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Maurice Benard

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Maurice Benard
Born
Mauricio José Morales

(1963-03-01) March 1, 1963 (age 61)
Martinez, California, U.S.
Other namesMaurice Bénard
OccupationActor
Years active1987–present
SpousePaula Smith (m. 1990)
Children4, including Joshua
RelativesMarvin Benard (cousin)
Websitemauricebenard.tv Edit this at Wikidata

Maurice Benard (born March 1, 1963)[1] is an American actor. He played Nico Kelly in the ABC daytime soap opera All My Children from 1987 to 1990 and in 1991 portrayed Desi Arnaz in the biographical television film Lucy & Desi: Before the Laughter. In 1993, Benard began starring as Sonny Corinthos in the ABC soap opera General Hospital. For his role in General Hospital, Benard received three Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series.

Early life

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Benard was born Mauricio José Morales in Martinez, California, the son of Martha, a bank employee, and Humberto Morales, a bakery superintendent. He grew up in San Francisco, California, and is of Nicaraguan and Salvadoran ancestry.[2]

Career

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In 1980s, he began career as a model before acting.[3] In 1987, Benard made his television debut playing Nico Kelly in the ABC daytime soap opera All My Children, a role he played until 1990.[3] He received Soap Opera Digest Award nomination for Outstanding Male Newcomer: Daytime in 1989.[4] He later made guest appearances in prime time shows include DEA, Stat and Dark Justice. In 1991, Benard appeared in a supporting role in the made-for-television movie Her Wicked Ways and later that year played Desi Arnaz in the biographical television film Lucy & Desi: Before the Laughter opposite Frances Fisher.[3] The following year he made his big screen debut appearing in the biographical drama film, Ruby and later had secondary role in the 1993 independent film Mi Vida Loca.[2]

In 1993, Benard was cast as Sonny Corinthos, a manic depressive mobster kingpin in the ABC daytime soap opera, General Hospital. His first air date on GH was August 13, 1993. Initially, the character was only supposed to last for six months as Benard was not interested in anything more than a year. He revealed that after his stint on All My Children, he was not interested in doing another soap.[5] He joined the cast of General Hospital because he had gone broke and acting was all he knew at the time. The producers offered him two separate roles, that of mobster Damian Smith, with a two-year contract, and that of Sonny. Benard revealed that just two weeks after starting work, he suffered a manic depressive breakdown. At one point he had stopped coming in to work but expressed his gratitude to the network for keeping faith in him instead of firing him immediately.[6] He reprised his role in the 1996 prime time special General Hospital: Twist of Fate, daytime spin-off Port Charles in 2000, and in an episode of prime time spin-off General Hospital: Night Shift in 2007.

Benard has been nominated for ten Daytime Emmy Awards for his role of Sonny Corinthos, winning for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 2003, 2019, and 2021, as well as winning three Soap Opera Digest Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor in 1996, 2003, and 2005.[7]

In addition for his daytime television career, Benard also starred in a number of feature and made-for-television movies. He appeared in the 2015 comedy-drama film Joy directed by David O. Russell.[8] He starred in the 2017 independent mystery thriller film The Ghost and the Whale, executive produced by his wife Paula.[9] He guest-starred on ABC crime series Castle in 2016 and appeared opposite Jamie Luner in the Lifetime thriller A Lover Betrayed (2017). In 2018, Benard appeared in the horror anthology film, Nightmare Cinema starring in segment directed by Ryuhei Kitamura. In 2019 he played John Gotti in the Lifetime crime film Victoria Gotti: My Father's Daughter.[10][11] He later starred in films Hold On (2019),[12] and Equal Standard (2020).[13]

Personal life

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Benard married Paula Smith on August 11, 1990.[14] They have four children: three daughters and one son. He and his wife adopted his wife's younger sister Heather, after their mother's death.[15]

His cousin, Marvin Benard, played professional baseball.[16]

Benard was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at age 22. He has become a spokesperson for treatment of the disorder with Mental Health America.[17] He made the decision to have the General Hospital writers make his character, Sonny Corinthos, also have the disorder. Many of the struggles he faces on the show due to the disorder are ones he faced in his own life. Much praise has been given to the show for the realistic depiction.

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1991 Her Wicked Ways Steve Television film
1991 Lucy & Desi: Before the Laughter Desi Arnaz Television film
1992 Ruby Diego
1993 Mi Vida Loca Creeper
1996 To Face Her Past Jesse Molina Television film
1999 Operation Splitsville Frank
1999 Restraining Order Sicko
2000 Crystal Clear Steven Short film
2000 We Married Margo Himself
2009 Confession Mitch
2015 The Ghost and the Whale Joseph Hawthorne
2015 Joy Jared
2017 A Lover Betrayed Detective Alvarez Television film
2018 Nightmare Cinema Father Benedict
2019 Victoria Gotti: My Father's Daughter John Gotti Television film
2019 Hold On Peter Duran
2019 Duke Winky
2020 Equal Standard Captain Chavat Issak
2022 Passions Father Thomas Rourke Short film

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1987–1989 All My Children Nico Kelly Series regular
1990 DEA Curro Episode: "Bloodsport"
1991 Stat Jorge Rosario Episode: "Ladyfinger"
1992 Dark Justice Kelly's Mob Boyfriend Episode: "Anniversary"
1993–present General Hospital Sonny Corinthos Series regular
1996 General Hospital: Twist of Fate Sonny Corinthos Television special
2000 Port Charles Sonny Corinthos 3 episodes
2007 General Hospital: Night Shift Sonny Corinthos Episode: "Time Served"
2016 Castle Horatio Spate Episode: "Dead Again"

Awards and nominations

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List of acting awards and nominations
Year Title Award Category Result
1996
 General Hospital Daytime Emmy Award Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series Nominated
1996
 Soap Opera Digest Award Outstanding Lead Actor Won
1997
 Daytime Emmy Award Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series Nominated
2003
 Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series Won
2003
 Soap Opera Digest Award Outstanding Lead Actor Won
2004
 Daytime Emmy Award Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series Nominated
2005
 Soap Opera Digest Award Outstanding Lead Actor Won
2006
 Daytime Emmy Award Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series Nominated
2011
 Nominated
2019
 Won
2021
 Won
2023
 Nominated

References

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  1. ^ "Maurice Benard". www.tcm.com.
  2. ^ a b "Maurice Benard Biography -- General Hospital". Soap Hub. November 4, 2023.
  3. ^ a b c "Maurice Benard". TVGuide.com.
  4. ^ "Soap Opera Digest Awards (1989)". IMDb.
  5. ^ Nobles, Omar (August 9, 2012). "Interview With A Mobster: 'General Hospital's' Maurice Benard On The Changes In Sonny's Life and GH's Future". TV Source Magazine. SoSource Media LLC. Retrieved October 13, 2013.
  6. ^ Romine, Damon (July 8, 1997). "WHY I'M LEAVING". Soap Opera Update. Vol. 10, no. 27. pp. 18–19.
  7. ^ "2019 Daytime Emmys: Jacqueline MacInnes Wood earns first Emmy, while Maurice Benard earns number two". soapcentral.com. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
  8. ^ "David O. Russell 'Blown Away' by Soap Actors Because They Just Do Their Damn Jobs". Vulture. December 10, 2015.
  9. ^ Bowe, Jillian. "General Hospital's Maurice Benard Shooting a New Movie". Daytime Confidential. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved September 4, 2012.
  10. ^ Ramos, Dino-Ray (October 4, 2018). "Lifetime Greenlights 'Victoria Gotti: My Father's Daughter' And 'Death Of A Cheerleader' Remake".
  11. ^ Maloney, Michael (February 9, 2019). "'My Father's Daughter': Victoria Gotti on Why She Chose Maurice Benard to Play Her Dad". TV Insider.
  12. ^ Eades, Chris (December 4, 2019). "Maurice Benard Previews His New Movie, 'Hold On' (EXCLUSIVE)". Soaps In Depth. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
  13. ^ Lewis, Errol (April 30, 2020). "'GH's' Maurice Benard Plays Police Captain in the Movie 'Equal Standard'". Soap Opera Network.
  14. ^ Blodgett, Lucy (April 27, 2011). "PHOTOS: Soap Star Maurice Benard's Home For $2.9 Million". HuffPost. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
  15. ^ "Maurice Benard adopts 15-year-old sister-in-law". PEOPLE.com. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
  16. ^ TiffanyR (May 12, 2019). "Fun Facts About General Hospital's Emmy Winning Maurice Benard". TVOvermind. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
  17. ^ "General Hospital Video Clips". ABC. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
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