Elizabeth Webber | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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General Hospital character | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Portrayed by | Rebecca Herbst (1997–present) Martha Madison (2011) Ariebella Makana (2022) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Duration | 1997–present | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
First appearance | August 1, 1997 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Classification | Present; regular | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Created by | Janet Iacobuzio and Christopher Whitesell | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Introduced by | Wendy Riche | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Book appearances | The Secret Life of Damian Spinelli | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Spin-off appearances | General Hospital: Night Shift | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Elizabeth Webber is a fictional character from General Hospital, an American soap opera on the ABC network, played by Rebecca Herbst. Elizabeth is the granddaughter of the show's original lead character, Steve Hardy (John Beradino) and daughter of Jeff Webber (Richard Dean Anderson). Introduced on August 1, 1997, as a rebellious teenager, Elizabeth comes to live with her grandmother Audrey Hardy (Rachel Ames) and sister Sarah Webber (Jennifer Sky). Feeling abandoned by her parents, Elizabeth is a wild child with no regard for her life. In 1998, after she is raped, Elizabeth goes from a rebellious teenager to a terrified timid girl. She finds comfort with Lucky Spencer (Jonathan Jackson) and they fall in love. The duo's endearing young love story propels them into supercouple status in the same vein as Lucky's famous parents, Luke and Laura (Anthony Geary and Genie Francis). Elizabeth and Lucky's (then Greg Vaughan) rocky marriages ultimately end in divorce. Their failed reunion in 2009 results in Elizabeth's affair with Lucky's half-brother Nikolas Cassadine (Tyler Christopher), and her giving birth to Lucky's son, Aiden. In 2006, in the midst of her chaotic marriage to Lucky, Elizabeth has an affair with her long time friend, mob hitman Jason Morgan (Steve Burton) which leads to the birth of her middle son, Jake whom Lucky initially raises as his own. Jason and Elizabeth would also achieve supercouple status. Elizabeth later marries reformed serial killer Franco Baldwin (Roger Howarth) in 2019, but the marriage ends when he is killed.
Having played one of the show's most beloved characters, Herbst has earned three Daytime Emmy Award nominations for her portrayal of Elizabeth, in 1999, 2007 and 2012. The actress and character's popularity were put on full display when she was suddenly fired from the series in 2011, after massive backlash from viewers forced the network to rehire the actress.