What Happened to Claudia Zacchara on GENERAL HOSPITAL
Claudia Zacchara on GENERAL HOSPITAL may look familiar to fans because she was played by Sarah Joy Brown, who had previously played Carly on the soap. But from January 2008 to her violent exit in November 2009, the actress played a much darker GH role (and we’re not just talking about her hair!). If you don’t remember all the nasty things she did in Port Charles, we’re here to fill you in!
Claudia first came to Port Charles to try and reign in her brother, Johnny Zacchara, and while she intended to take over the family crime business, she first bedded rival mob boss Sonny Corinthos, not realizing who he was. Once they found out who the other was, battle lines were drawn between Sonny and Claudia. She took out a hit on her rival but the bullet struck Sonny’s young son, Michael, instead. To cover his involvement in the shooting, Jerry Jacks stabbed Claudia and left her for dead. After being nursed back to health by Nikolas Cassadine, Claudia was furious when her father, Anthony, took the business back and shut her out.
When Johnny took the blame for murdering Logan to protect Lulu, Claudia tried to help him and ultimately lied on the stand to keep her brother from going to prison. Claudia slept with Sonny’s brother, Ric Lansing, who fell for her, but she ended up marrying Sonny, who wanted to use her to get control of the business. When she helped him take her father down, Anthony retaliated by trying to kill her. Sonny rescued her and they made love but when she later found out she was pregnant, Sonny was furious that the child could be Ric’s. Claudia was thrilled when a test proved Sonny was the babydaddy, but on her way to tell him, she miscarried when Kristina accidentally ran her car off the road.
Although Sonny was impressed at the way Claudia handled herself among the other mob bosses, when Jason Morgan revealed the truth that she was behind Michael’s shooting, he tore his wife to shreds. Cornered, Claudia panicked and kidnapped a pregnant Carly, who went into labor. After Carly caused their car to crash, Claudia followed her to an abandoned cabin and helped her give birth. But she refused to give the infant back to Carly and became fixated on the girl. Having tracked them to the cabin, Michael hit Claudia with an axe handle, accidentally killing her.
Although Jason attempted to destroy any and all evidence of the crime, Sonny was later arrested for Claudia’s murder but Dante continued to investigate, and eventually, Michael was arrested and briefly sent to prison for Claudia’s murder. And to this day, her involvement with the Corinthos clan continues to haunt them.
