Sonya Eddy (June 17, 1967 – December 19, 2022)[1][2][3] was an American actress. She was best known for playing Epiphany Johnson in the American ABC soap opera General Hospital (2006—2022) for which she won a posthumous Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2023.[4][5][6]
Eddy was born in Concord, California, on June 17, 1967.[7][8] She majored in theatre and dance at University of California, Davis and received her B.A. in 1992.[9]
Eddy made her acting debut in the West Coast premiere of Ruby Dee's play Zora Is My Name in 1990.[7] Other stage credits included The Comedy of Errors, The Witch in Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods and Bloody Mary in South Pacific.[10] In 1995, Eddy moved to Los Angeles and appeared in such sitcoms as Married... with Children, The Drew Carey Show, Murphy Brown, Seinfeld and Home Improvement. She made her big screen debut playing nurse in the 1996 comedy film High School High. The following years, Eddy played "nurse" roles in a number of movies, include Sour Grapes (1998), Patch Adams (1998), Inspector Gadget (1999), and Seven Pounds (2008).[11] Often playing comedic parts, Eddy appeared in films Nutty Professor II: The Klumps (2000), Barbershop (2002), Daddy Day Care (2003), Surviving Christmas (2004) and Pee-wee's Big Holiday (2016). From 2004 to 2005, she had a recurring role on Joan of Arcadia. She also played dramatic role in the 2006 biographical film Coach Carter.[11]
In 2006, Eddy was cast as no-nonsense head nurse Epiphany Johnson on the ABC daytime soap opera, General Hospital on a recurring basis. Eddy was upgraded to contract status in August 2007. From 2007 to 2008, she was a regular cast member on the prime time spin-off series, General Hospital: Night Shift for Soapnet. She was downgraded to recurring status in 2011.[12] She appeared on soap until October 20, 2022. She received a posthumous Daytime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2023.[6]
Eddy also made guest-starring appearances on Reba, Monk, House, ER, Desperate Housewives, Mike & Molly, 2 Broke Girls, The Middle, Mom and Castle. She played Ramona, another no-nonsense personal nurse, in the FX sitcom Legit from 2013 to 2014.[13] From 2016 to 2019, she played Tammy in the truTV comedy series, Those Who Can't. She also had recurring roles on Fresh Off the Boat, Black Jesus and the miniseries The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey. Her final screen appearance was in the 2023 musical comedy film Dicks: The Musical.[14]
Eddy died on December 19, 2022, at the age of 55.[11] Her cause of death was an infection after non-emergency surgery.[15][16]