‘General Hospital’ Star Exits Series After 21 Years

Note: This article contains major spoilers for Sam McCall’s General Hospital storyline.

Kelly Monaco’s Sam McCall is saying goodbye to Port Charles after 21 years. On Wednesday’s episode of General Hospital, the show started its official goodbye to Sam a few months after news broke that Monaco would be leaving the show.

After agreeing to donate her liver to Lulu Spencer, Sam was prepped for surgery on last Thursday, Oct. 24’s episode, which gave her time to say goodbye to some important people — including Alexis (Nancy Lee Grahn), Dante (Dominic Zamprogna), and Jason (Steve Burton). The episode ended with her tearfully being wheeled into the operating room.

When she returned to the screen on Wednesday, Oct. 30, fans learned that the surgery was a success, with Sam celebrating by getting engaged to Dante. However, she soon began to crash, with her half-brother forced to call her time of death.

However, in a plot twist only daytime TV could pull off, Monaco’s actual final episode will air later this week, multiple news outlets report. Time will tell how her exit plays out.

Monaco first joined General Hospital as Sam — the daughter of mob boss Julian Jerome (William Devry) and attorney Alexis Davis (Nancy Lee Grahn) — on Oct. 1, 2003, after first playing Livvie Locke on the short-lived General Hospital spinoff Port Charles. Lindsay Hartley briefly filled in for Monaco in 2020, 2022 and 2024. Monaco earned a Daytime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 2006. She also was nominated int he supporting category in 2003 for playing Livvie on Port Charles.

After it was reported in August that Monaco would be leaving General Hospital, she reflected on her two decades on the show. Sharing a photo from her last day of filming, she wrote that it “still doesn’t make any sense.”

A reason for Monaco’s exit was not initially reported, although she offered some insight, saying in a since-deleted Instagram post that she felt the show’s writers were “slowly dismantling” Sam “into a character that I did not recognize.” She added, “Call it what you will… retaliation at it (sic) finest. I will give a proper statement. The truth will set you free.”