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General Hospital will lose one of its experienced cast members as Kelly Monaco will leave the show after 21 years.
The medical drama is the longest-running scripted series in American history and celebrated its 60th anniversary last year.
Monaco plays Sam McCall, a rebellious spirit who comes to town as a vengeful con man and has evolved over the years into a private detective.
The 48-year-old actress has been playing in the series since 2003 and is expected to diversityafter appearing in over 2,200 episodes.
Soap Opera Network was the first to report the news, saying the decision had been made to “terminate” Monaco’s character.
McCall, the daughter of mafia boss Julian Jerome (William deVry) and lawyer Alexis Davis (Nancy Lee Grahn), is conceived after a one-night stand and subsequently put up for adoption.
For her role in this character, Monaco received a Primetime Emmy nomination in 2006.
Before participating in the show Baywatch Actor played in the General Hospital Spin-off soap, Port Charles, There she played Livvie Locke – a character similar to McCall – from 2000 to 2003. When the series was canceled, she was one of several cast members who moved to the main series.
The soap opera was recently struck by tragedy after actor Johnny Wactor, who played Brando Corbin on the soap, was murdered.
Two teenagers have been charged with the 37-year-old’s murder. Wactor was shot near Pico Boulevard in the early hours of May 25.
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He and a colleague encountered a group of four men trying to steal his car’s catalytic converter, which contains precious metals such as rhodium, platinum and palladium, police said. The actor confronted them and was killed.
Emmy-nominated actress Kirsten Storms, who plays Maxie Jones on the show, said she was “in disbelief and completely saddened.”
“I don’t usually post things like this, but Johnny was such a special person and it feels important to express these words,” she wrote on Instagram.
“Johnny was one of those rare ‘real people’ that you almost never meet… For some reason, we talked about deep things. He was a safe place for those conversations and in return he talked about his life,” she continued.
