Why did Sam leaveGeneral Hospitalwhen Kelly Monaco herself seemed disappointed with the decision? There are plenty of times when an actor leaves a soap opera, and usually the soaps bring in another actor to replace them. However, there are often times where someone remains on the show for many years. An example onGeneral Hospitalis Maurice Benard, who plays Sonny Corinthos, and who has been in the soap opera since 1993. Leslie Charleson has played Monica Quartermaine since 1977, closing in on 50 years.
Kelly Monaco was not amain character onGeneral Hospitalfor as long as those names, butshe had played Sam McCall on the soap opera for 21 yearsbefore her character’s shocking death in 2024. She is the daughter of mob boss Julian Jerome (William deVry) and attorney Alexis Davis (Nancy Lee Grahn), but was placed up for adoption since both her parents were teens when she was born. Sam was introduced as a con artist and never really gave up her bad girl ways. Her death played into the engrossing role of mobsters and villains onGeneral Hospital.
General Hospital’s Sam Died Of A Heart Attack In 2024
Cyrus Renault Killed Sam With The Drug Digitalis
On June 28, 2025, Sam McCall was celebrating her engagement to Dante Falconeri (Dominic Zamprogna) when something bad happened. She had just revealed her engagement to Alexis (Nancy Lee Grahn). Her ex, Jason (Steve Burton), was bringing their kids, Danny and Scout, to visit their mom in the hospital when he saw doctors rushing into her room. He quickly learned that Sam had an embolism, and, after 30 minutes of trying to recover her,Lucas finally had to call her time of death.
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This was quickly assumed to be an embolism and a heart attack. However, that wasn’t the end of the story. There were some questions about the timing of Sam’s death. Lulu, who had been in a coma since an explosion orchestrated byCyrus Renault (Jeff Kober)in 2020, had her ventilator suddenly stop working, although she was saved. It looked like there might be a killer in the mix. That turned out to be what happened. It took a month to discover, but Sam’s death wasn’t from basic heart failure — someone killed Sam onGeneral Hospital.
A flashback then showed Cyrus entering Sam’s room and injecting the vial of Digitalis into her IV bag.
Sam died from an overdose of Digitalis, and then, three weeks later, the soap revealed that Cyrus had killed her. Officer Dex Heller (Evan Hofer) confronted Cyrus about his suspicions, and a flashback then showed Cyrus entering Sam’s room and injecting the vial of Digitalis into her IV bag. Sam planned to donate a liver to Lulu Spencer, and there were thoughts that Cyrus wanted to prevent this from happening by killing Sam. This didn’t matter in the end, as Lulu woke up from her coma after Sam’s death.
Cyrus then stabbed Dex in the back, and after having surgery, Dex died. It turned out that Cyrus also put Digitalis into his IV bag, killing him the same as he did Sam. It was almost assured Cyrus murdered Dex to cover up his part in Sam’s death.
Sam Actress Kelly Monaco Was “Blindsided” At Being Killed Off Of General Hospital
Monaco Did Not Want To Leave The Soap Opera
When some soap opera characters die, it is because the actors are leaving the show for other opportunities. However,when looking at why Kelly Monaco leftGeneral Hospital,it had nothing to do with that. The showrunners told Monaco they were letting her go, and then they killed her character. Monaco actually announced her departure ahead of time, spoiling Sam’s death — or at least letting fans know that something was happening to her character, which would remove her from the show. At first, she seemed grateful for her 20 years on the show (viaTV Line):
“I’ve been on this lot for 25 years, and you have all been my family — not only my second family but my first family. I just thank each and every one of you for these memories and this experience that I’ll take with me for the rest of my life. … It has been a wild ride, and it will not be the last that you see of me.”
However, Monaco then cut loose in a since-deletedInstagramcomment (viaUs Weekly) where she said she was blindsided by her finish onGeneral Hospital. She was responding to someone who claimed she had no “primary roles” on the soap. She also pointed out that after Billy Miller was fired as Jason Morgan, her role began to change, and the showrunners diminished everything she did:
“No primary role’.. do your homework. When Billy Miller was fired, Sam’s storyline stopped. Stripping Sam of every characteristic she had. Something I worked for decades to build… Slowly dismantling her, into a character that I did not recognize, let alone the audience. Call it what you will… retaliation at it [sic] finest. I will give a proper statement. The truth will set you free.”
When Kelly Monaco leftGeneral Hospitalafter Sam’s death, she said the cast and crew hadn’t seen the last of her. However, there is nothing scheduled for her acting-wise since leaving the show. She hasn’t appeared on anything butGeneral Hospitalsince a small role as herself inBaby Daddyin 2015, and her filmography is tiny when not considering the daytime soap. If Monaco is planning a comeback, there is no telling what she will do, as, for now, she has very little other thanGeneral Hospitalin her professional credits.
