Soap fans will be pleased to know that Claudia Zacchara will be sticking around Port Charles for quite some time.  According to Soap Opera Digest, Claudia's portrayer, Sarah Brown, has signed on for another year of playing the troubled mob princess on General Hospital.  The 33-year-old actress confirmed the extension of her contract on her Facebook page, updating her status with "Agent Rhonda Price, who she loves, closed a deal to keep Sarah on GH another year ;) Oh Happy Day!"

Prior to landing the role of Claudia Zacchara, Brown first played Carly Corinthos when she joined General Hospital in 1996. She won three Daytime Emmy Awards for Best Younger Actress and for Best Supporting Actress prior to her decision to leave the show.

"I am not leaving because of money issues or contract issues," Brown said in a statement at the time.  "I am leaving because my heart is telling me I'm done."

Following her departure on General Hospital in 2001, Brown shifted to primetime TV with guest roles on Crossing Jordan, Strong Medicine, The Sopranos and Without A Trace.  Eventually, she returned to daytime TV to portray the role of Morrisey Larrabee on As the World Turns from August 2004 to March 2005, and then became a regular on the popular CBS crime drama Cold Case in the fall of 2005, though she was let go after appearing in only five episodes.

Brown returned to General Hospital on January 31 in the role of the mysterious, dangerous and sexy Claudia, the daughter of notorious New York City crime lord Anthony Zacchara.  She was first introduced as the mysterious woman in all red who seduced Sonny Corinthos, who was then hurt after being rejected for a marriage proposal by Kate Howard.  Consequently, they slept together and parted ways without even knowing each others names. Most recently, Sonny married Claudia instead of Kate after making a deal with Anthony, which is all part of his plan to take down the mob boss for shooting Kate at their wedding.

Stay tuned for more updates on General Hospital!


-Kris De Leon, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: Soap Opera Digest, Sarah Brown's Facebook page
(Image courtesy of ABC)