‘General Hospital’: Rena Sofer’s Lois Cerullo Returning After 26 Years

Isaac Rouse September 14, 2023, 11:22 am

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Rena Sofer of General Hospital — Craig Sjodin/ ABC /Courtesy Everett Collection

General Hospital‘s Rena Sofer will return to Port Charles as Lois Cerullo once again after 26 years away from the series.

The 54-year-old actress won a Daytime Emmy playing the long-nailed, fast-talking Italian with a Brooklyn accent, Lois Cerullo, and she is slated to return next month, according to People.

Lois is widely known during her tenure on the show for being one-half of the soap’s most popular power couples of the ’90s, alongside Wally Kurth as Ned Ashton. Sofer is expected to arrive as her ex-husband, Ned, suffers from amnesia and thinks he’s Eddie Maine, Ned’s alter ego from 30 years prior, which sounds conflicting for his current wife, Olivia (Lisa LoCicero).

In 1993, Lois began to fall for the character after seeing Eddie perform with his band, The Idle Rich. She became his manager, unaware this was an alter ego of the wealthy Ned Ashton during the day. They eventually fell in love and married before Ned was forced to marry Katherine Bell (Mary Beth Evans), who was blackmailing Ned’s family, the Quartermaines.

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After discovering his bigamist behavior, Lois jumped out of Katherine’s giant birthday cakes and said, “Happy Birthday to Mrs. Ned Ashton, from the other Mrs. Ned Ashton!” This signaled the end of their marriage until Ned eventually won Lois back and proposed, and they married for a second time. But in the world of soaps, love doesn’t last too long, as the couple hit another snag when Lois gives Ned an ultimatum: their marriage or his loyalty to his wealthy family and their business, ELQ. Suffice it to say, he chose his family legacy and all the millions that come with it (not too tough a choice if you ask us).

Broken-hearted, Lois left in 1997 for her hometown of Bensonhurst, New York, where she had a daughter, Brook Lynn (currently played by Amanda Setton).

Now, in the present day, Ned goes by the surname Quartermaine and is married to Olivia (another marriage on the rocks, now due to his amnesia and his ex’s expected arrival).

Sofer filmed her first scenes last week and is slated to arrive on screen in early October. Her return to General Hospital comes following a nine-year stint on The Bold and the Beautiful as Quinn Fuller; she left the CBS daytime drama in 2022.

General Hospital, Weekdays, ABC