After more than two decades of portraying a mob boss’ daughter on “General Hospital,” Kelly Monaco is reportedly leaving the soap opera.
The Philadelphia native will make her final appearance in the fictional Port Charles this fall, Variety reported. Monaco has been a staple in the “General Hospital” cast since she originated the role of Sam McCall in 2003.
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Exact details of Monaco’s departure are being kept under wraps, but Soap Opera Network — which broke the news — wrote that sources said Sam will be killed off and that Monaco was “blindsided” upon learning that she’d be parting ways with the series. The news also shook fans, who took to social media to share their disappointment with her untimely exit and campaign for her return.
Monaco, 48, was born and raised in Philadelphia. She attended the since-closed St. Joachim’s Catholic school in North Philly, according to an Instagram post. Her family moved to the Poconos before she entered junior high school, and she attended Pocono Mountain High School before studying at Northampton Community College for two years.
Christine Bartolucci/ABC
Kelly Monaco is reportedly leaving ‘General Hospital’ after 21 years with the ABC soap opera. Above, she portrays Sam McCall in an episode that aired last year.
Monaco moved to Los Angeles in the late ’90s to pursue a career in the entertainment industry, and in 1997 landed her first TV role on “Baywatch,” playing a rookie lifeguard — drawing on real-life experience from her time working as a lifeguard at the Mount Airy Lodge in Mount Pocono. She also modeled for Playboy and scored minor roles in movies like “BASEketball” (1998), “Idle Hands” (1999) and “Mumford” (1999). In 2000, she entered the “General Hospital” franchise in the spinoff “Port Charles,” portraying the character Livvie Locke through 2003.
In 2003, Monaco was introduced on “General Hospital” as Sam, the daughter of a mob boss who was raised to be a con artist by her adoptive father. She went on to appear in more than 2,200 episodes of “General Hospital,” which airs weekdays on ABC, and earned a Daytime Emmy nomination in 2006. She was also the first celebrity to win “Dancing with the Stars” during its 2005 premiere season.
“General Hospital” — which centers on the twisty, unbelievable drama involving the residents of Port Charles in upstate New York — is the longest-running daytime soap opera in production, having first premiered in 1963. Monaco’s exit comes at a time of change for the show, with head writer Patrick Mulcahey leaving and former head writer Chris Van Etten returning to take his place. Fans of Sam can hold on to some hope, though, since departures from Port Charles are never necessarily final — for instance, Lucky Spencer (Jonathan Jackson) returned to town this summer after nearly a decade away from the soap opera.