Maurice Benard is the recipient of the 2024 Cinehealth Lifetime Achievement Award 

The Cinehealth Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes individuals or groups who have made significant and sustained contributions to the development and/or dissemination of audio or video content which educates and inspires patients and HCPs.  

Maurice Benard, the longtime star of ABC soap opera General Hospital, is a two-time Emmy Award–winning film and television actor, a member of the prestigious Actors Studio, and an advocate for mental health awareness. ​

For twenty-five years, he has played one of the most well-known characters on daytime television: General Hospital’s Michael “Sonny” Corinthos, Jr. In his life outside the screen, he is a loving husband and the father of four. But his path has not been without hardship. When he was only twenty, Maurice was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. 

​In 2009, on “Oprah,” he shared with the world his own bipolar diagnosis at the age of twenty and the ensuing struggle to manage the illness, from surviving a stint in a mental institution as a young man to becoming a television star. Benard’s journey with mental illness has also been profiled in magazines including PEOPLE, LA LIFE, and BP.  

​He has also lent his face and voice to numerous organizations to further the cause, including International Bipolar Foundation (IBPF), the National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI), Mental Health America (MHA) and Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services, to name a few. For his contribution to mental health awareness, Benard has received numerous awards, including IBF’s Imagine Award, NAMI’s Lionel Aldridge Award, and the Erasing the Stigma Award alongside Carrie Fischer and Rod Steiger. 

​In addition to testifying before Congress on mental health issues, Benard’s keynote speaker engagements detailing his experience include the annual conference for The National Manic Depressive and Manic-Depressive Association and to hundreds of students at the University of San Diego. 

Maurice has been providing ongoing support to people struggling with anxiety, bipolar and depression on his podcast “State of Mind” which has over one million followers. He lives in California with his wife, Paula, with whom he proudly raised three daughters and a son—who is already following in his father’s footsteps as an actor.