User:Jessie Brewer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Micheal "Sonny" Corinthos, Jr is a fictional character residing in the town of Port Charles on the American soap opera General Hospital. The character is easliy one of the most controversial and intriguing characters on Soap Operas today. Maurice Benard originated the role in August of 1993, and continues to portray the bipolar mob-boss today.
Sonny is a Roman Catholic and his religious faith is emphasized by the soap opera. This is a literary devise utalized 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 a good father and loves his children. He is very involved in their lives. When he's involved with a woman he is usually faithful (there was one "reckless" relationship due to extenuating circumstance). Sonny's morality also compares well to other citizens of Port Charles who claim moral authority but have mistresses, affairs, lovers, illigitimate children, commit murder and indulge in unethical business practices. This very cleverly sets up an irony: who is the real criminal? Is it the family man mobster or those that work "around" the law in order to further their unethical business and personal affairs? Maurice Benard introduced a new kind of soap leading man--an antogonist who has many layers woven into his character. He 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. For this soap "break through", Mr. Benard 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 disease. He has given up drinking, takes medication and sees a therapist on a regular basis. Sonny's portaryer, 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.
Contents |
[edit] Sonny & Brenda
One of General Hospital's most popular storylines was the supercouple pairing of Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard) and Brenda Barrett (Vanessa Marcil). The hot couple's passion and heartbreak captivated the audience and kept them glued to thier screens. Although they were madly in love, there were complications which included: Sonny's mobster life style, Sonny being forced to marry Lily Rivera, Brenda's relationship with corporate raider Jasper "Jax" 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. Years later their estrangement ended when Brenda told Sonny she understood why he left her at the alter and thanked him for keeping her safe.
[edit] Early years
Sonny first appeared on the show as a strip club owner and low-level mobster set up as a foil in the romance of the front burner couple Karen Wexler and Jagger Cates. Sonny's portrayer Maurice Benard however, took a character that was supposed to be short term and hated and weaved in so many intricate layers into Sonny (such as vulnerability, lonliness, 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. He was devastated when he 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] Romances
Sonny's romantic partners have been many which is not uncommon when a character in on the same soap canvas for a lengthly amount of time, such as Erica Kane on All My Children. 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 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. Later, AJ married Courtney Mathews, Sonny's half sister and and started demanding 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 Stone Corinthos. Sonny accidentally shot Carly in the head while she was giving birth to Morgan. Sonny also has a daughter, Kristina, 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.
[edit] Family
[edit] Parents
- Mike Corbin (father)
- Adela Corinthos (mother; deceased)
- Timothy "Deke" Deacon Woods (step-father; deceased)
[edit] Children
- Unnamed Child (son; with Lily; miscarriage)
- Michael Corinthos III (adoptive son; Carly's son with A.J. Quartermaine)
- Unnamed Child (son; with Carly; miscarriage)
- Kristina Corinthos-Davis (daughter; with Alexis)
- Morgan Stone Corinthos (son; with Carly)
- Baby Girl McCall(daughter; with Sam; stillborn)
[edit] Siblings
- Richard "Ric" Lansing (maternal half-brother)
- Courtney Matthews (paternal half-sister; deceased)
[edit] Nieces and Nephews
- Miscarried Morgan Baby (half; deceased)
- Miscarried Lansing Baby (half: deceased)
- Molly Lansing (half-niece)
- Spencer Cassadine (half-nephew)
[edit] Romantic Entaglements
[edit] Marriages
Marital status: single/ divorced Carly Corinthos
- Lily Rivera (dissolved by her death)
- Carly Corinthos (divorced)
- Carly Corinthos (divorced)
- Carly Corinthos (divorced)
[edit] Other Significant Relationships
- Karen Wexler (lovers; deceased)
- Brenda Barrett (lovers/engaged)
- Lily Rivera (lovers; deceased)
- Cindy Woods (dated)
- Carly Benson (affair)
- Hannah Scott (lovers)
- Angel Ellis (flirtation on her part)
- Alexis Davis (a very close year long friendship and flirtation that columnated into one night of passion)
- Sam McCall (lovers)
- Reese Marshall (lovers; deceased)
- Emily Bowen-Quartermaine (lovers)
