, Skye continued to get close to Jax and soon got
engaged to him. But by that time Skye wanted out of her deal with
Edward, who threatened to reveal her deal to Jax if she backed out. At
her engagement party, Edward argued with Skye over the contract and had
a stroke. He managed to taunt Skye one more time by saying he'd made
copies of the contract before lapsing into a coma. Uncertain of Edward's
chances of a recovery, Lila appointed Ned CEO of ELQ. Ned found a copy
of the contract between Edward and Skye and confronted her. He demanded
that she tell Jax the truth and she relented. Hurt, Jax broke up with
Skye. In a drunken stupor, Skye was afraid that she'd pulled the plug on
Edward's life support and went to Jax for help. Jax and Ned staged an
argument in Edward's hospital room and tricked him into coming out of
his "coma," which they knew was a fake. Edward then admitted that he had
pulled his own plug to set Skye up.
Edward wanted control of ELQ back from Ned and he also wanted the newest
Quartermaine heir, Ned and Alexis' unborn child, under the Quartermaine
roof. But Ned was not going to give up either of them without a fight.
Ned intended to use ELQ to go after Sonny Corinthos much to Edward's
dismay. Ned also didn't want Edward meddling in his child's life. As Ned
argued with Edward about the baby, Edward became suspicious of the
child's actual paternity. After hearing about Sonny and Alexis' one
night stand, Edward went to Sonny with the idea that he was the actual
father of Alexis' child. He tried to strike a bargain with Sonny to get
Michael back and arranged for a DNA test. But Ned had anticipated this
move and managed to make the test results reveal Ned as the father. His
latest attempt at getting Michael back thwarted, Edward returned to his
efforts to get ELQ back from Ned.
After seeing Ned conspiring with Faith Rosco in his pursuit of Sonny,
Edward tried to warn Ned off of using ELQ and of partnering with Faith.
But Ned wouldn't listen so Edward set out to teach Ned a lesson in going
against Edward's demands. He secretly partnered with Faith and they made
a deal for her to use Ned to get rid of Sonny. But Faith soon proved to
be a loose cannon concerning her desire to take out Sonny. After Ned
turned her down, Faith convinced Edward to finance her next move against
Sonny, which was to hire an assassin to take him out. When Edward
realized what she'd done, he wanted little to do with her.
When Alexis was put on trial for Alcazar's murder, baby Kristina went to
live with Ned at the gatehouse. But this wasn't good enough for Edward,
who wanted the baby under his roof and his custody. Edward partnered
with Scott to trick Alexis into revealing in open court that she was
faking her illness. Then Ned got full custody of Kristina, and Edward
plotted with Alan and AJ to lure Kristina's nanny away and then set fire
to the gatehouse so AJ could rescue her, but all the while Kristina
would actually be perfectly safe in the mansion. The plan nearly
backfired, first when Ned arrived unexpectedly and was nearly killed
trying to rescue the baby, and then when Monica threatened to turn them
all in to the authorities. But in the end Edward's plan worked and the
Quartermaines were awarded custody of Kristina. But soon after, Kristina
was kidnapped. Edward immediately fingered Alexis as the culprit,
especially since she was the person to discover her missing. However,
Edward didn't realize that Skye and AJ had taken the baby because Edward
hadn't delivered on his promise to give AJ more power at ELQ. Alexis
then took the baby from them and nearly fled the country with her. But
Kristina was later returned home by Emily and Zander who had found
Alexis and Kristina at Cameron's cabin after Cameron was arrested for
helping Alexis. Alexis confessed to kidnapping Kristina to keep Emily
and Zander out of jail. Then Cameron got Scott and Edward to back off
Alexis by blackmailing them with the original arson report on the
gatehouse fire and proof that Edward had been paying off Scott to help
him. Cameron was also able to get Edward to allow Alexis to see Kristina
and to let Ned have custodial power over Kristina.
Tracy blew back into town just long enough to reveal that Skye was not a
Quartermaine and to leave her son Dillon to live with his grandparents.
Edward booted Skye off the board at ELQ and was not happy to have Dillon
left behind for him to take care of. Edward's world was further
disrupted when Reginald, the butler, was injured. Edward hired an
English butler named Dobson and told him to keep Kristina away from her
deranged mother. But Edward didn't realize that Dobson was really Alexis
in disguise. He was a bit flabbergasted when the truth finally came out.
But his attentions had been turned to Dillon, who had been seeing
Georgie Jones. Edward tried to forbid Dillon from seeing Georgie, but it
didn't work. When Dillon got into trouble with the cops, Edward lectured
him on soiling the family name with his antics. But when Dillon refused
to apologize, Edward left him in jail overnight.
The family rallied around Emily as she fought for her life and underwent
treatment for breast cancer and related complications. Certain she was
going to die, she shared an impromptu bedside wedding with Zander. But
she recovered and Edward welcomed Zander to the family. Edward then
turned his attention back to Dillon, who had been continuing to see
Georgie. Edward tried again to break them apart, but it didn't work. So
Edward nearly put Dillon in military school in the hope of scaring him
into obedience.
It wasn't long before Emily and Zander split up because she had fallen
for Nikolas. When she announced her engagement to Nikolas to the family,
Edward and the rest of the family were less than thrilled to also hear
that the Cassadines were flat broke. But right around that time, AJ
secretly emptied the family's bank accounts and took off into the
sunset, leaving the family broke. It seemed that Emily and Nikolas would
be on equal footing financially.
Edward was suspicious when Nikolas showed up one day asking all sorts of
questions about a Quartermaine ancestor and a ship owned by their
relatives of long ago supposedly containing a lot of treasure. The ship
had sunk in the Port Charles harbor. Edward was thrilled when Emily and
Nikolas later revealed that they had found the treasure that had been on
that boat. However, Edward was unwilling to share the fortune with the
Cassadines, and made his opinion known to the happy couple. When he
learned that Sam had skipped town with the treasure, Edward wasted no
time in trying to get Jax to tell the family where Sam had gone. But Jax
didn't know and didn't care. So now Edward must wait for the treasure or
find another way to get his fortune back.
