Damian Spinelli isn’t seen on GENERAL HOSPITAL that often these days, and if he pops in for another visit to Port Charles, newer viewers can be forgiven for not knowing all that much about the quirky character. Spinelli was first introduced in November 2006 when Bradford Anderson joined GH as a geek. Although Spinelli was originally a recurring character, he proved so popular that Anderson landed a deal with the soap just six months later. He stayed with the soap until December 2013, earning three Daytime Emmy Award nominations in the process for his work. Anderson continues to appear regularly – apart from the one time the role was briefly played by Blake Berris (ex-Nick, DAYS OF OUR LIVES) – and continues to delight fans with his occasional return.
Spinelli was first seen as a computer hacker working for the villainous Lorenzo Alcazar, but he eventually switched sides and began working for Sonny Corinthos and Jason Morgan. He fell in love with Lulu Spencer but developed a close friendship with Georgie Jones. Just as he realized she had a crush on him, Georgie was tragically murdered by the Text Message Killer. Determined to find the killer, Spinelli teamed up with her sister, Maxie Jones, and eventually fell in love with her too. After taking Diego Alcazar to court, the pair remained close and even slept together. Their relationship was unconventional, and when he proposed to her, she reluctantly agreed. But Spinelli heard her fears of marriage just before the wedding and turned the ceremony into a “non-wedding.” They agreed to marry in the future and just enjoy the reception.
Maxie sleeping with Franco wasn’t great, but when she later pretended to be flirting with Matt Hunter to try to make Spinelli jealous and fight for their relationship, he decided to let her go instead! Spinelli was thrilled when Brenda Barrett moved in with him and Jason and he helped protect her from the Balkans. After taking a bullet for Maxie, Spinelli was temporarily stuck in his Jackal PI persona, a character out The Secret Life of Damian Spinelli, the book he recently co-wrote with Diane Miller. He later moved in with Maxie and helped prove that she didn’t kill Matt. She asked Spinelli to keep quiet and tried to marry Matt so she wouldn’t have to testify against him, but Matt confessed to the crime and went to jail. Maxie eventually forgave Spinelli, but he was still angry.
While helping Jason with an exam, Spinelli falls in love with hospital lab technician Ellie Trout. When she found out about his complicated love story with Maxie, Ellie didn’t want to be his second choice, and he insisted she wasn’t. He asked her to meet him on the hospital roof on New Year’s Eve when they were supposed to be together, but she was hit by a car and he got drunk, believing he got up. Maxie took him home and they had a one night stand. Upon learning of Ellie’s injuries, Spinelli rushed over to her and they reconciled, but it turned out that Maxie was pregnant. She claimed it was Dante and Lulu’s daughter as she was supposed to act as her surrogate mother. But after the child was born, Spinelli learned the truth that she miscarried and then became pregnant with his child. They initially agreed to let Dante and Lulu raise the girl named Connie, but then changed their minds, leading to an ugly custody battle.
In the end, the judge awarded Spinelli sole custody and Maxie was not allowed to see their child for six months. She asked Spinelli to ignore the court order, but he refused. When Ellie got a job in Portland, he joined her, and before he and Maxie left town with the baby, he and Maxie named her Georgie after their late sister. Two years later, after being abandoned by Ellie, Spinelli returned to Port Charles in hopes of winning back Maxie. She had moved on with Nathan West, but they were having issues, so she decided to give Spinelli another try. But when Ellie showed up wanting Spinelli back, he and Maxie realized they were making a mistake and went back to their respective partners.
Spinelli returned to Portland with Ellie and Georgie, but has returned to take Georgie to Port Charles to visit her mother and even officiated at Maxie and Nathan’s wedding. However, he mostly returned to help Jason and Sam solve mysteries, such as proving that Patient Six is the real Jason and finding Cesar Faison’s son.
In January 2020, Spinelli visited Maxie with Georgie because Ellie was applying for a new job in the area and announced in February that she got the job so her family would move east. But when Maxie tried to get Spinelli and her new boyfriend to get along, he refused, knowing that Peter August was up to no good and would break Maxie’s heart. He then began actively working to uncover Peter’s crimes in order to save his Maximista.
However, Spinelli also continued to help Jason at Cyrus Renault and sadly reported in the summer of 2021 that his ongoing work with the Corinthos family had led to a rift with Ellie, who didn’t agree, and they had broken up. But at Jason and Carly’s wedding, Spinelli was delighted when Maxie asked him to spare her a dance. And in 2022, Sam was convinced her friend was hiding something, and it turned out that Spinelli was working with Zelda on dating service Society Setups! When Cody Bell discovered the couple was in cahoots, he tried to blackmail Spinelli into keeping him quiet about it!
Stay tuned to see what Spinelli messes up next!
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