- General Hospital
- News
General Hospital’s Maurice Benard Reveals How One Little Boy’s Emotional Letter Changed Everything for Him: ‘After That… ’
Thursday, March 30th, 2023
The Daytime Emmy Award-winning actor talks candidly about the soap, his family and life.
On Wednesday, March 29, General Hospital’s Maurice Benard (Sonny) joined the ladies of The View to talk about the ABC soap’s 60th anniversary, which officially takes place on Sunday, April 1. The hosts got right to the point and asked what he thought keeps viewers so hooked to the screen and the goings-on in Port Charles, and in true funny-man Benard fashion, he joked, “Sonny Corinthos,” then continued, “No, you know, it gives you everything… romance, gives you love, gives you sex, gangsters, and we’re in people’s lives every day.”
Related Story
The talk show then flashed back to a few of Sonny’s past scenes as they recalled how his role was only supposed to be for a year, and now three decades later… well, it’s been one heck of a ride for Benard as well as for his fans.
More: Blue Bloods’ Season 14 fate has been revealed
However, the interview turned emotional when talk of his children came up. The ladies replayed a clip from his 2009 appearance on The View, when his kids, who were seated in the front row of the audience, were asked what kind of a dad he was. One of his daughters replied for them all and one answer had Benard objecting, “What?”
Seeing his kids so young and reflecting on how his son Joshua came to him for acting advice and later joined the cast of General Hospital brought Benard to tears — happy, proud tears — and when the ladies noticed how his boy’s journey still gets to him, Benard admitted, “I cry at everything.” Everyone shared a hardy laugh with the actor, who continued, “As I’ve gotten older, I’m even worse.”
More: Hallmark’s Ride preview, a mysterious stranger arrives
Benard then opened up about being bipolar and how he was told not to talk about it when he first started acting — that it would prevent him from getting hired — and how one little boy’s letter changed everything for him. After Benard wrote an article, “just for the hell of it,” a little boy sent him a letter, thanking him… because of the actor’s article, it helped the boy get through his brother’s suicide. “And after that, I said, I’m going to start talking and I haven’t shut up since.”
Watch the full interview segment for that and more…
Again, we want to send Benard and everyone at the soap much props for 60 great years and we look forward to going along on this incredible ride with you all for many, many more to come.
Join us as we look back on General Hospital over the years in our memory-filled photo gallery below.
Video: The View/YouTube
Most Popular
Advertisement
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
1/168
<p>Just have a seat and fill out these forms, the doctors will be right with you. Also the mobsters, strumpets, cult leaders, martyrs and madmen.</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
2/168
<p>General Hospital’s first patient was Angie Costello (Jana Taylor), a young woman who wound up worse for wear after a joyless ride with boyfriend Eddie Weeks (Craig Curtis).</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
3/168
<p>Angie was treated by Dr. Steve Hardy (John Beradino) — that is, when he wasn’t being distracted by the likes of Nurse Jessie Brewster (Emily McLaughin), fiancée Peggy Mercer (K.T. Stevens), Priscilla Longsworth (Allison Hayes of <em>Attack of the 50 Foot Woman</em> fame) and… <em>Angie</em>?!? What the heck are <em>you</em> doing in there?</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
4/168
<p>We can only assume that this is a photo of Steve and buddy Lee Baldwin (Peter Hansen) looking at that last picture and going, “Dude! You had it goin’ <em>on</em>!”</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
5/168
<p>Of course, Steve was destined to fall in love with flight attendant-turned-nurse Audrey March (Rachel Ames), who first had to brush off infatuated patient Randy Washburn (Mark Miller).</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
6/168
<p>Giving Audrey advice every step of the way — on everything from gentlemen callers to how to open an envelope — was her no-nonsense sister, fellow nurse Lucille (Lucille Wall, who joined the cast in episode No. 14).</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
7/168
<p>Throughout the 1960s and beyond, Steve’s right-hand woman was Jessie, who had her hands full with philandering husband Phil Brewer (Roy Thinnes). In hindsight, his wandering eye would’ve been easier to spot if they hadn’t all been looking in the same dang direction.</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
8/168
<p>Jessie knew better than to buy into Phil’s BS. But then he’d look at her like this, and the words “Take a hike, bub!” would get stuck in her throat.</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
9/168
<p>After what doesn’t look at <em>all</em> like it was the world’s awkwardest job interview — hello, HR! — Steve added to the hospital’s staff Dr. Lesley Williams (Denise Alexander), who’d end up providing as much drama as she did medical care.</p>
Image: Jerry Fitzgerald/ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
10/168
<p>Did we mention that Steve and Audrey got married? Because they did — three times, as a matter of fact. Apparently, the on-again/off-again Hardys were advised that the third time really <em>was</em> the charm.</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
11/168
<p>Once the Hardys got it right, buildings were tested against their solidity. If Steve and Audrey couldn’t withstand it, then neither, inspectors wagered, could skyscrapers.</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
12/168
<p>The Hardys epitomized #relationshipgoals right up until his death in 1996. Though Audrey still had a lotta life left in her, she never remarried.</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
13/168
<p>In the early 1970s, future Luke Skywalker Mark Hamill was a <em>General Hospital</em> regular as Kent Murray, who moved in with aunt Jessie along with sister Carol (Anne Wyndham).</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
14/168
<p>Occupying the front burner in 1978 were Craig Huebing as shrink Peter Taylor, Alexander as Lesley, Michael Gregory as her love interest Dr. Rick Webber, newcomer Genie Francis as her long-lost daughter Laura and, naturally, Beradino as Steve.</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
15/168
<p><em>General Hospital</em> was in danger of cancellation when it struck pay dirt in 1978 with the pairing of Francis’ Laura and Kin Shriner’s Scotty Baldwin. After that, the show was only at risk of being… well, too <em>popular</em>!</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
16/168
<p>Is a supercouple really super if it doesn’t have a spoiler? Probably not, right? So Laura and Scotty’s title was secured — and then ripped away — by a jealous Bobbie Spencer (Jacklyn Zeman), who sought to break them up with the help of big brother Luke (Anthony Geary, pre-perm).</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
17/168
<p>That umbrella might’ve shielded newlyweds Laura and Scotty from the sun, but nothing could protect them from the runaway train that was the bride’s forbidden attraction to Mob flunky Luke.</p>
Image: Curt Gunther/TV Guide/ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
18/168
<p>Luke’s rape of Laura should have put the kibosh on any chance that they might have had as a couple. Somehow, it did not. All it did was ruin Herb Alpert’s “Rise” for the rest of us.</p>
Image: Curt Gunther/TV Guide/ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
19/168
<p>Laura thought long and hard about her feelings for Luke. And then she cast aside all of those sensible thoughts to go with her gut.</p>
Image: Curt Gunther/TV Guide/ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
20/168
<p>No matter the obstacles that life put between her and Luke, Laura surmounted them. Yep, even an understandably vengeful Scotty.</p>
Image: Curt Gunther/TV Guide/ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
21/168
<p>Mind you, Luke didn’t make it easy for Laura to choose him. He was as determined to have her as she was at first unsure that it was a good idea to be, well, had.</p>
Image: Curt Gunther/TV Guide/ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
22/168
<p>Executive producer Gloria Monty took a hands-on approach with Francis as she studied her lines.</p>
Image: Donna Svennevik/ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
23/168
<p>Yup. Francis made Laura the hottest thing since sliced bread. And who doesn’t love sliced bread?</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
24/168
<p>While all of that was going on, Rick (by then Chris Robinson) showed an interest in auditioning for <em>Deliverance</em>. Cue the banjos!</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
25/168
<p>When not sucking face, Laura and Luke sought to thwart the villainous Cassadines’ attempt to turn the world into a popsicle with a formula for carbonic snow hidden in the base of a supremely ugly statuette called the Ice Princess.</p>
Image: Curt Gunther/TV Guide/ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
26/168
<p>The daring endeavor called for the couple to hurl themselves into one scenario after another that <em>had</em> to have been lifted from a James Bond movie.</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
27/168
<p>In the end, Laura and Luke were so successful in their endeavor to stop climate change before anyone even knew that climate change was a thing that Port Charles insisted they have the biggest, best wedding ever.</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
28/168
<p>During this period, the sweethearts were so beloved that their portrayers took part in photo shoots that we’d never even <em>seen</em> before putting together this gallery — and we’d have sworn that we’d eyeballed every picture of them that had ever been taken!</p>
Image: Craig Sjodin/ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
29/168
<p>An unexpected — <em>and</em> unwanted — guest at Luke and Laura’s wedding was Helena Cassadine (Elizabeth Taylor), who blamed the bride and groom for the demise of her husband, Mikkos.</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
30/168
<p>At least Luke’s pal, Robert (Tristan Rogers), appeared to be able to hold Helena’s interest as much as the notion of retribution.</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
31/168
<p>Then again, the she-devil might have just been plotting to poison him. She’s always been like that, you know.</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
32/168
<p>How was Laura — or <em>any</em> bride — supposed to compete with a diva in an outfit like this? The curse that Helena placed on the Spencers was almost superfluous!</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
33/168
<p><em>Aaanyway</em>… Laura and Luke’s nuptials wound up being a simple affair… attended by some 30 million viewers, making it the most-watched episode of a soap opera in TV history.</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
34/168
<p>The newlyweds saw a bright future ahead of them. They just didn’t realize how short it would be, at least at first.</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
35/168
<p>To this day, the Spencers’ lavish wedding remains the standard against which all other soap ceremonies are measured.</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
36/168
<p>In other plots — and yes, there were some — once Monica Webber (Leslie Charleson) had for the most part stopped ping-ponging between Rick and his brother, Jeff, she focused her attentions on… well, as you can see, <em>General Hospital</em>’s newest doctor, filthy-rich Alan Quartermaine (Stuart Damon).</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
37/168
<p>Alan’s parents, Edward (David Lewis) and Lila (Anna Lee), knew better than to involve themselves in his squabbles with Monica. This, of course, did nothing to stop them from involving themselves in the Bickersons’ quarrels.</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
38/168
<p>Here, Edward sits idly by waiting to see if Monica is going to remind his son of the time he almost dropped a roof on her and loverboy Rick. (Hey, we only said that she was done ping-ponging between the Webber boys, not that she was done ping-ponging.)</p>
Image: Craig Sjodin/ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
39/168
<p>Mind you, Alan was not without his own peccadilloes. In addition to his fling with Susan Moore, he up and <em>married</em> gold digger Lucy Coe (Lynn Herring), a move that could’ve put his family in the same color as her plus-sized hat and gown.</p>
Image: Craig Sjodin/ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
40/168
<p>At least Alan’s affair with Susan brought into the fold golden boy Jason (Steve Burton), the saintly antithesis of his ne’er-do-well older half sibling, A.J. (Sean Kanan).</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
41/168
<p>Jason and A.J.’s early-1990s peers included scheming Brenda Barrett (Vanessa Marcil), muscle-bound Jagger Cates (Antonio Sabato Jr.), secret stripper Karen Wexler (Cari Shayne) and Robin Scorpio (Kimberly McCullough), the daughter of superspies Robert and Anna. More on them in a bit…</p>
Image: Craig Sjodin/ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
42/168
<p>Neither Monica nor brother-in-law Paul Hornsby (Paul Satterfield) were really interested in hearing how justified Alan had been in contemplating dropping a roof on her and Rick. Let it go, buddy. Let. It. Go.</p>
Image: Craig Sjodin/ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
43/168
<p>A car wreck with a drunk A.J. transformed Jason from a promising future doctor into a Mob flunky who, if he was going to wear any shirt at all, was going to wear a tight black T. No exceptions.</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
44/168
<p>But we’re getting <em>way</em> ahead of ourselves. Let’s rewind to the 1980s once more, shall we?</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
45/168
<p>In its Golden Age, <em>General Hospital</em> attracted a Who’s Who of famous folks, among them Sammy Davis Jr., who passed through Port Charles as Eddie Phillips for a fraught family reunion with estranged son Bryan (Todd Davis) and daughter-in-law Claudia (Bianca Ferguson).</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
46/168
<p>Legendary funnyman Milton Berle briefly played Mickey Miller, the talent agent responsible for the career of B-movie starlet Tiffany Hill (Sharon Wyatt).</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
47/168
<p>Mickey was also the mover and shaker that turned Luke’s bride into a supermodel who vanished in the fog on Port Charles’ docks. That is, Mickey made Laura Miss Star Eyes; as far as we know, he had nothing to do with the weather that fateful night.</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
48/168
<p>After Laura’s disappearance, Luke teamed up with reporter Jackie Templeton (then Demi Moore) in hopes of finding not only his wife but her sister.</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
49/168
<p>Jackie’s younger sibling, Laura (Janine Turner), did turn up. But Luke’s Laura? No such luck.</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
50/168
<p>Viewers didn’t buy Laura 2.0 as a new love interest for Luke. And they soon discovered that they preferred Jackie with Luke’s BFF Robert than with Luke.</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
51/168
<p>In the 1980s, it was tough for Robert to go anywhere without running into someone with whom he’d been involved. Tiffany? Check. Jackie? Check. Yeah, his little black book really wasn’t little at all.</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
52/168
<p>“Widower” Luke’s romance with impish con artist Holly Sutton (Emma Samms) was just heating up when he was “fatally” snowed in by an avalanche. (On <em>General Hospital</em>, matters of life and death have pretty much always belonged in air quotes.)</p>
Image: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection
53/168
