SONNY CORINTHOS

'Sonny Corinthos' (full name 'Michael Corinthos Jr.') is a fictional character on the popular ABC soap opera ''General Hospital''. Maurice Benard has played the role, that of a manic depressive mob boss living in Port Charles, since the character's storyline originated in August 1993. He won a Daytime Emmy for the role in 2003.

Fictional background

Sonny first appears on the show in 1993, as a strip club owner and low-level mobster who provides teenage stripper Karen Wexler with pills and told her she was right to blame herself for being molested as a child. He had been set up as a foil in the romance of the front burner couple Karen Wexler and Jagger Cates. The character was intended to be a short-term one, but he became popular with fans because of a multi-level portrayal: vulnerability, loneliness, and desperation behind the external swagger and bravado. The writers therefore expanded the role, and Benard was moved to contract status.
The character's background is revealed as that of a boy born in blue-collar Bensonhurst, New York, in Brooklyn. Sonny's biological father, Mike Corbin, is of Irish and Greek descent, has a gambling problem, and has abandoned the family. Sonny's mother, Adela Corinthos is of Cuban heritage, and Sonny occasionally speaks Spanish on the show. Sonny and his mother have been abused by his stepfather, Deke. It is also eventually revealed that Mike Sr. had a daughter, Courtney Matthews, with his ex-girlfriend Janine, and that Sonny's mother Adela had another son, Ric Lansing, with Trevor Lansing. Adela falls down the stairs while pregnant with Ric, and Trevor blames Sonny, refusing to allow him to live in the household. Adela chooses to leave Ric to be raised by his father.
In 1993, Sonny is shown to be living with his good friend Stone Cates, a troubled teenager he took in. When Stone dies of AIDS in 1995, Sonny is devastated, and names his second son "Morgan Stone" after both Stone Cates and Jason Morgan. The rings which Sonny wears belonged to Stone and were given to him by Stone's girlfriend Robin Scorpio.
Sonny's father Mike has a gambling problem, and Sonny often has to bail him out of financial trouble. Sonny is a Roman Catholic and his religious faith is emphasized by the soap opera. This is a literary device utilized by director Francis Ford Coppola in his famous ''Godfather'' trilogy and by David Chase who writes and produces ''The Sopranos.'' (Interestingly enough, Sonny shares his name with each of Don Corleone's sons in The Godfather, his real name being Michael and his nickname being Sonny.) Showing Sonny to be a devout Catholic and at the same time a figure in organized crime immediately establishes the conflict within the character. Sonny is portrayed as a father who loves and cares for his children, but whose actions also put his children at risk. Members of his family are shadowed by bodyguards, live in homes with bulletproof windows and guards at the door, and travel in cars with bulletproof glass. His children have witnessed car bomb explosions and have been sent to Sonny's private island for safekeeping, causing them to miss school. All three of Sonny's children were kidnapped in 2005 by mobster Faith Rosco, who had been paid to do so by Michael's biological father, A.J. Quartermaine.
Sonny has had a number of romantic partners, which is common for a veteran character in the soap opera genre. His morality is portrayed as comparing well to other citizens of Port Charles who claim moral authority but have mistresses, affairs, lovers, illegitimate children, commit murder and indulge in unethical business practices. However, some critics feel that the show's producers deliberately darkened the writing so that Sonny would compare favorably with the doctors, lawyers, and police officers who once dominated the canvas.
Sonny's violent behavior, such as throwing things or slipping into a deep depression, has been attributed to his recent diagnosis of bipolar disorder. He has given up drinking, takes medication and sees a therapist on a regular basis. Sonny's portrayer, Maurice Benard (who also is bipolar) felt so strongly about this storyline that he put himself at risk by pushing hard to make the story as realistic as possible.

Sonny and Brenda

One of General Hospital's most popular storylines was the supercouple pairing of Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard) and Brenda Barrett (Vanessa Marcil). The couple's passion and heartbreak kept viewers glued to their television sets. However, there were complications which included: Sonny's mobster life style, Sonny being forced to marry Lily Rivera, and Brenda's relationship with corporate raider Jasper Jacks (Ingo Rademacher), which became one of the most popular love triangle in General Hospital history. Sonny, worried about Brenda's safety because of his lifestyle, decided to "stand her up" at the altar hoping this would make her hate him and forget him. The loss of Sonny coupled with career setbacks and loss of income caused Brenda to have a nervous breakdown. Brenda was presumed dead in 1998 when her car went into the ocean. She was later discovered to be alive in 2002. During her short stay in town Brenda told Sonny she understood why he left her at the altar and thanked him for keeping her safe.

Sonny and Carly

One of General Hospital's most popular supercouples is Sonny and Carly Corinthos. Sonny and Carly have two young boys Michael Corinthos and Morgan Corinthos.
Sonny and Carly's relationship began from the first time they met there was a spark, of course at the time it was called disdain, their disdain turned into a mutual respect on a hot summer night when Carly walked into Sonny's penthouse and found him in a depths of his breakdown. Sonny was on the brink of insanity, and Carly stayed that was the beginning of a thawing between the two. They were not suddenly best friends, but there was a certain respect they held for one another. It was then they decided to play nice for their mutual best friend Jason's sake.
A couple of months later, an hurt and angry Carly barged into Sonny's penthouse ready to take on a hurt and angry Sonny. That night they "lit a match" and challenged and argued and eventually ended up in bed, while Jason their best friend was getting shot. That same night Jason walked into the penthouse and was devastated shortly after Jason left.
Their night of anger sex left Carly pregnant with Sonny's baby, but she was trapped in a loveless marriage with a verbally abusive alcoholic. When Sonny found out about his baby he rescued a reluctant Carly from her marriage. He then decided that they should live together and after some resistance from Carly they did.
Slowly they began to trust each other, and develop a friendship. Their situation of a pregnancy with a new friendship and a level of comfort and trust neither were used to and a need to make a home for their children pushed Sonny and Carly into an engagement. Their life was on a continual up spiral. When one particularly pleasant day as Carly was visiting her son's grandmother with pictures, Carly met up with her ex AJ on the stairs of the mansion. After an arguement Carly began to walk past AJ grabbed her wrist when Carly pulled away she fell down the stairs. The fall caused a placenta abruption and Sonny was forced to have his son be taken in an effort to save Carly.
The loss of their child broke them, and to heal Sonny took Carly to his island so that they could both heal, and that is where the real love began, but as it is usual for a soap it was not smooth sailing from there. Carly and Sonny fought their feelings for each other and seemed to be falling apart until in an effort to help Sonny Carly ended up a witness for the prosecution. To keep Carly from testifying Sonny and Carly got married, but it was soon apparent to everyone that this was more than a marriage of convenience.
Carly was ready to confess her love the night Sonny was gunned down in front of the PCPD. She stayed by his side through everything and would not give up and her stubbornness was rewarded. Sonny woke up and confessed his love and so did Carly and all seemed well until some problems with the mob scared Sonny and convinced him to break up with Carly to protect her, but having been proposed to for a second time Carly refused to allow it. She went to their wedding without him forcing him to follow, and he did. And again Carly's stubbornness was rewarded, because seeing her in their church he could not leave her. They were married for the second time in Martinique.
Once back in Port Charles life was not perfect, but it was good. Eventually though Sonny's mob problems began to become out of control and after a particularly nasty fight in which Sonny told a devastated Carly that they will never have any more children; Carly went to the FBI to make sure Sonny and she could enter witness protection. But this plaaan blew up in her face. This led to the first almost divorce. Sonny was devastated by Carly's betrayal, and Carly was heartbroken at his inability to forgive.
Eventually after a frightening accident which left most with the idea that Carly was dead, Carly and Sonny reconciled, but not after another trip to their island. They became a happy married couple, but not without it's strife. They had to deal with the mob and other intruders to their lives.
Sonny and Carly with the help of Jason faked Sonny's death in Sept of 2002. There brought the return of Brenda, and her stalker Luis Alcazar. After a long battle Luis ended up dead after making an enemy of everyone in town. Sonny and Carly took solace in that lull. They soon found out that Carly was pregant; this was quickly followed by the beginning of a breakdown for Sonny. Carly again saw him through when no one else could. During this time she had also befriended Sonny's new lawyer Ric Lansing. Ric drugged and made Carly believe that they had slept together, making Carly question her and Sonny's baby's paternity, but after a amnio they discovered that Sonny was the father. She then told Sonny of Ric's lie, and Sonny and Jason took off to confront a psychotic Ric.
Sonny was devastated to learn that Ric was actually his half-brother on his mother's side.

Sonny and Connie meet again

Sonny and Connie were neighbors in their hometown Bensonhurst. They started dating in high school. They planned to run away together, but the night that they were supposed to go, Connie left Sonny. She didn't want to go because she wanted to live her own life in New York City. Sonny left and joined the mob. Connie changed her name to Kate Howard and went to Princeton University. She became editor and chief of the very popular magazine called, Couture.
Kate came to Port Charles to find a house "in the country". She walked into Sonny's office demanding to use his phone. At first, he didn't recognize her, but she recognized him instantly. She did not tell him they knew each other, she lied about her past to him when he asked. Finally he figured out who she was. They have run into each other a few times since then.
Kate ended up moving in next door to Sonny. They have had many problems communicating. Sonny repeatedly tells her that she is ashamed of her past. Sonny often brings up their past to Kate. Like, their first dates, their old friends, their school, etc. Despite getting on each others nerves, they are slowly starting to fall for each other again.
On the week of July 23 to the July 28, 2007, Kate and Sonny make love.
Kate saved Morgan's life while he was drowning in her pond. In the process, she was bitten by a snake. Sonny rushed her to the hospital.
Kate is arrested for side swiping a cop's car and fleeing the scene. She is arrested, but Sonny's lawyer, Diane is able to get her out on bail in Sonny's custody. Kate takes the fender bender offence as a joke, saying she has to go to Paris for a fashion show. Later on, Diane is able to get her community service instead of time in jail.
As Sonny and Kate are celebrating with a kiss, Ric Lansing walks in and tells Kate and Sonny not to celebrate too soon, because he is going to bring up the charges against Kate back up again and make her pay by spending time in jail. He tells her to thank Sonny for that.
Kate is forced to terminate her relationship with Sonny later on.
When Kate and Sonny talked, she decided to keep their friendship. They both want something more, but with her ex-lover Trevor Lansing comes to town and a mobwar is coming with him. Trevor gets the hit snd run charges dropped. Trevor does not want Kate around Sonny. He gives her an ultamatum...Trevor or Sonny. She chooses Sonny.

Romances

Sonny was forced to marry Lily Rivera Corinthos instead of his real love Brenda Barrett because of Lily's mob boss father. Lily was later blown up by a car bomb meant for Sonny. Lily's father arranged for the car bomb because he thought Sonny meant to go back to Brenda. Sonny inherited Rivera's territory after he too died. Sonny's relationship with Brenda did not last, but he has a number of other relationships.
The most significant has been with Carly Corinthos, who came to town as Caroline "Carly" Benson. He has married and divorced Carly several times. Sonny has two living children with Carly. Sonny adopted Carly's son, Michael Corinthos (by a one night stand with A.J. Quartermaine). He was able to get custody of Michael when he produced evidence that A.J. committed arson by burning some of Sonny's warehouses on the Port Charles, New York docks. Rather than go to jail, A.J. gave up all claims on his son. Some fans see this as underhanded on Sonny's part while others aren't bothered because in their eyes A.J.'s only interest in his son was in providing the Quartermaine heir. Later, AJ married Courtney Matthews, Sonny's half sister and demanded his parental rights. Sonny ordered his henchmen to hang A.J. from a meat hook and threatened to kill him if he did not sign the adoption papers.
Carly later gave birth to his son, Morgan Corinthos. Sonny accidentally shot Carly in the head while she was giving birth to Morgan after being gas-lighted by Lorenzo Alcazar. Alcazar paid a woman to have plastic surgery so that she would resemble Sonny's first wife, Lily. When he found Carly in labor he thought she was in danger and shot at what he thought was Lorenzo Alcazar.
Sonny also has a daughter, Kristina Davis, with his former attorney, Alexis Davis. Alexis kept the paternity of her daughter secret for years to protect her from Sonny. She was forced to tell Sonny the truth when Kristina developed leukemia and needed a bone marrow transplant.
Sonny also had a stillborn daughter with Samantha "Sam" McCall. Sam later turned out to be the daughter Alexis gave up for adoption as a teenager. Sonny was dismayed when he learned he had slept with a mother and daughter.
Sonny was most recently involved with Emily Bowen-Quartermaine, the adoptive sister of his right hand man, Jason Morgan. Emily persuaded him to get treatment for his bipolar disorder. Sonny recently ended the relationship out of fear that his lifestyle would hurt Emily. Sonny's half-brother, Ric Lansing, the son of Sonny's mother Adela by Trevor Lansing, hoped to use Sonny's bipolar disorder to gain advantage over Sonny, but his plot was foiled. As a result, Ric schemed with Lorenzo Alcazar to kill Sonny and his right-hand man Jason Morgan.
Alexis Davis is battling lung cancer and asked Sonny to let Ric raise Kristina if she dies. In order to get Alexis to consider chemotherapy as treatment for her cancer, Sonny threatened to gain custody of his daughter if Alexis' dies. Since Alexis' separation from Ric Lansing, Sonny and Alexis have rekindled their friendship somewhat. His lawyer, Diane, is working on Alexis' custody case with Ric (Ric is trying to gain custody of their daughter Molly on the grounds that Alexis is too sick to be an adequate parent) and has provided a strong shoulder for her to lean on as she is dealing with the effects of chemotherapy and battling with lung cancer.

References to popular culture

The name of Michael "Sonny" Corinthos, as well as his occupation, are allusive to The Godfather's characters of Michael Corleone and Santino "Sonny" Corleone. These characters have a sister named Connie Corleone, which is allusive to Kate Howard's real name, Connie Falconeri.
Both Sonny and his portrayer Maurice Benard suffer from Manic Depression. One of Sonny's storyline portrayed his struggle with the disease.^[2]

Family and relationships

Parents

★ Mike Corbin (father)

★ Adela Corinthos (mother, deceased)

★ Deke Woods (step-father; deceased)

Sibling(s)

★ Ric Lansing (maternal half-brother)

★ Courtney Matthews (paternal half-sister; deceased)

Children

★ Unnamed child (son, with Lily Rivera Corinthos; miscarriage)

★ Michael Corinthos III (adopted son, with Carly Corinthos Jacks)

★ Unnamed child (son, with Carly Corinthos Jacks; miscarriage)

★ Kristina Davis (daughter, with Alexis Davis)

★ Morgan Corinthos (son, with Carly Corinthos Jacks)

★ Baby Girl McCall (daughter, with Sam McCall; stillborn)

Marital status

★ Single

Past marriage(s)

★ Lily Rivera Corinthos (dissolved by her death)

★ Caroline "Carly" Benson (divorced; first time) [August 2000-Feb. 2001]

★ Caroline "Carly" Benson Corinthos (divorced; second time) [Feb 2001 to November 2001]

★ Caroline "Carly" Benson Corinthos (divorced; third time) [June 2002-January 2005]

★ Caroline "Carly" Benson Corinthos (divorced; fourth time) [Jan. to May 2007]

Nieces and nephews

★ Molly Lansing (half-niece, via Ric)

★ Spencer Cassadine (half-nephew, via Courtney)

Romantic entanglements

★ Kate Howard (teen lovers/flirtation/one night stand)

★ Karen Wexler (lovers; deceased)

★ Lily Rivera Corinthos (lovers/married; deceased)

★ Brenda Barrett (lovers/engaged)

★ Cindy Woods (dated)

★ Hannah Scott (lovers)

★ Carly Corinthos Jacks (affair/lovers/married)

★ Alexis Davis (affair)

★ Samantha "Sam" McCall (affair)

★ Reese Marshall (lovers; deceased)

★ Emily Quartermaine (lovers)

★ Amelia Joffe (lovers)

References

1. General Hospital Episode, August 14, 2007, Stated on air by Kate Howard.
2. BiPolar Disorder

External links

★ ABC.COM Character Bio

★ soapcentral.com profile

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