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General Hospital is filled with characters who have lit up our screens and delighted us for many years, some even for decades. While we love some of them, there are also those we love to hate. Some of those characters, though, were initially cast to play their role for a short term. Here are five of those characters.
Lucy Coe
Lucy Coe (Lynn Herring) first arrived in Port Charles in 1986 as a "mousy librarian." She was a witness in a murder case that was dubbed The Brownstone Murder Mystery storyline. The arc involved Dr. Kevin O'Connor (Kevin Bernhardt), who was ultimately revealed to be the serial killer. After that story wrapped up, Lucy was intended to be written off the show. But Gloria Monty, who was GH's executive producer at the time, kept her on GH due to her popularity with fans.
As a result, Herring made a major career change. Her original goal was to obtain a master's degree and become a psychiatrist. "Acting comes first," she ultimately decided. "I thought I wanted to do counseling. But Lucy turns out to be more fun." One of Lucy's many husbands was Dr. Kevin Collins (Jon Lindstrom), who, coincidentally, is a psychiatrist!
Lucy is known for her peppy and upbeat personality. We need characters like her because they provide balance on a show that's filled with many dark and brooding characters (like Sonny and Jason, for example).
Britt Westbourne
When Kelly Thiebaud was first cast to play Dr. Britt Westbourne in 2012, the role was initially viewed as "pointless" and short-term. The GH writers intended for the character to be "bitchy," which is how Britt eventually got stuck with the nickname "The Britch." We can't really blame her, though. When you're the daughter of two supervillains like Cesar Faison (Anders Hove) and Liesl Obrecht (Kathleen Gati), how can you not be obnoxious?
By 2013, Thiebaud was put on contract, as her character had begun to show some growth and humanity. She enjoyed exploring other sides of Britt's personality and showing fans that Britt has "layers" and is not simply a one-dimensional, nasty person. She commented, "No one is just a bitch. There are always reasons behind that." We don't think Jason (Steve Burton) would be romantically involved with Britt now if she hadn't done some evolving over the past fourteen years!
Thiebaud's hard work paid off, and in 2022, she won the Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress for her role as Britt.
Liesl Obrecht
Dr. Liesl Obrecht also arrived in Port Charles in 2012, during the storyline where she was helping Faison hold Robin Scorpio-Drake (Kimberly McCullough) and Duke Lavery (Ian Buchanan) prisoner.
The GH writers intended for Liesl to be on the show for only a few days. She was supposed to take Robin from one room to another and distract Luke (Anthony Geary) from spotting Robin and Anna (Finola Hughes). That was pretty much the extent of it! As Gati stated, "They needed a German doctor to say a few things and then go."
However, Geary was so impressed with Gati's acting talent during their scenes together that he shared those impressions with executive producer Frank Valentini. And the rest, as they say, is history.
"I feel like I'm home here," Gati said of her time working on GH. We're pleased to hear that, because we love seeing Liesl grace our screens, especially when she sets her great-niece Willow (Katelyn MacMullen) straight, or tries to! Fans appreciate Liesl's wit, humor, and the way she always tells it like it is.
Sonny Corinthos
Many GH fans may not be aware that the iconic role of Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard) was initially only intended to last for six months. Benard stated that he was not interested in playing a role that would last longer than a year. In addition, he said that after playing in All My Children (as Nico Kelly), he was not interested in joining another soap. But he agreed to join GH because he was broke and, at the time, acting was all he could do.
In 1993, the GH producers offered the actor two different parts: that of mobster Damian Smith (a two-year contract role) and Sonny. Benard chose Sonny for two reasons: it was short-term, and he liked the name! Long-time fans may recall that actor Leigh McCloskey (ex-Mitch, Dallas) was then cast to play Damian Smith.
Benard has described Sonny as "unpredictable," adding, "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." Perhaps that explains how the role of Sonny gradually evolved to become the leading male role on GH for the past thirty-three years.
Luke Spencer
Believe it or not, when the GH writers first created the character of Luke Spencer in 1978, the part was only meant to last thirteen weeks. Eventually, it evolved into a full contract role, partly due to the popularity of his character and also due to the wildly popular pairing of Luke and Laura (Genie Francis).
In fact, the term "supercouple" came into existence because of Luke and Laura's larger-than-life romance and subsequent wedding in 1981. The nuptials took place over the span of two episodes, from November 16 to 17. The November 17th episode was watched by 30 million people, and it holds the record as the most-watched hour in soap opera history.
Geary himself holds the record for the most Daytime Emmy wins by a soap actor. Over the course of the thirty-seven years that he was on GH, he won eight Daytime Emmys for Outstanding Lead Actor.
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There is simply no soap character quite like the iconic Luke Spencer. Some characters from other soaps may have similar traits (and, back in the late 1970s/early 1980s, perms), but somehow, Luke's grit and roguish charm set him apart from the others. We can't help but wonder what would have happened to GH if Luke's time on the show really had ended after thirteen weeks. Thankfully, we will never have to find out.
Catch all-new episodes of General Hospital weekdays on ABC and streaming on Hulu.
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