Carly Corinthos (also Spencer) is a fictional character from General Hospital, a soap opera on the ABC network, portrayed by Laura Wright from 2005.

A collaborative effort between the writers, Carly – originally played by Sarah Joy Brown from 1996 to 2001 — was introduced under executive producer Wendy Riche.

A "love to hate" character who brings excitement to storylines because of her devious ways, Carly is the illegitimate daughter of former bad girl turned heroine, Bobbie Spencer (Jacklyn Zeman).

Throughout the 2000s, Carly, then Tamara Braun from 2001 to 2005, goes on to become one of the show's most prominent, vital and popular characters largely due to her supercouple pairing with mobster Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard) and her friendship with Jason Morgan (Steve Burton).

Carly's revenge on Bobbie and her near-lethal vendetta against A. J. Quartermaine (Sean Kanan) — the biological father of her son Michael (Chad Duell) – remain two of the most revered and controversial plots in the show's history.

The role of Carly would bring Laura Wright her first Emmy nomination overall – in the Outstanding Lead Actress and her first win, 20 years after breaking into daytime television on ABC's Loving.

Bobbie's brother Luke Spencer (Anthony Geary) uncovers Carly's true identity and warns to stop hurting her mother.

Jason comforts Elizabeth Webber (Rebecca Herbst) over the supposed death of her boyfriend, Lucky Spencer (Jonathan Jackson).

Carly awakens and in the spring of 2004 meets her biological father John Durant (Corbin Bernsen) who is looking to send both Sonny and Alcazar to prison.

After the divorce, Carly starts seeing Alcazar but her happiness is short lived due to A. J. kidnapping Michael (Dylan Cash), Kristina and Morgan.

To complicate matters further, Carly (now Jennifer Bransford) discovers that Sonny's girlfriend Reese Marshall (Kari Wührer) is actually her presumed dead best friend—Carly Roberts.

While Michael is revealed to be alive, the stress leads to Carly suffering a nervous breakdown, marrying Alcazar and ending up in a mental hospital.

Carly offers to help Jax raise Courtney's son John only for Robin to expose that Nikolas Cassadine (Tyler Christopher) is actually the boy's real father.

In February 2007, Jax's estranged brother Jerry Jacks (Sebastian Roché) holds several guests including Sonny and Carly hostage in the hotel lobby before blowing it up.

A vengeful Carly pays Brook Lynn Ashton (Adrianne León) to seduce Dante destroy his relationship with her cousin Lulu Spencer (Julie Marie Berman) but her plan fails.

Carly later learns Jax is alive but keeps the secret to protect him from Sonny only for an angry and bitter Michael to reveal her lies on New Year's Eve.

The romance is short lived due to his affair and eventually marriage to the mentally ill Kate (aka Connie Falconeri) (Kelly Sullivan).

Todd and Carly reconcile and start dating only for her to dump him after she discovers his part in switching Jason's healthy son with stillborn child.

More tragedy follows when her adopted sister Nelle Benson (Chloe Lanier) appears and starts taking revenge on Carly, including marrying and having a child with Michael.

Brown, known for her appearance in the children's series VR Troopers, auditioned for the role of Carly in early 1996 opposite Burton, who played Jason.

Robin Christopher who played Skye Chandler on All My Children and Gina Tognoni — Kelly Cramer from One Life to Live — were both considered as Brown's replacement.

[8][9] The series was also suffering from the departures of several popular actors including Burton and Jonathan Jackson—who played Carly's cousin Lucky Spencer.

In an interview with Soap Opera Digest from September 2001, Braun explained that "Right before booking this job, I had vowed to quit acting and just re-evaluate.

[15] In early 2005, speculation grew over Braun's future with the soap due to Brown's recent exit from CBS' As the World Turns.

[24] In March 2014, it was announced that both Brown and Braun would reprise the role of Carly for the show's 51st anniversary on April 1, 2014, making cameo appearances alongside Wright.

"The pitfalls are obvious," Mulcahey said and "I imagine Bob [Guza, the headwriter] promised Wendy [Riche, the executive producer] and ABC that we had no intention of falling into them" the scribe continued.

Carly then seduces Bobbie's doctor husband Tony Jones and sets her sights on the couple's young son Lucas (Justin Cooper).

Meanwhile, Bobbie's brother Luke Spencer (Anthony Geary) recognizes a kindred spirit in his niece and "that excites him"—which is why he keeps the secret.

The character’s withstood two and a half recasts (from Sarah Brown to Tamara Braun to, briefly, Jennifer Bransford, then Laura Wright) to remain an unstoppable force of nature, a freight train you’d be terrified to be in front of but more often than not find yourself willing to get behind.

"[39] The following year, Mason included Carly in his list of the worst mothers in American soap operas, writing, "No matter how many of her children got kidnapped, shot at or killed, Sonny's moll refused to get unmarried from the Mob.