General Hospital Performer of the Week: Jane Elliot as Tracy Quartermaine

If life gets you down, there's always General Hospital's Tracy to perk things up and give us an hour of smiles, laughs, and often deep and inspiring human emotion. That's because Jane Elliot is a national treasure who has been making us laugh and cry as Tracy Angelica Quartermaine since the 1970s, and she hasn't missed a beat yet.

Tracy's finest act

Tracy put on quite a performance | Image: ABC

Since she met with Curtis (Donnell Turner) and Michael (Rory Gibson) about their little Drew (Cameron Mathison) problem, we knew something was up when Tracy agreed to go on the record apologizing for a crime she didn't commit. She would even go as far as allowing her smarmy and creepy nephew to resume using the Quartermaine name. Because Elliot is that good at playing Tracy, we weren't sure if Tracy was playing us when she got behind that podium, but it turns out she was playing us and everyone around her.

Thanks to Elliot's portrayal of Actress Tracy, we didn't know what she was really up to until Cody (Josh Kelly) got on that stage and told his fool's tale of borrowing Tracy's car and leaving ketamine prescribed for a horse on the front seat. It was all planned, something Brook Lynn (Amanda Setton) and Chase (Josh Swickard) figured out quickly. Then came the comedy gold.

General Hospital's Jane Elliot always makes us laugh

Tracy loves tormenting Marty on General Hospital | Image: ABC

Elliot's tone, inflections, and facial expressions all made for laugh-out-loud moments as she trashed Drew and sparred with Marty. We must give an honorable mention to Michael E. Knight for bringing his signature brand of soap opera physical comedy to Port Charles and Martin Grey. His pratfall off the stage was perfectly executed and perfectly timed, and reminded us of a character named Tad Martin living in Pine Valley.

The next day, Marty was laid up in General Hospital, but Tracy was still going. Elliot had us giggling as she attempted to make a .gif of Marty's fall before taking off to spend time with Lulu (Alexa Havins) at the Metro Court pool. That's when Elliot not only made us laugh, but also made us feel.

When Tracy spotted Gio (Giovanni Mazza) performing his lifeguard duties, you could tell her heart skipped a beat, but she quietly allowed him the space she told Brook Lynn he needed. We could feel Tracy's pain as she glanced at her great-grandson, but she shoved it away and didn't let anyone see it. Instead, she played Grandma to Danny (Asher Antonyzyn) and Rocco (Finn Carr), offering to take them home while leaving Gio alone.