Three-time Daytime Emmy-winner Maurice Benard teased what’s on deck for General Hospital’s Sonny Corinthos, his future with the soap opera, and just who he would love to see make a return, during an in-depth conversation with ESPN Radio New York host, Ty Butler.

Benard appeared this week on Butler’s You Tube channel, and it’s clear that Butler and his real-life family are deep fans of General Hospital, so he had some pointed questions for Maurice from what’s happening currently in Port Charles to look backs at Sonny’s past.

Now that Sonny has decided to get out of the mob, Benard teased what’s coming up for the apparent “former” mobster, “When (the writers) told me I was out of the mob it didn’t throw me. I was like, ‘let’s see what I can do here.’ There were a lot of people during the hey day of the gangster period (on GH), who did not like it. (They would say) ‘It’s too much Sonny, it’s too much violence.'”

Photo: ABC

WITH SONNY OUT OF THE MOB, WHAT’S NEXT?

However, the long-running GH mainstay added, “I don’t care what I’m doing as long as Sonny maintains power, and that power doesn’t mean killing people, or being a gangster. You can be powerful in business. You can be powerful over here, and I think they’re doing that. I do know the story (coming up) and I can’t say (much more), but it’s really amazing. When I heard about it, I said, “Oh, wow!”‘

This week, Maurice marks his 33rd anniversary in the role of Sonny. It’s a role he began back on-screen on August 13, 1993. But how many years might the popular star have left in the tank to remain in Port Charles? Maurice explained his position on that, “My contract is up February or March (2027). So up until then, I’ll just tell you guys that the upcoming story, I’m very happy with it.”

He added, “I’m not going to retire soon, but I’m at a certain point where I can retire if I wanted. But, I don’t want to as long as I’m happy at GH, and I’ve been happy at GH for a while now. So, they’re going have to kick me out. They’re going to have to say, “Nah, we’ve had enough. Get the hell out.”‘

Photo: JPI

HOW WOULD THE END COME FOR SONNY CORINTHOS IF MAURICE BENARD EVER EXITED GENERAL HOSPITAL?

During their conversation, Butler asked, if the time would come that Maurice were to make an exit from General Hospital, how would he like it to go down. The longtime GH star had an answer that if he were to leave, he should go out on a big cliffhanger. “Something happens to one of his children and it’s his fault. Sonny can’t take it,” explains Maurice on his Port Charles alter-ego. “He goes home, he takes a shot of whiskey. (Then), Sonny goes upstairs and all you hear is BOOM. And it goes to black. Now, if it were a movie, it would work. But let me tell you something … it’s a soap opera. You don’t know if Sonny did it! You don’t know if somebody else did it, set it all up to make him look like he did. You don’t know. So there’s a big story there, right?”

BLASTS FROM THE PAST

When asked by the ESPN radio host,  what cast member would he like to see return to the show?  Benard named three characters, and they are: Brenda (Vanessa Marcil), Luke (the late Anthony Geary, obviously that was stated as Benard misses him dearly) and Morgan (last played by Bryan Craig).

You can check out the full conversation with Maurice below on the The Ty Butler Show.

Now, let us know, what do you think is the new storyline that is about to kick-off, other than we know Sonny is getting out of the mob, and wants to get Sidwell’s assets and keep them away from Drew? Glad to hear Maurice does not plan on leaving General Hospital anytime soon? And, do you agree with Maurice … would you like to see the characters of Brenda and Morgan come back to the Port Charles canvas? Let us know via the comment section.

Mark Rydell, one of the most highly-lauded motion picture directors in Hollywood, and who got his start acting on the soaps, has died. He was 97.

The news of his passing came from Bette Midler, who starred in The Rose, which Rydell also directed. Midler took to her Instagram on Friday, August 14 and shared the news.

Bette expressed, “Mark Rydell, the director or my first film, The Rose, died this morning. He was an actor of note before he became a director, and I was so lucky to have met him when I did; he taught me so much on The Rose and later on For The Boys. Two Oscars nominations both because of him. He was the actor’s whisperer; just a few words was all it took to understand what was needed.”

Photo: JPI

As soap fans know, Rydell got his first big break playing Jeff Baker on As the World Turns. The popular character was involved on-screen with then star of the CBS soap opera, Rosemary Prinz (ex-Penny Hughes). He stayed in the role from 1956-1962. When the producers wanted him to re-up his contract, Rydell decided to leave, and so the writers killed-off the character of Jeff in a car crash. Before ATWT, Rydell played Walt Johnson on The Edge of Night. 

MARK RYDELL DIRECTED SOME OF HOLLYWOOD’S BIGGEST STARS

After a busy career in primetime television roles, Mark began to direct in 1967 with the controversial feature, The Foxes. Because of his acting beginnings, Rydell was known as an actors director. Thus, began an enduring career in Hollywood directing films with some of movies biggest stars at the time including: Steve McQueen in 1969’s The Reivers, John Wayne in 1972’s The Cowboys, and James Caan and Marsha Mason in 1973’s Cinderella Liberty. In 1976, he also directed the pilot episode of the hit ABC domestic drama Family.

It was in 1979, that Rydell directed Bette Midler in her first feature film and lead role in The Rose, in which she was Oscar-nominated, and by 1981, the former soap star was directing the likes of Katherine Hepburn, Henry Fonda, and Jane Fonda in On Golden Pond, for which he received his only Academy Award nomination as a director. He followed with The River (1984), For the Boys (1991), and many more through the years.

Rydell was previously married  from 1962 to 1973 to Joanne Linville who had appeared on Guiding Light, The Goddess, and 1976’s film version of a A Star Is Born. The couple had two children, Amy and Christopher. Later, a second marriage to Esther Rydell produced his son, Alexander, before ending in divorce.

Survivors include Rydell’s three children, three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Sad to hear of the news of the passing of one of the great directors of our time, Mark Rydell? Do you remember him as Jeff Baker on As the World Turns? Let us know via the comment section.

 

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After General Hospital viewers learned this week from Molly Lansing-Davis (Kristen Vaganos) that Jenz Sidwell (Carlo Rota) was sentenced to 31 years in prison with a possibility for parole in 26 years for all of his crimes (after he had taken a plea deal with the Port Charles court system), fans were wondering the status of Rota with the show.

With so many recent on-screen exits, GH viewers were concerned that Rota was the next casualty, although his character of Sidwell deserves to be put a way for life, it appears we may see him back, and from his jail cell. Could he wind up being the cellmate of Curtis Ashford (Donnell Turner), who on today’s August 13 episode was sentenced to 10 years in prison with a possibility of parole for two years, for physically attacking Dr. Isaiah Gannon (Sawandi Wilson)? Stay tuned.

Meanwhile, Sidwell’s portrayer, Carlo Rota gave a clue as to his character’s whereabouts during his General Hospital Fan Club Weekend event, along with his wife Nazneen Contractor (Justine, GH), according to a report from Soap Central.

Photo: ABC

WHAT IS SIDWELL’S FUTURE AND WHAT WILL HAPPEN WITH HIS BUSINESS HOLDINGS?

Rota told the crowd in attendance that Sidwell will soon be seen in Pentonville and his scenes will also include another familiar face from the Port Charles canvas. Could it be Curtis or someone else yet to be thrown into the slammer? Carlo teased, “I am in prison with another character from the show. We share a cell.”

The last time anyone saw Jenz Sidwell was back on the July 6 episode when he was in the interrogation room at the PCPD and tried to make a deal with Jordan Ashford (Tanisha Harper).

The deal was that he wanted Jordan to get her hands on his money from his offshore bank accounts and in return, he can get her hooked up with the best plastic surgeon in the world (the one in Germany that Michael went to) and she can jump ahead over the waiting list. However, Jordan turned him down flat, although the thought of fixing her face still weighs heavily upon her.

GH viewers first met Sidwell, the newest villain in town to go up against Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard) for the his territory, back in August of 2024.

Flash-forward to late summer of 2026, there has been plenty of talk by Sonny and now Drew Cain (Cameron Mathison) to take over Sidwell’s business holdings that will be up for auction, most likely setting the stage for Drew and Sidwell to be in cahoots, or some other shenanigans to get back at Sonny.

So, are you glad to know that there will be more Sidwell on the way soon? Do you wish the character would just already be off the canvas for good? Glad that Curtis got 10-year prison sentence, or don’t care? Let us know your thoughts via the comment section.