Courtney Matthews
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| Courtney Jacks | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Courtney Jacks (formerly Morgan) (Left) and Jason Morgan (Right) |
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| General Hospital | |||||||||||||||
| Portrayed by | Alicia Leigh Willis (2001-2006) | ||||||||||||||
| First appearance | 2001 | ||||||||||||||
| Last appearance | 2006 | ||||||||||||||
| Cause/reason | Died of encephalitis Virus | ||||||||||||||
| Created by | Megan McTavish | ||||||||||||||
| Profile | |||||||||||||||
| Gender | Female | ||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | August 12, 1982 | ||||||||||||||
| Date of death | February 21, 2006 | ||||||||||||||
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Courtney Jacks (previously Quartermaine and Morgan, born Courtney Matthews) was a fictional character on the ABC soap opera, General Hospital. She was the daughter of Mike Corbin and Janine Matthews, and the half sister of mobster, Sonny Corinthos. Courtney was portrayed by Alicia Leigh Willis from December 2001 until February 2006. Willis received two consecutive Emmy nominations for her portrayal of Courtney.
[edit] Fictional history
Soon after her arrival in Port Charles, she fell in love with and married A.J. Quartermaine, who used her to get to his biological son Michael Corinthos III, the illegally adopted child of Courtney's half-brother Sonny. However, when Courtney defended AJ to his family, he realized that he truly loved her. AJ ceased trying to trade Courtney for Michael and the Quartermaines froze AJ's bank account, leading him further into his alcoholism. After being blackmailed into stripping due to AJ's drunk driving accident, AJ became verbally abusive and had Courtney purposely stalked by Coleman Ratcliffe, the strip club owner.
Courtney's husband always lost to Sonny and Jason and for once AJ wanted to be the hero. She found out about the stalking and his original intentions, and they divorced. Before the stalker was revealed, Courtney turned to Sonny's enforcer for help and developed feelings for him. The guilt now gone due to AJ's involvement, Courtney fell in love with Jason Morgan (who happened to be AJ's brother and Sonny's best friend), and caused tension between Sonny and Jason. After many trials, including the miscarriage of their child, they finally married in a private ceremony in France. However, the miscarriage haunted her. She eventually decided that, due to the nature of Jason's Mob organization, she could not bear to lose him. She'd rather leave him than lose him than watch him die. Also, Jason's lifestyle made Courtney act in ways she never had before, including shooting officer Brian Beck. After shooting and killing Officer Beck, Courtney and Jason framed Zander Smith for the incident. This incident incident was part of a string of events that lead to the death of Zander Smith. Courtney and Jason parted ways, despite the fact that they still loved each other.
After months of grieving the failed relationship, Courtney declared her independence and began a foundation for needy and troubled kids. Jasper "Jax" Jacks signed on to lend credibility to her new endeavor and the two formed a tight bond. Always looking for a fresh challenge, Jax bet Courtney $10 million that he could seduce her in 3 months and Courtney gleefully accepted. The pretty blonde believed beating Jax at his own game would be a breeze. Unfortunately for her, Jax proved far more difficult to resist than she bargained for and the two slowly fell in love. The bet a playful part of their past, Jax proposed to Courtney and she tearfully agreed to become his wife. The two married on June 3, 2005 in a beautiful ceremony in the park that took them full circle. The only thing missing from their blissful lives was the baby that Courtney had long yearned for - and desperately wanted to give her eager hubby.
The newlyweds decided to have a surrogate child (Courtney was left barren from her first pregnancy) which led to the demise of their relationship as Jax had begun bonding with their surrogate mother, Elizabeth Webber. During this time, Courtney found friendship and solace in Nikolas Cassadine, which quickly blossomed into a forbidden attraction. Courtney miraculously became pregnant with his child, although Jax changed the DNA results to say that he was the father. In early January 2006, Courtney left town to have her baby in peace. She returned in February 2006 stricken with the disease that was plaguing Port Charles. Faced with the impossible choice between her life or her baby's, Courtney fearlessly chose to give her baby boy the chance to live. After the birth, Jax finally admitted to Courtney that Nikolas was the father. Though she was upset with him for lying, she forgave him, and asked to see Nikolas. However, Nikolas arrived too late. The childbirth had greatly weakened Courtney, though with her last breath she told Nikolas she loved him, and died a few moments later. She didn't get the chance to tell Nikolas he was the father, but he did find out a few months later.
Originally, the role of Courtney was going to be recast, but Willis hinted on Soap Talk that she didn't want her character being played by someone else, so Courtney was eventually killed off. However, in typical soap fashion, the gaping hole in her "death" leaves the possibility of a return. She is also a girl who likes to act and lives in Southern California.
Willis has garnered two Daytime Emmy nominations for "Outstanding Younger Actress", in 2003 and 2004.
