Robin Scorpio is a fictional character from the ABC Daytime soap opera General Hospital and its primetime SOAPnet spin-off General Hospital: Night Shift, originated and portrayed by Kimberly McCullough on and off for over 30 years since 1985. The character came to mainstream attention during a 1990s story arc where her boyfriend Stone Cates dies from AIDS and Robin is diagnosed as HIV-positive. Robin is also famous in the soap community for having been one of the few long-term soap characters to age in real time, not SORASed like most other child actors.
Casting A 7-year-old McCullough was one of three actresses narrowed down for the part of 5-year-old Robin and was brought in to screen test with her on-screen parents Finola Hughes (Anna Devane) and Tristan Rogers (Robert Scorpio). Hughes recalled the event to MSN TV: "We just started improvising with her, like anything. We were throwing things at her and she was just talking away. Tristan and I were looking at each other over her head going, 'This is it! This is what we wanted.'" Improvisation skills were key for General Hospital'''s process in the 1980s. As Hughes explained: "It was very improvised. Very loose. We used to just talk around the plot and maybe every now and again dip our toe in the actual storyline."
McCullough debuted on September 6, 1985 and stayed with the series until September 12, 1996. Afterward, she returned as a series regular for brief stints: January 17, 1997 to February 3, 1997; March 12, 1997 to April 8, 1997; June 23, 1997 to August 8, 1997; December 11, 1997 to January 20, 1999; June 20–21, 2000 (for The Nurses' Ball); and July 16, 2004. She appeared on Port Charles in 1998, for one episode. She also appeared on May 30 to June 4, 2001 on All My Children when Robin reunited with her mother Anna. McCullough returned to General Hospital as Robin on July 16, 2004, for the funeral of Lila Quartermaine before rejoining the soap full-time on October 12, 2005. She also appeared on both seasons of the spin-off series General Hospital: Night Shift in 2007 and 2008.
For her work as Robin, McCullough has won two Daytime Emmy Awards, one for Outstanding Juvenile Female in 1989 and one for Outstanding Younger Actress in 1996. McCullough also earned two Soap Opera Digest Awards, for Outstanding Youth Actor/Actress in 1986 and Outstanding Child Actor in 1993, as well as the 1987 Young Artist Award.
In November 2011, McCullough announced her plans to leave General Hospital in the early months of 2012 to pursue her dream of directing full-time. This came only weeks after a controversial plot, where Lisa Niles (portrayed by Brianna Brown) threatens to inject Robin's blood into her husband, Patrick Drake, which was hard on McCullough and her co-star Jason Thompson considering Robin's critically acclaimed HIV-story. While the character was killed off on February 21, 2012, McCullough continued to make several appearances as an apparition in numerous scenes with her loved ones. Frank Valentini, Ron Carlivati, and McCullough discussed her departure, and Carlivati, who was uncomfortable with the idea of Robin being "completely dead", rewrote her story. McCullough's scene on March 27, 2012 showed Robin to be alive, leaving the door open for her to return.
On July 16, 2012, Soap Opera Digest announced that McCullough would return to the series for a series of guest spots. She started her series of guest starring spots on July 19, 2012 and lasted until July 27, 2012. In the fall of 2012, Soap Opera Digest confirmed that McCullough would reprise her role as Robin starting on November 6 until December 19, 2012. She guest-starred for one episode on March 25, 2013, in a video message Robin left for Patrick.
On August 21, 2013, Soap Opera Digest exclusively confirmed that McCullough had signed a contract to return to the series. McCullough made her on-screen return on September 30, 2013. In January 2014, McCullough confirmed her exit from the series once more, last airing on March 4, 2014. On June 23, 2014, McCullough revealed on her Twitter account that she's received GH scripts, this was later confirmed by Valentini that McCullough would be returning as Robin in the summer. Her first airdate back was on August 5, 2014 and she last aired on September 24, 2014. On January 19, 2015, McCullough guest-starred for one episode as Robin. In October 2015, it was announced that she would once again reprise the role of Robin in November. McCullough aired on November 13, 2015, and departed on January 7, 2016.
In April 2016, it was revealed that McCullough was to briefly return for The Nurses' Ball, first appearing on May 9 and departing on May 27. Later the same year, it was announced McCullough would again reprise the role, first appearing on October 27 and departing on November 1. She later reprised the role for another short guest arc, appearing from December 28, 2016, to January 19, 2017.
In 2017, McCullough made subsequent guest appearances from February 20 to March 10, May 18 and 19, and again from November 17 to December 4, as part of Steve Burton's return to the series.
The following year, McCullough appeared from February 6 to 13, and May 16 to 21. McCullough also made several appearances in June and September.
Storylines 1985–2001 Robin Soltini arrives in Port Charles in 1985 with the woman she believes to be her grandmother, Filomena Soltini. She had grown up thinking her mother, Anna Devane, was a family friend. Her father, Robert Scorpio, has no idea that he shares a daughter with Anna and is surprised to find Robin in his living room. During her childhood, Robin's grandmother is killed and she is faced with threats from enemies of her parents such as Cesar Faison, Grant Putnam and Olivia St. John and she also faces tough times when her parents are supposedly murdered in a boat explosion in 1992, leaving her to be raised by her Uncle Mac Scorpio. Mac later marries Felicia Cummings, and Robin is raised with her daughters, Maxie and Georgie Jones.
In 1993, Robin meets Michael "Stone" Cates (Michael Sutton), and although they initially do not get along, they began dating in 1994 against her Uncle Mac's wishes. Stone had been a street kid now taken in and working for Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard). In 1995, Stone learns he is HIV+ and eventually contracts AIDS due to his length of time without treatment. After his first HIV test came back negative, he did not take another one six months later. Robin and her family are shocked to learn that she is also HIV+. Robin and Stone fall deeply in love, and she is devastated when Stone eventually dies from AIDS. Robin is at Jason Morgan (Steve Burton)'s bedside when he wakes up from a coma following a car accident caused by his brother (Sean Kanan). A few months later, they begin to bond and start dating. Jason helps Robin cope with Stone's death and her medical status, while Robin helps Jason cope with his memory loss following the accident. They fall in love despite protests from her uncle Mac Scorpio (John J. York). She introduces him to Sonny Corinthos, soon his employer, and the three become friends. Robin eventually enrolls in school at Yale, returning on weekends and holidays to visit. After an emotional break-up with Jason due to his involvement with the mob, Robin leaves Port Charles. She returns in 1998 to help her best friend Brenda Barrett (Vanessa Marcil) from her recent break-up. During this time, Robin becomes friends with Nikolas Cassadine (Tyler Christopher) and the two bond over their similar childhoods. Robin reconciles with Jason and they move in together with baby Michael, who Jason is taking care of for his friend Carly. However, their relationship begins to deteriorate when Carly moves home and into their cottage. Robin eventually reveals to Jason's brother A.J. (Billy Warlock) that he (and not Jason) is the father of Carly's son. Jason is furious and they end their relationship. Robin leaves town heartbroken in 1999, moving to Paris. She returns the following year for The Annual Nurses' Ball. In 2001, Robin travels to Pine Valley, Pennsylvania, where she is reunited with her mother Anna, who is revealed to be alive, having spent the past nine years recovering from her injuries. She also meets her aunt Alex Marick, Anna's identical twin sister. In 2003, Anna calls Robin to inform her that her half-sister, Leora, has died. Anna leaves Pine Valley that same year to live with Robin in Paris.
2004–2021 Robin returns to Port Charles in 2004 for Lila Quartermaine's funeral. She later returns the following year to help save Jason's life, and brings Patrick Drake (Jason Thompson) to town to operate. Robin and Patrick bicker and flirt, and eventually start dating despite Patrick's anti-commitment reputation. They work together during an encephalitis outbreak in February 2006. The crisis brings Robin's presumed-dead father to town, Robert Scorpio (Tristan Rogers), but he leaves shortly thereafter. Robin sees him again when she joins Lulu Spencer (then Julie Marie Berman) and Dillon Quartermaine (Scott Clifton) to the Markham Islands to rescue Robert and Luke Spencer (Anthony Geary). She also sees her mother Anna Devane, having previously found out she was alive and reunited with her in 2001 in Pine Valley. Meanwhile, Robin and Patrick admit their love for one another. In late 2006, they help Luke Spencer reconnect with his catatonic wife, Laura, with an experimental drug. In early 2007, Robin is part of a group held hostage at the Metro Court Hotel and is shot in the abdomen because the district attorney was Sonny's half-brother Ric Lansing (Rick Hearst). A few months later, Robin realizes she wants to have a child while Patrick strongly does not, and they break up after befriending Ric. In late 2007, after the funeral of her cousin Georgie Jones (Lindze Letherman), Robin goes to Patrick for comfort and they sleep together. Robin discovers she is pregnant, but does not tell Patrick since she had been planning on using a sperm donor. Patrick figures out the truth, and the couple slowly starts to become close again. In the summer of 2008, Robin's father is diagnosed with colon cancer but pulls through. Patrick proposes to Robin but she turns him down. They eventually plan an October wedding, which is cut short when Robin goes into labor. Robin names the baby Emma Grace Scorpio-Drake, who, after a brief scare, is shown not to be infected by Robin's HIV. Patrick and Robin wed the day after Christmas.