Why Epiphany Died on GENERAL HOSPITAL

When beloved GENERAL HOSPITAL actress Sonya Eddy passed away on Dec. 19, 2022, the daytime community mourned the loss of one of its brightest lights. However, then came the time for the soap to decide what to do about her character of Epiphany Johnson, which she had been playing since 2006.

The show’s executive producer, Frank Valentini, put his head together with co-headwriters Chis Van Etten and Dan O’Connor to work out the best way to proceed. “We sort of weighed the pros and cons of whether Epiphany was alive and living someplace else or if her character had, in fact, left this planet,” Valentini explained in a recent issue of Soap Opera Digest. “And we decided that Epiphany was someone who loved Port Charles and if we weren’t able to see her, recasting Epiphany was completely and utterly out of the question.

“We decided that it was important to honor not only Sonya but Epiphany,” he continued, “and we wanted to dedicate a full, entire episode all about that.”

The special episode featuring the emotional tribute to Epiphany airs on Wednesday, March 29, with the episodes featuring the anniversary Nurses Ball to follow. “We wanted it to come before the Nurses Ball so that you can experience all the sadness and the grief, and then we can move on to celebrating the ball,” Valentini revealed. “And I don’t want to ruin too much of the surprise, but Epiphany is a very pivotal person in the Nurses Ball, as well, so it’s almost like it’s a part two [of her tribute].”

And as previously reported, actress Yvette Nicole Brown, who was a good friend of Eddy’s, will be appearing in the episode in a special role. So make sure that you have plenty of tissues ready and tune in to honor the beloved GH character and her much-missed portrayer.