Created by Charles Pratt, Jr. and Robert Guza, Jr., the character made her debut on the episode airing on October 1, 2003, portrayed by Kelly Monaco.

Sam is the daughter of mob boss Julian Jerome (William deVry) and attorney Alexis Davis (Nancy Lee Grahn), born and placed for adoption when both were teenagers.

She arrived in town as a con artist trying to reverse her family's bad luck by destroying the five lucky cards of the "Dead Man's Hand."

Since her introduction, the character has matured into a self-assured and confident woman, while still retaining traces of her adventuresome, bad girl ways.

[5] Monaco's performance has been met with critical acclaim, having garnered her the Daytime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 2006.

The role of Samantha McCall was originated by former Baywatch star and Playboy's April 1997 Playmate of the Month,[6] Kelly Monaco on October 1, 2003.

[11] Despite rumors and speculation, Monaco's co-stars Steve Burton (Jason Morgan) and Nancy Lee Grahn (Alexis Davis) denied she was departing from the show.

Samantha, also known as Sam, is born on May 11, 1980, (Mother's Day) in Chatham, Maine,[a] to a 16-year-old Alexis Davidovitch (Nancy Lee Grahn).

Using skills she learned from Cody, Sam marries several wealthy men, and steals their money so she can care for her brother.

Sam first appears in Port Charles working with Jasper Jacks (Ingo Rademacher) to find the five lucky cards of the "Dead Man's Hand."

Kristina's mother, Alexis Davis (Nancy Lee Grahn), begs Sam to induce labor two weeks early in order to donate her child's stem cells.

Jason and Sam are on a trip when they are kidnapped by Allegra Montenegro, played by Meg Bennett, the wife of Executive Producer at the time Robert Guza, Jr.[24] Allegra wants Sam to pose as her daughter, Alicia, and marry Andrew Olsen to help the Montenegros regain their rich lifestyle.

After Sam escapes during the Metro Court Hotel hostage crisis and warns the police, television producer Amelia Joffe (Annie Wersching) hires her as the host of the new talk show, Everyday Heroes.

Sam seduced Elizabeth's husband Lucky Spencer (then Greg Vaughan) to get revenge on Jason and Liz, but they eventually fall in love.

When Claudia Zacchara (Sarah Joy Brown) has an accident, Sam worries that Kristina is responsible; Jason tells her he thinks it was Michael.

Jason is eventually released, and later that year must protect Brenda Barrett (Vanessa Marcil) from the European crime boss The Balkan (Daniel Benzali).

The two reconcile, but Jason disappears after being shot by Cesar Faison (Anders Hove); he is presumed dead, but Sam remains determined to find him.

Lucy Coe (Lynn Herring) comes to town, and claims John is a vampire named Caleb Morley.

Sam befriended "Jake Doe" (Billy Miller), an amnesiac patient at the hospital who had facial reconstruction surgery after an accident.

But sadly, due to the terms of her parole, and the huge threat of drug kingpin Cyrus Renault (Jeff Kober), she cannot be with Jason.

On June 15, 2021, Sam and Dante both end up investigating the Country House where a fake Chloe Jennings kidnapped Maxie.

The newly formed mother-daughter relationship was very antagonistic in its early stages, but over time the two characters were able to reconcile and put the hate of their past behind them.

In 2013 General Hospital head-writer, Ron Carlivati addressed the ongoing mystery of Sam's father in an interview with TV Guide's Michael Logan.

Rumors began to circulate naming Duke Lavery (Ian Buchanan), Blackie Parrish (John Stamos) and Dr. Kevin Collins (Jon Lindstrom) as potential candidates for Sam's father; Lindstrom having previously worked opposite Monaco as her father on the soap opera Port Charles.

It was widely speculated that Reckell was cast to play Sam's father, linking her to the Jerome crime family that was prominent on General Hospital in the 1980s.

[34] In July 2013, ABC unveiled its latest General Hospital promo which showed Sam asking Alexis for the identity of her father.

[35] Following the promo's release, Nancy Lee Grahn (Alexis), took to her Twitter account to engage fans in a guessing game as to the identity of Sam's father.

[36] During the week the promo was released, it was announced that actor William deVry, who formerly starred on The Bold and the Beautiful as Storm Logan, and All My Children as Michael Cambias was joining General Hospital.

[10] In 2006, Monaco was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award in the category of Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her portrayal of Sam.

[6] In 2023, Charlie Mason from Soaps She Knows placed Sam at #24 on his ranked list of General Hospital’s 40+ Greatest Characters of All Time, commenting "Jason Morgan’s onetime ride-or-die boasts an enviably all-over-the-place soap-character resumé that’s taken her from con artist and stepfather seductress to action heroine, “widowed” wife and mom.