How old is Maura West on General Hospital? Age explored

Maura West, who plays art dealer Ava Jerome in the daily soap General Hospital, turned 52 years old in April 2024. The actor stepped into the role of Ava in 2013 and has had five Daytime Emmy nominations for her portrayal since. She won one of them in 2015 in the category of Outstanding Lead Actress.

Maura West portrays Ava as a fighter who gets back up every time she is cornered. While not a morally straight character, Ava is shown as a resilient woman who is standing up for herself. General Hospital is Maura's third involvement with a soap opera. She had been part of As the World Turns and The Young and the Restless before moving to GH.

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General Hospital star Maura West turned 52 this year

Maura West was born Maura Jo Snyder on April 27, 1971. Maura belongs to Massachusetts by birth and childhood. She later graduated from Boston University. She started her acting career in 1995 with CBS's As the World Turns. She played the role of Carly Tenney in the soap until September 2010.

While being part of the show for almost 15 years, Maura's portrayal of Carly earned her 12 award nominations, including Daytime Emmy and Soap Opera Digest. Of these, she won two Daytime Emmys for Outstanding Lead Actress.

Maura joined The Young and the Restless in September 2010 to play Diane Jenkins. However, she was let go from the soap opera by May 2011.

When Maura joined ABC's General Hospital, she had a newly created character to introduce to the storyline. She has been appreciated by viewers and critics for her representation of Ava Jerome. Maura's other work includes one episode of A Baby Story in 2000 and her 2014 movie, Come Back to Me.

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General Hospital: Ava Jerome's journey in the soap so far

Ava Jerome was introduced on General Hospital as the daughter of mobster Victor Jerome and his mistress Delia. She had two siblings, Julian and Olivia. In 2013, Ava arrived in Port Charles with her daughter Kiki and demanded shares of ELQ, claiming Franco to be her daughter's father. However, it was later revealed that Dr. Silas Clay was Kiki's father.

When Kiki broke up with Morgan Corinthos, Ava started an affair with him. She and her brother tried to frame AJ Quartermaine in Connie's murder, even though the "AJ" next to the body meant Ava Jerome. Sonny saved her from AJ while shooting him, and the duo had a secret affair. However, despite learning that she was Connie's murderer, Sonny could not kill a pregnant Ava.

Ava had too many enemies on General Hospital. While Nina kidnapped her newborn baby, Avery, Sonny wanted to get custody of the baby. Arrested for Connie's murder, Ava escaped but was presumed dead. However, Dr. Silas rescued her and treated her cancer.

Maura with her co-star Maurice on the sets of General Hospital (Image via Instagram/generalhospitalabc)

A cured Ava returned to General Hospital in disguise, pretending to be Denise. However, she was exposed. She then interfered with Morgan's medicines, causing him to die in a freak explosion. She also started a fire when confessing her crime to Sonny and Carly, leading to her own burns.

After the fire incident, her romantic relationship with priest Griffin Monroe pushed Ava to try to be a better person. Her involvement with Valentin Cassadine, Nikolas, and Jason Morgan at this time made it difficult for her to turn a new leaf. Also, she sought treatment from Dr. Kevin Collins, who was, in reality, the criminal Ryan Chamberlain.

After Ryan killed Kiki, a devastated Ava tried to seek revenge but could not interfere with the law. She later got caught in the Cassadine family feud and got pushed around by Valentin, Nikolas, and Spencer. She and Nikolas had a marriage of convenience, which soon turned into real love.

While she did not have a hand in Spencer and Esme's deaths, she contributed to spoiling Kristina and Blaze's reputations. As such, Ava made more enemies in Port Charles with Sonny and Alexis gunning for her while Nina is resentful. She also changed Sonny's medicines to exacerbate his condition.

Recently on General Hospital, after Kristina lost her baby due to falling off the ledge of her room, Cates forced Ava to blame Kristina. While Kristina was let go from her charges, Ava was rescued by Jason from Boyle's scheme to kill her. On the other hand, Cates was shot dead by Sonny.

Watch out for Maura West on General Hospital as she plays the crooked Ava in the upcoming episodes of the soap.