Sonny Corinthos

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Michael "Sonny" Corinthos Jr. is a fictional character on the American soap opera General Hospital. Maurice Benard has played the role, that of a bi-polar mob boss living in Port Charles, since the character's storyline originated in August 1993.

Some viewers and critics are bothered by the mob storyline and what they see as the show's emphasis on violence. Others consider Sonny a compelling figure and no more dangerous than the Cassadine family, whose existence on the show spans three decades.[citation needed]


Contents

[edit] Character background

Sonny is a Roman Catholic and his religious faith is emphasized by the soap opera. This is a literary devise utilized by director Francis Ford Coppola in his famous Godfather trilogy and by David Chase who writes and produces The Sopranos. 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 Alan "AJ" Quartermaine Jr..

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.

Maurice Benard introduced a new kind of soap leading man--an antagonist and anti-hero, in the vein of anti-hero Luke Spencer, who has many layers woven into his character. Like Luke, the character of Sonny doesn't fit the mold of most soap male characters who tend to be benevolent doctors, successful lawyers or business men, police commissioners or agents in secret national and international espionage agencies. Unlike Luke, who dances around the law while not breaking it, Sonny continues to work in his dangerous profession. Even so, Sonny remains a popular character on the show. This is due to the talents of actor Maurice Benard, who has been nominated several times for a Daytime Emmy, and was awarded one as best actor in a soap opera in 2003.

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.

[edit] Early Years

Sonny first appeared on the show as a strip club owner and low-level mobster who provided teenage stripper Karen Wexler with pills and told her she was right to blame herself for being molested as a child. He was set up as a foil in the romance of the front burner couple Karen Wexler and Jagger Cates. However, actor Maurice Benard took a character that was supposed to be short term and hated and wove so many intricate layers into Sonny (such as vulnerability, loneliness, and desperation) that the audience saw behind Sonny's swagger and bravado. The lines between good and bad were blurred and Sonny Corinthos became a very different type of soap leading man. Sonny was soon given a much larger role on the canvas. Sonny lived with his good friend Stone Cates, a troubled teenager he took in. Sonny was devastated when Stone died of AIDS in 1995. Stone influenced Sonny's life so much he named his second son Morgan Stone after him and Jason Morgan. The rings that Sonny still wear today belonged to Stone and were given to him by Stone's girlfriend Robin Scorpio The audience learned that Sonny and his mother Adela Corinthos had been abused by his stepfather, Deke, when he was a child. Sonny's father, Mike Corbin, who presumably changed his name from Michael Corinthos Sr., later came to town but Sonny resented him for abandoning him. Mike has a gambling problem and Sonny often had to bail him out of financial trouble. Sonny later learned that his father had a daughter, Courtney Matthews, with an ex-girlfriend Janine. His mother, Adela, had a second son, Ric Lansing, with fiance Trevor Lansing but chose to leave Ric to be raised by his father. Trevor blamed Sonny for Adela's fall down the stairs while she was pregnant with Ric and refused to have Sonny in his household. The show has established that Sonny's mother was of Cuban heritage, while his father is of Irish and Greek descent. Sonny occasionally speaks Spanish on the show.

[edit] 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 hot passion and heartbreak kept viewers glued to their television sets. However, there were complications, to say the least, 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 the hottest 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.

[edit] Romances

Sonny was forced to marry Lily Rivera instead of his real love Brenda Barrett because of Lily's mob boss father. A pregnant 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 illegally adopted Carly's son, Michael, after forcing the boy's biological father A.J. Quartermaine to sign away his rights. Originally, he was able to remove Carly and Michael from the Quartermaine home by blackmailing AJ with evidence he had that AJ caused a fire at the warehouse on the docks. Faced with going to jail, AJ signed divorce papers and gave up his rights to visitation with Michael. Later, AJ married Courtney Mathews, 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. Sonny also has a daughter, Kristina Corinthos-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 aplastic anemia and needed a bone marrow transplant. Sonny also had an unnamed 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. Now Ric is conniving 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 chemo therapy as treatment for her cancer, Sonny threatened to gain custody of his daughter if Alexis' dies. -

[edit] Family

[edit] Parents

[edit] Children

[edit] Siblings

[edit] Nieces and Nephews

[edit] Romantic Entanglements

[edit] Marriages

Marital status: In-Love-With -- Carly Benson Corinthos

[edit] Other Significant Relationships

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