Maurice Benard took a trip down memory lane as fans celebrated his 32nd anniversary as Sonny Corinthos on General Hospital.
Benard’s Breakout
Benard is currently in his fourth decade playing one of GH’s most legendary characters. The Port Charles mob boss has been through it all; epic love stories with Brenda (Vanessa Marcil) and Carly (Laura Wright), tragedy with the deaths of his father Mike (Max Gail) and son Morgan (Bryan Craig, who recently revealed his desire to return to daytime), and physical and mental health struggles like living with bipolar disorder and a bout with amnesia.
August 13 marked 32 years of Sonny in Port Charles, and to celebrate, a GH fan on X (formerly Twitter) shared Benard’s very first scenes that aired in 1993.
In the clip, Sonny meets Karen (Cari Shayne) at his strip club, The Paradise Lounge, and he smooth talks her into stripping at the club.
Bernard reposted the video, saying, “I remember that day a lot of dialogue.”
The actor was met with several congratulatory replies, celebrating his GH anniversary, and many recalled recognizing Benard from another ABC soap.
“On this day I screamed at the TV in the common area at college….OMG Nico Kelly is on General Hospital and found out I wasn’t the only Nico Kelly fan,” one viewer shared, remembering Benard’s All My Children character. “I’ve enjoyed your acting since you played NICO on AMC!! You’ve always been “THE GOAT” in my eyes & I’m definitely sure, in every one of your Fans eyes!!” said another.
“32 years is quite an incredible milestone to celebrate Maurice.. 🎉 And the fans have enjoyed every minute of every memorable performance!” congratulated one viewer, while many others wished Benard a happy anniversary.
