User:Nk3play2/Sonny Corinthos

Michael "Sonny" Corinthos, Jr. is a fictional character from the original ABC Daytime drama, General Hospital, portrayed by Maurice Benard.

The character was originated during the final weeks of Bill Levinson's tenure as head writer, a month before Claire Labine took over the head writing duties. Introduced under executive producer Wendy Riche, Sonny first appeared on August 13, 1993, as the owner of local strip club, The Paradise Lounge. In addition to his close friendships with the young Stone Cates and Robin Scorpio, most of Sonny's early history focuses on his world wind romance with Brenda Barrett. Sonny and Brenda would go on to become one of the most popular couples of 1990s and are considered to be a supercouple. Sonny also begins working for mob boss Frank Smith, along with Luke Spencer. By the time Sonny takes over Smith's territory he and Luke have developed a life long friendship. Sonny becomes a mentor and boss to Jason Morgan when he loses his memory after a traumatic car accident. Sonny also becomes involved with the scheming Carly Benson, and adopts her son, Michael, who is fathered by Jason's alcoholic brother, A. J. Quartermaine.

Under executive producer Jill Farren Phelps, and head writer Robert Guza, Sonny, Jason and Carly become three of the show's most prominent and featured characters, with the show's major storylines focusing on Sonny and Jason's mob connections, and the supercouple pairing of Sonny and Carly's chaotic married life. Sonny is written to be one of the biggest crime lords on the eastern seaboard making him the target of many criminals as well as law enforcement figures, from Lorenzo Alcazar, Anthony Zacchara, and even his own son, police detective, Dante Falconeri. More recently, under executive producer, Frank Valentini, and head writer, Ron Carlivati, Benard's Sonny has been re-humanized and is portrayed as the tortured patriarch trying to balance his business with family. Losing his best friend Jason, and his childhood sweetheart Connie Falconeri (a.k.a. Kate Howard), Sonny is left to pick up the pieces of his life while trying to love his two youngest sons, Michael and Morgan equally. Unbeknownst to Sonny, a new, yet old threat, the Jerome family, have infiltrated his life to take over his territory.

Alison Sloane Gaylin said Sonny is the perfect example of an antihero. In a piece focusing on Benard's Sonny, and Roger Howarth's Todd Manning, Gaylin said, "Violent but vulnerable, these dangerous men have held our interest, and kept their edge."

Storylines
Sonny gives Stone a place to stay after her runs away from foster care. Sonny later romance young stripper, Karen Wexler, and gets her hooked on drugs. Karen's boyfriend Jagger (Antonio Sabàto, Jr.) finds out and beats Sonny up. Sonny puts a hit out on Jagger, but calls it off in exchange for a cut of Jagger's boxing winnings. After the club shuts down, Sonny begins working with Luke Spencer in Frank Smith (Mitchell Ryan)'s organization. Sonny later begins dating Brenda, and they partner up with Lois (Rena Sofer) to launch L&B Records. Sonny and Brenda's romance is threatened when new artist Miguel Morez (Ricky Martin) takes an interest in Brenda. When Frank is killed, Sonny takes his place, much to the dismay of Hernando Rivera (East Carlo). After reuniniting with his father, and taking Stone in when he is diagnosed with AIDS, Sonny ends up killing his former mentor, Joe Scully (Robert Miano) to protect Mike. Sonny begins dating Hernando's daughter, Lily (Lilly Melgar) after Lily exposes Brenda's plans to record one of Sonny's business conversations. He marries Lily in exchange for Hernando getting him out from under racketeering charges. Sonny and Brenda reconcile, and plan to reuite only for Lily to reveal she is pregnant; Brenda in turn marries Jasper Jacks (Ingo Rademacher). However, Hernando hearing of Sonny's former plans to leave Lily plants a bomb in his car, killing Lily instead. Sonny later gives the brain damaged Jason a job while he happily ruins Jax and Brenda's second wedding by tracking down Jax's presumed dead wife. Sonny and Brenda reconcile; he proposes and plans to leave the mob after they get married. Fearing Brenda may suffer the same fate as Lily, Sonny leaves her at altar for and skips town.

Sonny returns to town after Brenda's death and begins dating Hannah Scott (Lisa Vultaggio). Sonny is furious to discover that Hannah is actually an undercover FBI agent. A distraught Sonny has a one-night-stand with Carly Quartermaine (Sarah Brown) and gets her pregnant. Sonny forces A. J. (Billy Warlock) into granting Carly a divorce and giving up custody of Michael. Sonny and Carly bond when she miscarries and they marry to keep her from testifying against him. They eventually fall in love and renew their vows in 2001. When Carly tries to force Sonny out of the mob, Sonny divorces her and has a one-night-stand with Alexis Davis (Nancy Lee Grahn). When Carly (Tamara Braun) nearly dies, the couple reconciles and remarries in 2002. Brenda is revealed to be alive, now dating Luis Alcazar (Ted King). A jealous Luis has Sonny shot in an attempt to kill him. Sonny then faces his half-brother, Ric who kidnaps a pregnant Carly in an effort to steal their baby. However, Carly is rescued and taken hostage by Lorenzo Alcazar (Ted King). Sonny's rescue attempt goes awry when he accidentally shoots a laboring Carly leaving her comatose. By the time Carly has recovered, Sonny is in the midst of an affair with Sam McCall (Kelly Monaco). Looking to reunite with Carly, Michael, and the newborn Morgan, Jason claims Sonny and Sam's unborn child as his own to keep Carly from finding out. However, the truth comes out, and Sonny files for divorce when it is revealed that Carly knew he had fathered Alexis's daughter, Kristina. When A. J. fakes Michael (Dylan Cash)'s death, Carly suffers a break down and Sonny begins secretly dating Jason's sister, Emily Quartermaine (Natalia Livingston).Jason finds out and forces Sonny into retirement to protect Emily. However, when Sonny breaks up with Emily when his diagnosed with bipolar disorder fearing for her safety. Jealous of Carly (Laura Wright) and Jax's budding romance, Sonny marries Carly when she witnesses him shooting Alcazar, upending her engagement to Jax. In 2007, Sonny and Carly along with several others are in the lobby of The Metro Court hotel when it explodes; they survive, and end up making love. However, Carly goes through with the divorce and Sonny reunites with Connie, now known as Kate Howard (Megan Ward). Fearing for her safety, Kate breaks up with Sonny who in turn sleeps with mafia princess Claudia Zacchara (Sarah Brown); however he rejects Claudia when he and Kate reconcile. Later, Sonny tries to expose Michael to his legitimate business and a botched hit leaves Michael comatose. Sonny turns control of the organization over to Jason to protect Morgan. Sonny invites Olivia (Lisa LoCicero) to his and Kate's wedding only for Kate to get shot at the altar. After Sonny kills Andrei Karpov (Ilia Volok) believing he is responsible for Kate's shooting, Sonny marries Claudia to re-establish his power, not knowing his new father-in-law, Anthony (Bruce Weitz) is the real shooter. Sonny and Claudia eventually bond and conssumate the marriage, and she gets pregnant. Michael (Drew Garrett) recovers from his coma and moves in with Sonny and his new wife. Claudia later suffers a miscarriage thanks to Kristina (Lexi Ainsworth). Sonny hires Dominic Pirelli (Dominic Zamprogna) as a bodyguard for his children and quickly begins to trust him. After Jason exposes her, Sonny calls Claudia out at her birthday party for her part in Michael's shooting. After Michael kills Claudia, Sonny, Jason and Carly cover it up to protect Michael.

Sonny shoots Dominic after learning he is a cop; however, Dominic is actually Sonny and Olivia's son. When Sonny is put on trial for Claudia's murder, Michael (Chad Duell)'s guilt is finally revealed, and he is sent to prison where Franco (James Franco) orchestrates his rape. Sonny and Alexis are forced to team up to parent Kristina who has began acting out. Sonny and Brenda reunite and she is kidnapped on their wedding day. Though she comes home, the happiness is short lived when Sonny and Brenda are on opposite sides during Jax and Carly's custody hearing. When Sonny nearly kills Jax, Brenda leaves him, and Kate (Kelly Sullivan) picks up the pieces. In 2012, Sonny and Johnny's rivalry reaches a boiling point when Sonny exposes that Johnny is actually Claudia's son. During a medical benefit, Sonny takes a bullet for Dante, believing Anthony tried to kill his son. Despite his promise not to go after Anthony, Sonny is the prime suspect in the shooting that leads to the deaths of Starr Manning (Kristen Alderson)'s family. Sonny's apparent guilt puts him at odds with Starr's father, Todd (Roger Howarth) and his old rival, John McBain (Michael Easton) who blames him for his sister's death. Sonny comes clean about Joe (Richard Steinmetz)'s part in the murder, only for Kate to confess that she was raped by Joe as a teenage which leads to her a pregnancy and Multiple personality disorder. Joe resurfaces looking to destroy Sonny, using his and Kate's son Trey Mitchell (Erik Valdez) to trick Kristina (Lindsey Morgan) into marriage. As Sonny is about to marry Kate, Kate's alter, Connie emerges to revealed that she has married Johnny. Sonny's world continues to fall apart as Jason is killed and A. J.'s return drives a wedge between Michael and his parents. Sonny and Olivia uncover lingering feelings for one another. In 2013, Sonny puts a hit out on Franco (Roger Howarth), but calls it off; however, Carly manipulates Shawn Butler (Sean Blakemore) into going through with the hit, nearly getting Olivia killed. Just as Sonny is ready to face his feelings for Olivia, Connie returns and claims him for herself. Morgan (Bryan Craig) later confides in Sonny about his girlfriend, Kiki (Kristen Alderson)'s feelings for Michael and the truth about Kiki and Michael not being cousins. Morgan asks Sonny to keep the secret about Kiki, but Connie overhears the conversation and publishes the story in the newspaper. Despite his anger with Connie, Sonny is devastated when Connie murdered and stops taking his medication. Sonny's downward spiral continues when he exposes Morgan's lie at his wedding reception. Though Sonny gets back on his medication, Morgan disowns his father. In the meantime, another organization tries to move in on Sonny's territory, while publishing mogul, Derek Wells (William deVry) begins attacking Sonny in the newspaper. Sonny concludes that Derek is actually the late Julian Jerome.

Background
The character was originally scripted as being of Italian descent. However, it later revealed that Sonny is raised in the predominantly Italian neighborhood of Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. On his father's side, Sonny is of Greek and Irish descent. On his mother's side, Sonny is of Cuban descent. Michael Corinthos, Jr. is born on April 21, 1965, to Michael and Adela Corinthos. In 2012, Sonny's birth year was revised to 1969 when his aged was listed as forty-two on his arrest records. After Mike abandons his family, Adela becomes involved with her boss, Trevor Lansing. Trevor is very understanding of the single mother, allowing Sonny to come to work with Adela, and even taking them on vacations to Martha's Vineyard. However, Trevor despises the young Sonny and when Adela gets pregnant Trevor proposes; however, he forces Adela to choose between Sonny and their unborn child when Sonny accidentally causes a pregnant Adela to fall down a flight of stairs. Adela gives up rights to her son shortly after birth and when Sonny is seven years old, she marries New York Police officer Deke Woods. However, Deke is extremely abusive to mother and son. Sonny is claustrophobic due to being locked in the closet as a child by Deke. To direct Deke's attention away from his mother, Sonny begins acting out. Sonny uses his friends to escape his home life. He grows up with Lois Cerullo and is best friends with her brother, Louie. Raised by Adela, a devout Catholic, Sonny attends catholic school and is also very religious. In his early teen years Sonny briefly dates Olivia Falconeri. Following the end of their relationship, Sonny becomes involved with Olivia's cousin, Connie Falconeri. Noticing Sonny and Deke's fights are getting more violent, and fearing one of them would end up dead, Adela asks Sonny to leave home when he is sixteen. For a while, Sonny is homeless and visits Adela when Deke is working. After stealing his car, local mob boss, Joe Scully takes Sonny under his wing giving him a place to live while Sonny works odd jobs for him. When Sonny goes to visit Adela on her birthday, he finds her severely beaten and unconscious. Sonny confides in Scully who has Deke killed the next day. Adela passes away a few years later, when Sonny is nineteen. Sonny and Connie make plans to run away together once she is eighteen. However, once Connie skips town without him, Sonny goes to work for Scully full time. Scully sends Sonny to Atlantic City to run a strip club called The Sea Breeze when his son, Joe Jr proves to be incompetent. Sonny befriends one of the strippers, Theresa, whom Joe Jr. is infatuated with. In a jealous rage, Joe, Jr. kills Theresa. Scully helps him disappear while Sonny lies to the cops about Theresa's murder, one of which is Theresa's brother, then FBI agent, John McBain.

Casting
According to General Hospital casting director, Mark Teschner, Benard was one of the few actors being considered for the role. Benard came in for a meeting with Wendy Riche, and the two immediately clicked. It was only a matter of how long it would take to get Benard on screen.

Initially, the character was only supposed to last for six months as Benard was not interested in anything more then a year.

Benard revealed that after his stint on All My Children, he was not interested in doing another soap. He joined the cast of General Hospital because he had gone broke and acting was all he knew at the time. The producers offered him two separate roles, that of mobster Damian Smith, with a two year contract, and that of Sonny. In addition the role being short term, Benard also chose the role because he liked the character's name.

Benard revealed that just two weeks after starting work, he suffered a manic depressive breakdown. At one point he had stopped coming in to work but expressed his gratitude to the network for keeping faith in him instead of firing him immediately.

In 1997, rumors began to circulate the Benard would soon depart from the series. Those rumors proved to be true and Benard revealed to TV Guide that he needed to try something new. Benard shot down the assumption that the writing was his sole reason for leaving. However, Benard told executive producer Wendy Riche a year before when he re-signed with the series that it would most likely be his last year. Upon his departure, Benard stressed that in addition to his displeasure over the writing but also said "I just wanted a break." Though Benard's contract was set to expire in July 1997, he negotiated a short term deal to remain with the series until August.

Benard returned to the series on a contractual basis on December 18, 1998.

Characterization
In 1994, when compared to Nico, Benard went so far as to describe Sonny as "evil." Though Sonny shares similarities with Benard's All My Children persona, Nico, according to Benard, "Sonny is much worse than Nico. He is not a good guy." Benard pushed for Sonny's redemption, but wanted to maintain a balance between Sonny's good qualities and his bad qualities. Benard modeled the character after Robert De Niro's New York, New York character, Jimmy Doyle, Al Pacino's Frank Slade from Scent of a Woman and Peter Falk's Columbo, but also gave him "an air of danger." Benard made it a point to put "a lot of pain" in his portrayal. Sonny can love someone with everything he's got, but once you cross him, he has no problem cutting you out. "He's a very complex guy," said Benard of his alter ego. Sonny is very ambitious, and "wants all the respect and power he can get," Benard told Soap Opera Digest. By the time of Benard's departure in 1997, the character has become a bit more easy about his life; he allows himself to actually laugh. Benard accredits this development to his own personal evolution.

Development
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Introduction and character expansion
The character was originally introduced as the owner of local strip club, The Paradise Lounge. He manipulates the young Karen Wexler (Cari Shayne) into working at his club by getting her hooked on drugs. When Karen stands up to Sonny, quits stripping and no longer succumbs to Sonny's manipulations, it appears as if the character could be written out. However, Sonny makes it clear that he is not done with Karen. Though many believe Sonny is capable of killing Karen, Benard maintained that his character would never go that far. "Sonny gets bad, but not irredeemably bad," Benard said of his alter-ego. At the time, the character does not even have a last name. Head writer Claire Labine said, "He didn't have much depth, because [GH] was thinking of him in a short-term situation." However, due to Benard's acting ability, Labine decided she had to write for the character, and once Benard agreed to a long term contract, Labine set out to make the character rootable. First, the writers gave him a last name, and immediately removed him from the strip club. "Besides getting rid of that sleazy element right away, I don't think we've changed Sonny all that much," Labine said to Soap Opera Digest.

Relationships
In the process of saving the character, Claire Labine made the decision to pair Sonny with Brenda Barrett (Vanessa Marcil). The pairing served as a catalyst to introduce the "real Sonny." Through his relationship with Brenda, the writers fleshed out Sonny's character. Brenda has no problem challenging Sonny. It is the first time Sonny has had a relationship where the woman is his equal, Labine explained. Instead of exploiting Brenda, like he usually did with other women, Sonny actually wants to understand her. As opposed to Anthony Geary's Luke Spencer, Sonny is not re-written as a heroic character. The writers also develop Sonny's relationship with the young street wise kid, Stone Cates (Michael Sutton) and his young girlfriend, Robin Scorpio (Kimberly McCullough), Brenda's best friend. Sonny takes Stone in and covers all of his medical bills when Stone is diagnosed with AIDS in early 1995. Sonny later donates $30 million dollars to General Hospital to build a wing in Stone's honor. When Benard renegotiated a deal to remain with the series until August 1997, it meant that his departure would also coincide with Vanessa Marcil's departure. Some immediately speculated that the characters would exit after a wedding getting their "happily ever after." Benard said he hoped Sonny would leave the canvas with integrity but did push for anything too grand. Benard however hinted that his exit would leave the door open for a return later.

Family
During Sonny's early romance with Brenda, the writers also delve into Sonny's past by introducing his estranged father, Mike Corbin (Ron Hale). When asked about his character's biological father in 1994, Benard suggested John Beradino's Steve Hardy as Sonny's long lost father, considering Beradino was Italian in real life, and their resemblance. Benard also suggested Stuart Damon's Alan Quartermaine as he believed they also shared a resemblance.

Departure (1997)
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Return and Hannah (1998–99)
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2000
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2001
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2002
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2003
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2004
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Bipolar disorder
In 1997, Benard said that he wished the series would have incorporated the disorder into his character.

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2006
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Kate, Olivia and The Zaccharas (2007–09)
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2008
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2009
http://gallery.mauricebenard.tv/index.php?cat=170&page=10

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2012
In 2012, Benard described Sonny as a "gangster with a good heart." Sonny loves his family very much, and his children mean the world to him. However, if you cross him, Sonny does not hesitate to go take you out. Though Sonny does bad things at times, he does them for the right reasons. "He's human," Benard said to TV Source Magazine. Benard said that under head writer, Ron Carlivati, becomes a bit more humanized. He is more then just a mob boss, "he’s just a man now with a lot of colors."

Accolades
Maurice Benard has been nominated received six Daytime Emmy Award nominations in the Outstanding Lead Actor category. Earning nominations in 1996, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2011, and 2012. Benard won the award in 2003. Benard received a nomination in the Outstanding Supporting Actor category in 1997. Benard won the Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in 1996 and 2003 for his portrayal of Sonny.

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Bi-polar disorder
His willingness to integrate his real life medical condition into Sonny's storylines have raised visibility of the disease, leading to Benard appearing on shows such as The Oprah Winfrey Show to discuss the disease as well as being the spokesman for the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance.

Pop culture references
The name of Michael "Sonny" Corinthos, as well as his occupation, is a reference to The Godfather characters Michael Corleone and Santino "Sonny" Corleone. These characters have a sister named Connie Corleone, which is alluded to in Kate Howard's real name, Connie Falconeri. Similarities have also been noted between Sonny and Tony Soprano from The Sopranos and the characters that surround them both.