Ava Jerome is a fictional character from General Hospital, an American soap opera on the ABC network. The role is portrayed by three-time Daytime Emmy Award winner Maura West, who made her first appearance on May 8, 2013. Ava is part of the Jerome crime family; she is the only daughter of Victor Jerome (Jack Axelrod) and Ryan's Hope's Delia Ryan (Ilene Kristen), and the younger half-sister of Evan Jerome, Olivia St. John (Tonja Walker) and Julian Jerome (Jason Culp, William deVry). Introduced by executive producer Frank Valentini and created by head writer Ron Carlivati, Ava is introduced as the ex-lover of Robert "Franco" Frank (James Franco, Roger Howarth), and mother of his presumed daughter Lauren Katherine "Kiki" Jerome (Kristen Alderson, Hayley Erin), the missing heiress to the Quartermaine family fortune. An art dealer by day, in July 2013, Ava is revealed to be the previously unmentioned youngest child of the infamous Jerome crime family, introduced to the series in the late 1980s. Ava's attempt to use her daughter's faked paternity to get power at ELQ Industries is a part of her scheme with big brother, Julian Jerome to reclaim their family's territory from resident mob boss, Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard). West's performance has been met with critical acclaim, winning her the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 2015.