Since Maurice Benard is so popular as the powerful mobster Sonny Corinthos, it's easy to forget that he was on another soap prior to his appearance in Port Charles. He starred on the ABC sudser "All My Children" from 1987 to 1989 as bad-boy-turned-good Nico Kelly. Nico had been involved in a few illicit activities including drugs, prostitution, and scams, but when his uncle, Creed Kelly (James Horan), planned to get back at his ex-girlfriend, Elizabeth Carlyle (Lisa Eichhorn), by raping her daughter, Julie Chandler (Lauren Holly), it was Nico to the rescue! He and Julie eventually fell in love and eloped, but after she had a miscarriage, their marriage went down the drain.
Eventually, Cecily Davidson (Rosa Nevin) found that she wanted to get out of her mother's control and have full access to her trust fund. So, she made a deal with Nico, offering him half of her dough if he married her, and they remained married for six months. The two eloped, but they soon found they were like oil and water, and it didn't look like they'd be able to last. They got embroiled in an adventure with Tad Martin (Michael E. Knight), and Dixon Martin (Cady McClain) as they rescued Dixie from the Laurel Hill Sanitarium. Nico and Cecily eventually fell in love and left Pine Valley.
Nico' is kind of a footnote in "AMC" history, but it set the groundwork for Benard to move on to bigger and better things as Sonny Corinthos.
