Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard)

Michael "Sonny" 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. Benard won a Daytime Emmy for the role in 2003. Sonny left the mob organization in May 2008 after his son was shot and then returned after his ex-girlfriend was shot in December 2008.

Background
Michael "Sonny" Corinthos, Jr. is born in the blue-collar Bensonhurst neighborhood of Brooklyn. His biological father, Michael Corinthos, Sr., is of Greek and Irish descent, while his mother, Adela, is of Cuban extraction. Due to his gambling problems, Michael, Sr. feels that Sonny would be better off not knowing him. Hence, he divorces Adela and leaves the family, changing his name to Mike Corbin. Adela goes on to marry Deke Woods, a police officer who routinely abuses both her and Sonny. As a teen, Sonny enters into a chaste relationship with Connie Falconeri. He also has a brief sexual relationship with her cousin Olivia Falconeri, who hides the fact that she eventually gives birth to his son, Dante. Adela eventually has an affair with her employer Trevor Lansing, that produces a son named Ric. When Trevor feels that Sonny is responsible for an accident that nearly causes Adela to lose Ric, he forces her to choose between her two sons. Adela refuses to abandon Sonny, and Trevor raises Ric on his own. Meanwhile, Mike enters into a relationship with Janine Matthews, that produces a daughter named Courtney. Mike's gambling also leads him to abandon this family. Sonny celebrated his birthday (April 21st, 1969) almost every year when he was married to Carly because she, Michael & Morgan enjoyed them so much.

Casting and characterization
Although Bernard joined the cast in 1993, Benard left the show on September 24, 1997, and after a brief return in the spring of 1998, Benard has continued to portray Sonny since December 18, 1998. In 2003, Benard won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for the role. Benard has described Sonny as "unpredictable," and stated that: "You never know from one second to the next what he is thinking, feeling or planning. He's a man in personal conflict who maintains an outward appearance of calm at all times, at any cost."

Like the character of Sonny, Maurice Benard also suffers from bipolar disorder. Benard stated, "When I let it be known I was bipolar, we wrote it into the character." During 2006, Corinthos had an onscreen breakdown due to his bipolar disorder. The parallels between the story and Benard's real life expeirences had Benard believing he was having his own "fourth break down," though Benard credits staying on his medication as keeping him grounded. His willingness to integrate his real life medical condition into Sonny's storylines have raised visibility of the disease, leading to Benard appearing on shows such as The Oprah Winfrey Show to discuss the disease as well as being the spokesman for the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance.

The name of Michael "Sonny" Corinthos, as well as his occupation, is a reference to The Godfather's characters of Michael Corleone and Santino "Sonny" Corleone. These characters have a sister named Connie Corleone, which is alluded to in Kate Howard's real name, Connie Falconeri. Similarities have also been noted between Sonny and Tony Soprano from The Sopranos and the characters that surround them both. Vincent Pastore, who portrayed Big Pussy Bonpensiero on The Sopranos, came on the show to portray Maximus Giambetti, father of Sonny's bodyguards Milo and Max Giambetti.

Early years
Sonny Corinthos is introduced to viewers as a mob-connected strip-club owner; he turns Karen Wexler on to drugs and into his main show-stopper. An attraction develops between Sonny and Brenda Barrett; Sonny gets shot as he and Luke Spencer break Frank Smith out of jail; Brenda donates her blood for a transfusion; Sonny backs Brenda and Lois in L&B Records; Sonny meets Lily Rivera, but he and Brenda get into a scrape with Lily's gangster dad in Puerto Rico; Sonny assumes control of the P.C. mob. Sonny and Luke partner up in a blues club, where Sonny is reunited with his estranged dad, Mike Corbin; he and Luke strike down Sonny's old mentor, Joe Scully, then survive a mob hit; Sonny's devastated when his surrogate little bro, Stone Cates, is felled by AIDS; Sonny breaks up with Brenda after finding a surveillance wire on her, then takes up with Lily.

Marrying Lily
Sonny gets engaged to Lily, but still has feelings for Brenda; after learning that Lily is pregnant, Sonny marries her, but she's killed in a car explosion that her father intended for Sonny; he helps kill Senor Rivera; Sonny ruins Brenda and Jax's wedding by bringing forth Jax's presumed-dead first wife, Miranda; Jason suffers brain damage in a car accident, then goes to work for Sonny. Sonny and Brenda get trapped together in the catacombs and make love; they eventually reunite and get stalked by a hitman named the Tin ; Senor Rivera is revealed to be alive, but Sonny kills him; Sonny and Brenda get engaged, but he skips town -- never arriving at the altar -- to keep her safe. Sonny returns to town later in the year and learns that Brenda is presumed dead in a car crash. He becomes romantically involved with newcomer Hannah Scott, unaware that she's an undercover FBI agent; he has a one-night stand with Carly; when he learns of Hannah's identity, he breaks up with her.

Child with Carly
Sonny has a pregnant Carly and Michael move into the penthouse and things grow romantic; Sonny and Roy DiLucca work to bring down rival mobster Joseph Sorel; Carly and Sonny become engaged, but she loses the baby in a tragic fall; they make up, then have a falling out when she accidentally gets him arrested; S&C wed so that she can't testify against him; the match turns to love; Sonny gets shot at the P.C.P.D. Sonny has a near-death experience in which he visits Lily and meets his two never-born children; after surviving another mob hit, he and Carly renew their vows in a Caribbean ceremony; Sonny ices out Carly after she secretly tries to arrange a deal for him with the Feds; he later gets stabbed and is cared for by a woman named Angel, who turns out to be Sorel's daughter.

Alexis Davis
Sonny grows closer with Alexis Davis and they have sex; she gets pregnant, but conceals the truth from him.... He later reunites with Carly; a mystery man named Luis Alcazar arrives in town and puts a hit out on Sonny, who fakes his death; he learns soon after that Brenda is alive and with Alcazar.

Carly is Kidnapped
Sonny hires Ric Lansing to do some legal work for him, but is wary of the newcomer; he also assists Brenda in trying to find out who killed Alcazar; Sonny becomes estranged from Jason after Morgan falls for Sonny's sister, Courtney, then begins suffering a mental breakdown; Carly spies Sonny kissing Brenda and mistakenly thinks the couple is reuniting, then gets "raped" by Ric; Carly gets pregnant and Sonny learns about the "rape" when she reveals that she had a paternity test; he plans to kill Ric, but stops when he finds out that Lansing is his half brother. After Luis died, his identical brother Lorenzo Alcazar from Venezuela came to town and happened upon Carly, being held hostage by Ric. Lorenzo rescued Carly from Ric and held her as a bargaining chip against Sonny.

Lorenzo grew fond of Carly as he held her captive and continued to pursue her after Jason and Sonny rescued her and brought her home. As a result of the stress of her kidnapping, his fears of something going wrong in her pregnancy and manipulations by Lorenzo, Sonny began to have a breakdown. He feared that Carly and their unborn child would be killed, as Lily had, because of him and pushed her away in final weeks of her pregnancy. As Carly fought to get Sonny back she ended up going into labor, in Lorenzo's presence. When Sonny arrived, he heard screaming and thought that Lorenzo was hurting Carly and shot him, however the bullet went through him and into Carly's head, as she gave birth to their son Morgan.

Divorce
Carly would survive, but Sonny would soon divorce Carly in favor of Sam McCall and refuse Carly any visitation with her children. Lorenzo was at Carly side as she fought for her children. When they were fighting for custody of the boys, Alcazar caused an accident in the court room so Carly could get full custody. Sonny then realized she should have custody of the boys and Carly told Sonny he could see them when ever he wanted. As time went by, Michael wanted his parents back together and he faked his own kidnapping. However, Jason found him after he got hurt. During the time of the kidnapping, Sonny made a deal with God that if he let Michael be recovered safely, he would forgive Carly and let her and the boys move back in with him at the penthouse. After Michael came out of General Hospital, Sonny asked Carly to move back in and she agreed. When Carly and the boys where back together under one roof, Sam found out she was pregnant with Sonny's child. Sonny was afraid of losing his family, and he agreed with Jason to lie about who the father of the child was. Sonny allowed Carly and the town believe Jason was the father of Sam’s baby.

After time progressed, Sam was tired of telling the lie and ran away to Costa Rica to give the baby up for adoption. Sonny did not want the child given away, and had Jason follow her. Since Sonny thought she was in Costa Rica, he went to the country to speak to her, but he was shot when Faith Rosco ordered a hit on him. A nun took care of him during his time of recovering and eventually called Carly. Carly went to see him and Sonny asked her to take him home. While recovering at General Hospital, Sonny told her about his feelings for her and let her know that he considers her his “home.” He wished things were back as they were between them and Carly let him know she felt the same way. After Sonny and Carly attended Lila’s funeral, he realized life is short and he did not want to lose Carly or lie to her anymore.

Separation
When they returned home, he told Carly the truth about everything, and she freaked out (Carly did not expect Sonny and Jason to lie to her for a long period of time). Carly forgave both Sonny and Jason and reconciled with Sonny. However, Carly was still keeping a secret of her own. During a hotel fire, Alexis and Carly were stuck in elevator and thought they were going to die. Alexis told Carly that Kristina’s father is Sonny and not Ned. Carly agreed to keep the revelation a secret and kept the promise after she and Sonny reconciled. But the guilt of keeping a secret was too hard for her. She told Sonny that Kristina was his biological daughter. Sonny couldn't believe that Carly would keep this secret from him. They separated again after that.

Emily Quartermaine
Sonny was involved with Emily Bowen-Quartermaine, the adoptive sister of his right hand man, Jason Morgan.Jason turned on Sonny and slowly took over Sonny's business as a way to break up them up. Emily persuaded him to get treatment for his bipolar disorder. Sonny ended the relationship out of fear that his lifestyle would hurt Emily. Sonny's half-brother, Ric 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.

Unable to contact her brother Jason, Emily went to Sonny to try and find a way to contact him. Sonny offered his ear to her when he told her that Jason was on vacation. Sonny quickly learned that Nikolas was having an affair and that the other woman was his own sister. Sonny promised Emily he would take care of everything. Sonny convinced Emily to move in the guesthouse while she dealt with her current situation. Sonny laid into Nikolas when he stopped by to see Emily.

Nikolas and Emily promised to try again, which Courtney overheard. Emily showed up at Wyndemere right after Nikolas left a message for Courtney and she knew something was off when she kissed him. Right then, Courtney arrived and Emily realized that Nikolas's mind was on Courtney. Nikolas tried to explain but Emily told him they were done.

During the Port Charles train crash, Reese Marshall withheld symptoms causing Emily to misdiagnose her condition and Reese ended up dying. Emily was overcome with guilt, and decided she should end her ambitions of becoming a doctor. Sonny made Emily realize that she had a lot to offer, and encouraged her to stick with her goals. Emily took Sonny's advice, but would freeze up when faced with a medical crisis.

The more time Emily spent with Sonny and his kids, the fonder of him she became. Emily was caught off guard when she began having romantic dreams about Sonny that soon developed into sexual fantasies. One night over dinner, Emily had too many glasses of wine and admitted to Sonny that she was falling in love with him. Sonny gently told Emily that he did not share her feelings. The truth was, Sonny was falling for Emily, but knew Jason would never support a relationship between his sister and a mob boss. Out of respect for his friendship with Jason, Sonny tried to stay away from Emily.

After leaving Sonny's house that night, Emily discovered Michael drowning at the pier. Without hesitating, Emily rescued Michael and saved his life by administering CPR. Sonny was extremely grateful and later that evening, they couldn't fight their attraction and shared a kiss. Sonny ended up pushing Emily away once again. Finally Emily confronted Sonny about his feelings and dared him to admit he was falling for her.

Encephalitis
Jason made Sonny realize that he'd only cause Emily pain in the long run, and Sonny once again decided to end their romance. Carly helped Sonny push Emily away by staging a kiss with him. Once Emily witnessed Sonny and Carly kissing she was left devastated. Before Emily had any time to process their break up, Port Charles was hit with the Encephalitis virus.

Both Nikolas and Sonny fell ill with the virus and Emily ended up taking care of both of them. While in the hospital Sonny admitted to Emily that the kiss with Carly was just a ruse to make her forget about him. Emily forgave Sonny and after he recovered from his illness, the couple finally consummated their relationship.

With the aura of devastation after the virus, Emily and Sonny decided to keep their relationship secret until their friends and family had recovered from their losses. Both lied to Jason about the fact that they were still seeing each other, but he remained suspicious.

Obstacles
Sonny took Emily away to Spain where he shared his fears about hurting her. Emily reassured Sonny that they'd overcome the obstacles ahead of them, and together they returned to Port Charles. Their secret love affair soon was made public after Jason saved them from a hit man that had broken into their hotel suite. Jason's suspicions had already been confirmed, but he was horrified to find his sister and best friend in an intimate moment.

Sonny and Emily's relationship was plastered all over the news, and the Quartermaines were equally upset about the developments in Emily's love life. Regardless, Sonny and Emily were determined to stay together despite the objections of those closest to them, while Jason remains certain that their relationship is doomed.

Soon after Sonny and Emily's relationship was made public, he was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder thanks to Emily's medical knowledge. Emily stood by Sonny through this difficult time, convincing him to go into therapy and get control of his condition. Unfortunately, Sonny was unable to overcome his fear that he might change fundamentally and that he didn't want Emily to feel obligated to stay with him. Sonny, while at the same time telling Emily that he couldn't stop loving her, sent her away from him to have a great life, become a doctor, and make him sorry he asked her to leave.

Reconciliations and New Loves


When Carly was involved in the heavy train accident, Sonny did everything he could to get to Carly, as well did Lorenzo, who was still in love with her. Though Carly rejected both men, she remained friends with Sonny because of their sons. Sonny couldn't stand it when she found love another old enemy of hers, Jasper "Jax" Jacks, the ex-husband of Sonny's sister Courtney Jacks, the ex-fiancé of Sonny's other big love Brenda and the ex-lover of Sonny's ex-lover Sam.

Jax and Carly got engaged, much to Sonny's dismay, but he refused to beg her to reconcile with him, as he felt too proud to do such thing. Sonny and Carly did get close to making love to each other at some points, but it never happened. When Jax went away for business, Carly and Sonny, along with many others, were guests at a party at Jax' hotel Metro Court. They were taken hostage, and this was when their feelings for each other reached surface again. Defending each other, protecting each other from bullets were part of the process. When Carly and Sonny were thrown in a room together, Sonny realized it was now or never, since Jax would soon return. He declared his undying love for Carly, stating she was not just his partner or the mother of his children, but his whole life, and he should've told her he loved her sooner. After the hostage was over, Carly went home with Sonny and they made love. Afterwards, Carly broke his heart by announcing she would still marry Jax.

Currently, after many difficult times, Sonny and Carly are in a good place, treating each other with a deep respect, trusting each other completely and still sticking by each other's side no matter what.

Sonny and Kate
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 fashion 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. Kate ended up moving in next door to Sonny, and despite getting on each others nerves, they slowly started to fall for each other again.

Kate ended up saving Morgan's life while he was drowning in her pond. In the process, she was bitten by a snake and Sonny rushed her to the hospital.

Later on, Kate was arrested for side swiping a cop's car and fleeing the scene. Sonny's lawyer, Diane was able to get her out on bail in Sonny's custody. Kate took the fender bender offense as a joke, deciding to go to Paris for a fashion show. Diane was able to get her community service instead of time in jail and as Sonny and Kate celebrated with a kiss, Ric walked in and told Kate that he was going to bring up the charges against her once again and make her pay by spending time in jail. Kate was then forced to terminate her relationship with Sonny.

Kate and Sonny talked, and decided to keep their friendship alive. They both wanted something more, but her ex-lover Trevor Lansing (his mother's ex lover) came to town and brought a mob war with him. Trevor had the hit and run charges against Kate dropped and delivered an ultimatum... she had to choose between Trevor or Sonny. She chose Sonny.

Another issue in the couple's relationship is Sonny's ex-wife Carly who does not approve of Kate and is jealous of her. Her and Kate do not get along and are constantly getting into arguments. Carly feels Kate is not "good enough" for Sonny.

At the black and white ball in November 2007, Kate and Sonny admitted that they loved each other very much. Sonny even took a bullet from Anthony Zacchara to save Kate's life.

in 2008, Sonny took Kate back to Bensonhurst to where the first met. They went to dinner and the movies where they went on a date when they were teenagers. At the restaurant Kate and Sonny put quarters into a "psychic machine" and Sonny puts the card that came out into his pocket. After dinner Sonny and Kate go outside and he proposes to her. She tries to skirt around answering but Sonny firmly tells her if she's not going to say yes then don't bother saying no. Kate runs off and Sonny is left standing there hurt and pulls the card out of it which reads "You will stand alone." He then proceeds to buy the restaurant and movie theater him and Kate went to and burns them down. He goes missing for a bit and when Kate finds him again he is not so quick to forgive her for leaving him twice. He is so hurt that he inadvertently ends up sleeping with Claudia Zacchara, the enemy.

In February 2008, Sonny found Kate after his son shot her by accident.After going to the hospital, Kate recovered from a coma and was diagnosed with ````pericarditis``` and a shorter life. Sonny then found out that Michael may have [and did] shot Kate and ran away. Michael returned to Port Charles before a bomb went off in Alcazar's piers.

Mob ties and woes
In 2008, Sonny took Kate back to Bensonhurst to where the first met. They went to dinner and the movies where they went on a date when they were teenagers. At the restaurant Kate and Sonny put quarters into a "psychic machine" and Sonny puts the card that came out into his pocket. After dinner Sonny and Kate go outside and he proposes to her. She tries to skirt around answering but Sonny firmly tells her if she's not going to say yes then don't bother saying no. Kate runs off and Sonny is left standing there hurt and pulls the card out of it which reads "You will stand alone." He then proceeds to buy the restaurant and movie theater him and Kate went to and burns them down. He goes missing for a bit and when Kate finds him again he is not so quick to forgive her for leaving him twice. He is so hurt that he inadvertently ends up sleeping with Claudia Zacchara, the enemy. In April 2008, Sonny wanted to prove to his son that his business was a legitimate business and wanted to spend a little time with him. Kate picked Michael up from his house and drove him to the piers to watch a coffee shipment come in. The three were having a good time until Sonny notice the glint of a gun up in the rafters. But, he didn't push Michael out of the way. He pushed Kate.

Michael was shot in the head and slipped into a coma. Carly and Sonny were told that Michael was in a permanent vegetative state. Carly is still in denial. She blames Sonny and wants him out of Michael and Morgan's lives.

Filled with guilt, Sonny stops by the hospital every day to see Michael. Jax calls in specialists in Michael's condition and they tell him the same thing Robin and Patrick told them. Michael will stay in the coma. Jax says that it will be easier to send Michael to a special facility. Carly refuses and starts setting up shop at home where she can care for Michael.

On May 2nd, Sonny stops by the hospital and he and Carly sit together with Michael and talk about things that could have been and probably never will be. Carly flees the room in tears. Sonny goes after her and they hug and cry together. Due to the grief Carly and Sonny have felt after finally placing Michael in a facility, they kiss and then have sex on May 19th.

Sonny signed the papers that makes him lose his paternally rights to both Michael and Morgan after Jason and Carly pressured him into it. Sonny also signed his mob business over to Jason. He considers this to be a betrayal on both their parts for making him give up his boys.

For Christmas 2008, Carly suprises Sonny by letting him spend time with Morgan. Carly tells Sonny that he can now see Morgan anytime he wants.

Kate`s Bloody Wedding
When Sonny and Kate are about to get married in the church, in company of his friends and family, a shot rings out and after a few seconds, it is revealed that Kate has been shot. She falls on the floor and while everybody else in the church try to keep themselves safe, Olivia and Sonny try keep Kate alive. The paramedics arrive soon and take her to the hospital. There, Dr. Drake informs Sonny that Kate can't go into surgery yet because her vital organs aren't stable yet. Olivia lashes out on Sonny and blames him for Kate's condition. She also reminds him that they didn't get married, so Olivia is the first family member to make a decision about Kate. Sonny is being blamed by others and he demands Jason to find out who did it, Jason refuses and points out that Sonny is too angry right now to think clear.

Kate eventually goes into surgery and comes out okay, she'll live and won't be paralyzed. Kate revealed on October 3rd that Olivia had Sonny's child 20 years ago, a son named Dante. .

Kate has decided to move on with her life and plans ahead while Sonny had married Claudia. Sonny doesn't know that Claudia plan to killed him but his son got shot in May 2008.

Marriage to Claudia
See Sonny and Claudia Corinthos

Sonny wanted Andre to believe that he had died and was still under the water. Sonny wanted revenage against Andre for "shooting" Kate when he had nothing to do with. Sonny killed Andre in front of Olivia. Sonny went back over to Carly after the murder and wanted to get her to cover for him. Carly cover for her ex-husband causing more trouble for her current husband. Sonny wanting his power back when to Jason for to get his terrioty back. Jason refused to give the organzition back to Sonny leading him to go to Anothony and seek a deal that he marry Anothny's daughter, Claudia.

Sonny and Claudia were married on December 2, 2008. Sonny and Claudia got along and Sonny begin to trust his wife. After learning that her father was responible for Kate's shooting and resucing Claudia from a bomb, Sonny and Claudia make love while Claudia was fearing that Sonny would discouver that she was behind the shooting of Michael. Claudia is now trying to get pregnant with Sonny's baby before he learns the truth about Michael. Michael awakens from his coma and becomes closer with Sonny and Claudia and distances himself from Sonny's former wife Carly and her husband Jax. Sonny aproves of Claudia befriending Michael.

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