What Happened to Ric Lansing on General Hospital

Ric Lansing has come and gone from General Hospital quite a bit, so it’s understandable if some viewers might need a refresher on his history in Port Charles. Well, that’s where we come in! The character was introduced back in November 2002 and has always been played by Rick Hearst (except for a couple of days in 2007 when Nick Kiriazis stepped in while Hearst was undergoing surgery). His first stint lasted until 2009, and then Hearst reprised the character in early 2014 for a few months before returning at the end of the year and remaining until 2016. Hearst won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in 2004 and 2007 for his work on GH. Then, in 2024, it was announced that he was coming back again in August to stir up even more drama.

Attorney Ric Lansing was in Port Charles for months before revealing to Sonny Corinthos that he is his half brother. He has always disliked his sibling because when they were children, their mother chose to leave with Sonny and abandoned Ric. Trying to needle his brother, Ric attempted to flirt with his wife, Carly Corinthos, but eventually fell in love with Elizabeth Webber. They got married and Liz became pregnant, but sadly miscarried. Accusing Sonny of causing her to lose the baby, Ric kidnapped a pregnant Carly, intending to hold her hostage until she gave birth so he could steal her baby! Carly escaped, and Liz divorced him, but when she learned she was pregnant with Zander Smith’s child, Ric stepped back in to remarry Liz and raise the child together. But their relationship couldn’t survive Ric’s obsession with Sonny, and they split again.

When Carly was kidnapped by Lorenzo Alcazar, Ric became Sonny’s ally to help rescue her. He also pursued and married Sonny’s ex, Alexis Davis, and the couple welcomed their daughter, Molly Lansing Davis, in 2005. Ric also helped Alexis discover that Sam McCall was her long-lost daughter, but when Ric and Sam’s relationships soured, the pair ended up in bed together! Jason and Alexis found them together, and Alexis divorced Ric. He tried to go back to Elizabeth, insisting she was the only woman he ever loved, but she wasn’t having any of it. While attending the Back and White Ball with Skye Quartermaine, Ric was impaled by a sword and required a blood transfusion, which Sonny reluctantly agreed to.

Ric began working for Anthony Zacchara and got Johnny Zacchara acquitted of murder. Grateful, his sister, Claudia Zacchara, thanked Ric with sex, and their affair continued even after her father forced her to marry Sonny. When she got pregnant, Ric taunted Sonny with the possibility that the baby could be his. But in June 2009, Ric decided to leave the drama behind and move to Los Angeles. Shortly thereafter, Claudia contacted Ric to inform him that her baby was Sonny’s, but then she miscarried in a car accident.

In 2014, Ric returned to Port Charles as Sonny was going to war with Julian Jerome. Sonny suspected Ric of financially backing Julian, but he insisted he was just in town to reconnect with Molly. Although he did also find time to ask Liz out on a date! After Ric was arrested for shooting someone, it was revealed that Julian had framed him, so Anna Devane arranged for him to fake his own death by having Nathan West shoot him in an attempted escape. Ric was later abducted from Witness Protection by Carlos Rivera under Johnny Zacchara’s orders. Shawn Butler and Jordan Ashford rescued him and brought him home to Molly unharmed.

Ric tried to reconnect with Elizabeth, but she was obsessed with Jake Doe (later thought to be Jason Morgan and eventually revealed to be Drew Cain), so he hired Hayden Barnes to pretend to be the guy’s wife. This helped Ric get closer to Liz, but when the scheme was revealed at the Nurses Ball, Liz dumped him. Next, he charmed Nina Reeves into marrying him, but it was all a scheme he’d cooked up with her mother, Madeline Reeves, to get their hands on the family fortune. After that fell apart, Ric again tried to reconcile with Liz, but she had moved on with Franco Baldwin and wanted nothing more to do with him.

Ric returned to Port Charles in August 2024 to support Molly during Irene’s funeral. He also took over Heather Webber’s defense from Scott and managed to discover that there was an error in the blood test done at GH, and a subsequent test done by another lab gave him the evidence he needed to prove Heather’s crimes were influenced by her cobalt poisoning. However, he wasn’t expecting her to simply be released from prison! He managed to make amends with Liz, though she wasn’t thrilled when he insisted that they go to the cops after witnessing Alexis disposing of a gun.

Ric also defended Ava Jerome, who was being charged with murdering Kristina’s baby by pushing her out the window. Naturally, this didn’t make him very popular with Kristina’s family, including Molly. The attorney tricked Kristina into blowing up and making public threats against Ava in a restaurant so he could use it against her. And when the case went to trial, Ric showed no mercy as he questioned Kristina about her actions that day. Alexis was furious at him for badgering her daughter, but Ric insisted he wanted to prove it was just a tragic accident so everyone could move on. Ric and Ava were pleased when she was found not guilty, but no one else was.

When Ava found herself in financial trouble, Ric helped find her a cheaper apartment, and the pair shared a kiss. He then decided to help her get custody of Avery, but ultimately, she and Sonny agreed on 50/50 shared custody. The attorney also offered Portia Robinson some professional advice as Drew was blackmailing her with proof that she tampered with Heather’s blood test. As Ric continued clashing with Alexis, Cody Bell took him aside and urged him to call a truce with his ex because the fighting was hurting Molly. So Ric and Alexis agreed to a cease-fire for the sake of their daughter. When Liz asked him about Portia, he couldn’t share details of the case but asked her to get some hospital records for him. After she dropped them off at Ava’s place, Ric gave her a ride home, not realizing that Kristina had tampered with his brakes, thinking it was Ava’s car. Ric lost control of the vehicle and crashed, sending both him and Liz to the hospital!

Ric and Ava put their heads together and realized Kristina was responsible for nearly killing him. He wanted to turn her in to the cops, but Ava wanted to blackmail Alexis for the Cassadine money that had been taken from her. Ric then represented Willow Tait in her custody battle with Michael Corinthos, and, tipped off by Nina, the attorney got Sasha Gilmore to reveal that Michael was the father of her baby… which she then delivered right there in court! 

Nina hired Ric to represent Willow in her upcoming custody appeal, but asked him to keep her name out of it, so he was happy to let everyone — like Liz — think he was doing it pro bono. Ric then hired Martin Grey as his attorney so he could safely and legally sever ties with Ava and their “business arrangement” with Alexis. Ric continued to spend time with Liz, which made Ava jealous, and he eventually made Alexis an offer to end the blackmail if she made one last payment — but just to him.

When Kristina confronted him about the blackmail, Ric countered that she belonged in prison for attempted murder. Ava joined them to complain that Kristina was pitting them against each other, and was stunned when Ric revealed that he’d closed the accounts and bought ten million in treasury bonds so the money would be laundered in one month. Furious, Ava hit him over the head with a paperweight, and Alexis came home to discover Ric was still alive. The women decided to tie him up and keep him captive in the basement until the bonds matured, at which point they’d take the money themselves and let him go.

Eventually, Ric stopped taking the sedatives that Ava was force-feeding him and managed to free himself, slipping upstairs while an unaware Alexis was on the phone.