General Hospital’s Maurice Benard Breaks the Alzheimer’s Diagnosis of a Soap Alum and Television Legend — and Her Daughter

Few things are more devastating to friends and family than when a loved one is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. It can be heartbreaking to see the disease slowly take those we love from us. It’s something General Hospital heartbreakingly tackled with Sonny’s dad Mike, with Maurice Benard’s touching performance in the storyline snagging him a Daytime Emmy Award for his work.

Now, we’ve learned the disease has sadly struck a daytime alum in real life: Lee Meriwether. Meriwether, soap fans know, stepped in to play Ruth Martin for a time on All My Children, though a generation of folks growing up in the ‘60s will, of course, always remember her fondly as Catwoman in the 1966 Batman movie.

This past Sunday, Benard hosted Vernee Watson (Stella) on his State of Mind podcast, who also won a Daytime Emmy Award for her work in General Hospital’s Alzheimer’s story.

Before the two got to the interview, though, Benard had some news to share, saying that actress Kyle Oldham had recently returned for another interview on State of Mind. She first appeared last year on the podcast to talk not just about growing up as the daughter of Lee Meriwether, but as a survivor in her own right.

This time around, she shared the devastating news about her mother, Lee Meriwether.

“We talked about her mother and having Alzheimer’s and it was an amazing interview,” Benard shared. “And then Kyle said, ‘I gotta tell you something. I have Alzheimer’s.’ And I said, ‘Oh, wow.’”

Incredibly, though, the two of them then decided that they were going to use this as an opportunity to educate people — which is exactly what State of Mind has always been about.

“We decided that she was gonna come in, she was gonna call me and tell me as she progresses,” he explained. “She was gonna come in again so the audience could see with their eyes what Alzheimer’s does to someone.”

They’d have her come in every six months or so to share how she was doing. “I started to cry,” he admitted, “because I came to realize that there’s gonna be a time when she can’t come in. So, you guys will be watching that coming up next. Who knows how long? A couple of years. It’s gonna be sad but beautiful at the same time.”

When Watson joined Benard a moment later, they shared how their fathers, now both sadly gone, suffered from Alzheimer’s disease. It’s something that touches so many people, which is why what Benard and Oldham plan on doing is so very important.

Our hearts go out to her and her mother as they navigate this disease.