Why ‘Failed Retiree’ Jane Elliot Is Thrilled With Her General Hospital Resurgence As Tracy

The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) recognized the remarkable career of General Hospital icon Jane Elliot this past week, inducting her into its prestigious Golden Circle in recognition of her 60-year career in daytime television. The actress made her soap debut back in 1965 as Linda on A Flame in the Wind and created the role of GH’s Tracy Quartermaine 13 years later. In addition to playing Tracy on The City, she has made her mark playing characters on Guiding Light (troubled Carrie Todd), All My Children (money-hungry Cynthia Preston) and Days of Our Lives (sultry schemer Angelica Deveraux).

Comeback Trail

In 2017, Elliot announced that she was retiring from show business, and GH sent her off in style with a poignant good-bye featuring Tracy’s loving (if often quarreling) family and a cameo appearance by the legendary Anthony Geary, who played Tracy’s on-again, off-again husband Luke Spencer and had himself retired from acting two years prior.

But much to the relief of Port Charles watchers far and wide, retirement didn’t agree with Elliot. “I’m a failed retiree,” Elliot joked to Woman’s World, explaining that at the time, she felt like she needed to take a break — and since her children were grown and she had income in the form of a pension from the actors’ union as well as Social Security, “I thought, ‘Oh, yay. I don’t need this job anymore.’”

Once she’d wrapped at GH, the 78-year-old actress realized how much she still loved playing Tracy. So, after dipping her toe back into the Port Charles waters for short-term visits, Elliot eventually inked a contract and returned to the show full-time — and these days, Tracy is in the thick of the action as her character seeks to prove that her late sister-in-law Monica’s will, which gave possession of the Quartermaine family home to her secret sister, Ronnie (Erika Slezak), was forged. “I’m blessed,” she declared, marveling that “what I do is still wanted and still appreciated, and that they still keep giving me good work to do.”

While she is thankful that Executive Producer Frank Valentini made it possible for her to resume her career (“I luckily had a wonderful boss who kept a place at the table for me,” she said), the Daytime Emmy-winner still hasn’t quite adjusted to her status as the most senior member of the cast. “People say to me on the show, ‘You’re the matriarch of the Quartermaine family.’ And I go, ‘Who are you talking about?’” she admitted.

With the recent passing of Monica’s portrayer, Leslie Charleson, Elliot is now the only surviving original member of the storied Quartermaine clan, which also consisted of Stuart Damon’s Alan, Anna Lee’s Lila, and David Lewis’s Edward. “They’ve all passed away, and I’m still standing,” she noted. “It makes me sad sometimes, and it makes me enormously grateful and proud.”