Sam McCall

Casting

The role of Sam was originated by former Baywatch star and Playboy's April 1997 Playmate of the Month, Kelly Monaco on October 1, 2003. Monaco, who had previously portrayed Livvie Locke on the ABC Daytime soap opera Port Charles, was one of several performers from the cancelled soap to join the cast of a main daytime show. Monaco had also auditioned for ABC Daytime's All My Children as well as CBS Daytime's As the World Turns, both of which were based in New York at the time, and Monaco's eagerness to stay on the West coast led to her ultimately signing with General Hospital, based in Los Angeles.

In 2005, Monaco joined the first season of ABC's Dancing with the Stars and was the first champion of what turned into a multi-season competition.

In August 2009, a casting call was sent out to recast the role of Sam, leaving fans shocked by her possible departure. Despite rumors and speculation, Monaco's co-stars Steve Burton (Jason Morgan) and Nancy Lee Grahn (Alexis Davis) denied she was departing from the show. Monaco herself dispelled the rumors, stating there was "really no doubt" she would renew her contract; it was merely standard procedure for ABC to release the casting call since she and the network had not signed off on a new contract by a set deadline.

Backstory

Samantha, also known as Sam is born on May 11, 1980 (Mother's Day) in Chatham, Maine to a 16-year-old Alexis Davidovitch (Nancy Lee Grahn). While at boarding school, Alexis' father, Mikkos Cassadine (John Colicos), forces her to give the child up and later forges documents to make Alexis believe the child is dead.

Sam is adopted by Cody McCall (Stanley Kamel) and his wife, Evelyn Bass, who choose adoption based on fear of having another mentally handicapped baby like their first child Danny (then Henri Lubatti). Cody is a con artist and his way of life forces Evelyn to leave when Sam is only three years old, taking Danny with her. Cody raises Sam on his own and teaches her the art of the con. When Sam is 17, she tracks down Evelyn in Bailey's Beach, South Carolina and is shocked to find Danny locked in the basement. When Sam helps Danny escape, he accidentally knocks a candle over that burns down the house, not knowing Evelyn was inside. Sam is arrested for arson, but gets out on bail and goes on the run with Danny to avoid being convicted for Evelyn's murder. A young Sam does her best to care for Danny but eventually resorts to extreme measures to pay his bills. Using skills she learned from Cody, Sam marries several wealthy men, and steals their money so she can care for her brother. During her last attempt at a con as "Angela Monroe", Sam finds herself in an abusive situation when her wealthy mark, Bill Monroe, discovers Sam's intentions, and attacks her. Sam ends up killing Bill in self-defense.

2003–07

Sam first appears in Port Charles working with Jasper Jacks (Ingo Rademacher) to find the five lucky cards of the "Dead Man's Hand." They have a brief affair, but when Jax's father dies he blames Sam, due to her scheming. Sam then has an affair with Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard) and becomes pregnant. For the sake of Sonny's marriage to Carly (then Tamara Braun) and their sons, Michael (then Dylan Cash) and Morgansake of Sonny's marriage, his best friend Jason Morgan (Steve Burton) claims to be the child's father. Jason and Sam bond as Sam prepares to give birth and they decide to raise the child together. She wants to name her daughter Lila after Jason's grandmother, Lila Quartermaine (Anna Lee).

Sonny's daughter Kristina Davis (then Kali Rodriguez) is diagnosed with a blood disease, and Sam's daughter is proven to be a donor match. Kristina's mother, Alexis Davis (Nancy Lee Grahn), begs Sam to induce labor two weeks early in order to donate her child's stem cells. Sam refuses, fearing it could hurt the baby. While arguing with Alexis, Sam collapses and Baby Girl McCall is stillborn. Jason helps Sam through the aftermath, and they fall in love, eventually getting engaged. They plan to adopt baby Hope, who Sam helps deliver in a storm to a teenage mother. The mother decides to keep the baby, leaving Sam devastated. After Sonny's three children are kidnapped, Jason and Sam rescue Kristina and Morgan, but Michael is presumed dead. He is eventually found with his biological father, Jason's brother, A. J. Quartermaine (then Billy Warlock) and returns home.

Jason and Sam are on a trip when they are kidnapped by Allegra Montenegro, played by Meg Bennett, the wife of Executive Producer at the time Robert Guza, Jr. Allegra wants Sam to marry Andrew Olsen due to her resemblance to her daughter, Alicia. The storyline was received as an attempt to win ratings due to Monaco's recent success on the first season of Dancing with the Stars, as Sam is forced to learn to ballroom dance in order to make Andrew believe she is really Alicia. When Andrew is killed, Sam is nearly sent to jail until Alicia is arrested for the murder. Jason loses his memory as a result of severe headaches, and Sam accompanies him back to Port Charles where his parents, Alan (Stuart Damon) and Monica Quartermaine (Leslie Charleson) reveal he is dying. Jason's ex-girlfriend, Dr. Robin Scorpio (Kimberly McCullough) returns to town and saves his life.

As Sam settles back into her life, Manny Ruiz (Robert LaSardo) begins stalking her. When several Port Charles residents are infected by the encephalitis plague, Danny (David Greenman) dies; Sam blames Alexis since she received the last antidote over Danny. On his death bed, Danny unintentionally hints to Sam that she is adopted and a DNA test confirms it. Sam and Jason discover that Alexis is her biological mother, but Sam keeps it to herself, wanting nothing to do with Alexis. However, when Sam is shot and near death, Jason tells Alexis the truth, and she becomes very protective of Sam. After Alexis pressures Jason into ending the relationship, Sam has a one-night stand with Alexis's husband, Ric Lansing (Rick Hearst). Ric later frames Sam for theft, forcing her to go on the run. She and Jason are ambushed by thugs, and Sam appears to kill Diego Alcazar (Ignacio Serricchio) as Kristina watches.

After Sam escapes during the Metro Court Hotel hostage crisis and warns the police, television producer, Amelia Joffe (Annie Wersching) hires her as the host of the new talk show, Everyday Heroes. However, Amelia is actually looking for revenge on Sam for killing her father, Bill Monroe. Sam does her best to keep her past from coming out and she begins lying to Jason. Meanwhile, Sam learns that Elizabeth Spencer (Rebecca Herbst)'s son, Jake is actually Jason's son. Sam witnesses Jake get kidnapped, but doesn't say anything. After Jake is rescued, Jason finds out about Sam and Jake, and they break up; she also hires actors to scare Elizabeth in the park while she has her two children with her. Sam fakes a rescue, but Jason tracks the men and finds out Sam hired them; he threatens to kill Sam for her out of control actions.

2008–12

Sam begins dating Elizabeth's ex-husband Lucky Spencer (then Greg Vaughn) to make Jason and Liz jealous, but they eventually fall in love. However, once Lucky finds out about Sam's part in Jake's kidnapping, they split up. Meanwhile, Sam is stalked and injured by the Text Message Killer, who is later revealed to be an alive Diego Alcazar. While fleeing from Diego she is struck by a car driven by Monica Quartermaine (Leslie Charleson), who is under the influence of alcohol. Sam does not hold any ill-will toward Monica and speaks up for her at trial, gaining Monica a lenient sentence to rehab. Diego dies after accidentally hanging himself. When Sam and Damian Spinelli (Bradford Anderson) start their own investigative agency, Jason and Sam begin to grow close again. When they go to Mexico to rescue Michael and Kristina from Jerry Jacks (Sebastian Roché), the two eventually get back together. Jason is stalked by crazed artist Franco (then James Franco), who kidnaps and threatens Sam to get to Jason. Sam shares with Kristina her experience of being in an abusive relationship after Kristina is beaten by her boyfriend, Kiefer Bauer (Christian Alexander).

After Michael is sent to prison, Sam struggles with Jason going to prison so he can protect Michael. Jason is eventually released, and later that year must protect Brenda Barrett (Vanessa Marcil) from the European crime boss The Balkan (Daniel Benzali). Sam is initially jealous of all the attention Brenda garners, but Jason assures Sam he loves her. During Sonny and Brenda's wedding, Sam is nearly killed in a car bomb set for Brenda, but she survives. Sam later gets reconstructive surgery so she and Jason can have a baby. Sam and Jason soon become engaged and marry in the garden of a Chinese restaurant. During their honeymoon, Sam becomes pregnant with Jason's child. The honeymoon by Carly (Laura Wright) and Shawn Butler (Sean Blakemore), who have received threatening messages from Franco. Later, Franco drugs them both, locks Jason in a room and forces him to watch as he supposedly rapes Sam. Sam discovers her pregnancy in January 2012 and a paternity test establishes Jason as the father.

In early 2012, Sam hides Robin Scorpio's supposed death from Jason when he is recovering from brain surgery in fear that it would be too much for him to take in. Meanwhile, she meets John McBain (Michael Easton), who is in town investigating Sonny. Jason is upset over Sam's lies and jealous of her rapport with McBain, whom he does not trust. Jason's cousin Heather Webber (Robin Mattson) tells Sam that Franco and Jason are fraternal twin brothers, and a new DNA test shows Franco is the father of Sam's baby. Jason is unsure if he can love Franco's child, and Sam moves out. McBain helps Sam give birth, but she passes out and is unaware that Todd Manning (Roger Howarth) and Heather switch the baby with the stillborn son of Téa Delgado (Florencia Lozano). Soon after, Todd learns that Heather had altered the DNA test and Jason is the father of Sam's baby, but he does not tell Sam. Sam continues to confide in John, and they share a flirtation. Jason figures out the truth about Sam's baby, and tells Sam, but Heather kidnaps the baby. Jason and Sam rescue their son and reunite. They name the baby Daniel Edward. After reconciling and arriving home together, Jason goes to help Bernie Abrahms (Richard Fancy) and is shot. Jason falls into the water and is presumed dead; however Sam remains determined to find him. Sam finds out Danny's true paternity after Jason disappears.

2013–15

Sam eventually realizes that Jason is not coming back and tries to move on. When Lucy Coe (Lynn Herring) comes to town, she claims John is a vampire named Caleb Morley. Sam believes Lucy is insane, until a woman named Alison Barrington (Erin Hershey) is murdered, and her son, Rafe Kovich, Jr. (Jimmy Deshler), claims John is the murderer. Sam and John start to believe Caleb does exist. Sam is kidnapped by Caleb, but rescued by John, Rafe, and Lucy. Sam later becomes a foster mother to Rafe. Sam meets Dr. Silas Clay (Michael Easton), Rafe's uncle, who decides to get physical custody of Rafe from Sam. Though the court sides with Silas, he lets Rafe stay with Sam. Meanwhile, Sam finds out that Danny has leukemia, and needs treatment. Silas assists in Danny's recovery, but determines Danny will need a bone marrow transplant. When no one is a match, Sam asks Alexis about her biological father. Alexis admits she doesn't know who Sam's father is, because she never met him again. Alexis undergoes hypnosis to help Sam, and finds out Sam's father's name is "Julian." Sam finds a bone marrow match for Danny to Derek Wells (William DeVry), and Danny recovers. Alexis figures out that Sam's father is Julian Jerome, a mobster presumed dead. Sam and Silas start dating, and Sam finds out that "Derek" is actually Julian. Julian plans to take over Sonny's organization. When Sonny threatens to kill him, Julian uses Danny as leverage to stay alive, in case Danny suffers a setback. Sam is disgusted with her father's actions, and writes him off.

Rafe died after being taken off life support following an accident, and Silas accused Patrick Drake (Jason Thompson), Rafe's doctor, of deliberately killing him because Rafe caused a car accident that led to the death of Patrick's son. Sam knew Patrick didn't kill Rafe, which led to her and Silas breaking up. Sam befriended "Jake Doe" (Billy Miller), an amnesiac patient at the hospital who had facial reconstruction surgery after an accident. She also started a relationship with Patrick. After Cesar Faison (Anders Hove), the man who shot and killed Jason, was arrested, Sam was taken hostage by a gunman who helped Faison escape. Sam wanted to find the gunman, and realized it was Jake. Though he denied the accusation, Jake was arrested, and Sam confronted him. Jake realized that he had been brainwashed by Helena Cassadine (Constance Towers), and Sam's accusations were correct. Sam forgave him, and helped him get a job and figure out his real identity. Sam got engaged to Patrick, but right after, she found out that "Jake" is actually Jason. Sam reeled from the news, but Jason wasn't able to remember Sam or his past. He went to Cassadine Island to confront Helena, and Sam followed him there. Helena continued to taunt Jason, and Sam lashed out, furious at Helena for keeping Jason from her and Danny. Helena retaliated by cursing Sam before supposedly dying. Sam returned to Port Charles, where Patrick realized that Sam was still in love with Jason, and broke off their engagement. Sam was heartbroken, but accepted his decision.

2016—

Jason and Sam began to reconnect, as Jason started to experience memory flashes while spending time with Sam. When Elizabeth's house was broken into, Jason asked for Sam's help investigating. Sam figured out that Elizabeth and Jason's son, Jake, was responsible. Sam ended up falling down a flight of steps and getting injured when she discovered the truth. Figuring out something was wrong, Jason showed up and was able to rescue her. Though the two reconnected, Sam decided to get a divorce, wanting to not pressure Jason to remember their past. Jason agreed, and the two divorced, but started dating. Jason ends up recovering his memories after getting into an accident, and reunites with Sam. Sam went into hiding with Jason after Nikolas Cassadine (Tyler Christopher) disappeared, and Jason was accused of killing him. She and Jason figured out that Nikolas faked his death, and tracked him down to Cassadine Island. Before they could clear Jason's name and bring Nikolas back, they were taken hostage by Valentin Cassadine (James Patrick Stuart). Sam and Jason escaped, and managed to free the other hostages. They returned to Port Charles, and cleared Jason's name. Soon after, Sam found out she was pregnant, and was thrilled until she found out that she could have been exposed to malaria. Sam shares her news with Jason; despite the potential risk to the baby, Jason is elated. He proposes to Sam, and they get engaged again. Sam learns she is malaria free, assuring her the baby is healthy. She and Jason get married again.

Introduction

When the character is introduced, Sam is described as "an adventurous woman trying to reverse her family's bad fortune", who would immediately interact with character Jasper Jacks (Rademacher). She is independent and scheming. Soaps In Depth named the character on their list of the 50 naughtiest soap opera vixens in 2009. When she first arrives in town, she is portrayed as a con artist and bad girl, who knew how to get what she wanted. The motivation behind the character's bad girl ways were revealed, when it was discovered that she was raised on the road by a con artist father, Cody McCall, and used cons to provide for her mentally handicapped older brother, Danny McCall. Sam grows close to Jason Morgan during her pregnancy with the child of Sonny Corinthos. Co-star Burton (Jason) later explained: "It's been a long journey for Jason and Sam. When they first got together, it wasn't really supposed to be that they got together. He was kind of helping her out with her pregnancy. After that whole time they fell in love." When the couple broke up in 2008, Monaco said to Soap Opera Digest, "I feel Sam and Jason was so abruptly ended without any explanation, really, as to the coldness that was so one-sided [on Jason's part]. Of course, Jake came into play, but I felt like Jason and Sam were always strong enough to overcome." Sam begins a relationship with Lucky Spencer to get back at Elizabeth. Monaco describes the progression of the relationship to Soap Opera Digest, "In the beginning it was very calculated and manipulative. Eventually, it turned genuine. [...] finally, she found someone who is trustworthy."

Parentage revealed

The revelation of Alexis Davis (Grahn) as Sam's biological mother was a turning point in the development of the character. The two characters had a rocky past filled with disdain, but the shocking revelation of their kinship forced the characters to co-exist. The newly formed mother-daughter relationship was very antagonistic in its early stages, but over time the two characters were able to reconcile and put the hate of their past behind them. Now the two characters share a close mother-daughter bond. The revelation of Alexis and Sam as mother and daughter was named the best revelation of the decade by SOAPnet. The unveiling of Alexis as Sam's mother led to widespread speculation as to the identity of Sam's biological father. For years, great fanfare was generated around this mystery in anticipation for the revelation of his identity.

Seven years after Alexis was revealed as Sam's mother, General Hospital began dropping hints that they were ready to tackle the highly anticipated story of Sam's father. In 2013 General Hospital head-writer, Ron Carlivati addressed the ongoing mystery of Sam's father in an interview with TV Guide's Michael Logan. Widespread speculation about the identity of Sam's father was reignited when it was rumored that General Hospital was looking for a "name actor" to cast in the role of Sam's father. Rumors began to circulate naming Duke Lavery (Ian Buchanan), Blackie Parrish (John Stamos) and Dr. Kevin Collins (Jon Lindstrom) as potential candidates for Sam's father; Lindstrom having previously worked opposite Monaco as her father on the soap opera Port Charles. Another rumor emerged that veteran soap actor, Peter Reckell, who played Bo Brady on the NBC soap opera Days of Our Lives from 1983-2012, would be joining General Hospital in the role of Evan Jerome. It was widely speculated that Reckell was cast to play Sam's father, linking her to the Jerome crime family that was prominent on General Hospital in the 1980s. However, after weeks of speculation, Reckell addressed the rumors stating that he wasn't going back to Days of Our Lives or joining any other soap. In July 2013, ABC unveiled its latest General Hospital promo which showed Sam asking Alexis for the identity of her father. In the storyline, Sam's young son Danny has leukemia and they are trying to find as many potential bone marrow donors as possible.

Following the promo's release, Nancy Lee Grahn (Alexis), took to her Twitter account to engage fans in a guessing game as to the identity of Sam's father. During the week the promo was released, it was announced that actor William deVry, who formerly starred on The Bold and the Beautiful as Storm Logan, and All My Children as Michael Cambias was joining General Hospital. There were reports that deVry had taped scenes with Maura West's Ava Jerome, leading to speculation that deVry could be joining the show as a Jerome and as Sam's father. deVry made his debut on July 30, 2013 under the alias Derek Wells, and it was soon revealed that he was actually Julian Jerome—son of mob boss Victor Jerome who was head of the Port Charles mob in the 1980s. Soon after the real identity of deVry's character was discovered, it was confirmed that deVry had been cast as Sam's father, when it was revealed that Sam's biological father is crime figure Julian Jerome.

Reception

When Monaco originated the role of Sam, her performance was well received by viewers and the network. In 2006, Monaco was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award in the category of Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her portrayal of Sam. She also co-hosted the Daytime Emmy Awards that same year.