The late Anthony Geary and his General Hospital costar Genie Francis had an enduring onscreen love that fans won’t soon forget.
Fans of the long-running soap were devastated by news of Geary’s death on December 14, 2025, at age 78. His husband, Claudio Gama, confirmed the reports. “It was a shock for me and our families and our friends,” Gama shared in a statement. “For more than 30 years, Tony has been my friend, my companion, my husband.”
Geary starred alongside Francis on General Hospital for several years. “No star burned brighter than Tony Geary. He was one of a kind. As an artist, he was filled with a passion for the truth, no matter how blunt, or even a little rude it might be, but always hilariously funny,” Francis said in her own statement. “He was the anti-hero, always so irreverent, but even the most conservative had to smile. Working with him was always exciting. You never knew what might happen.”
The dynamic between the two was special. Back in 1997, Francis told Soap Opera News, “I adore her. I adore her. I am so glad we never fell in love in real life because it could never be this good.”
Keep scrolling to read what Geary and Francis have said about starring as Luke and Laura together.
They Both Wanted to Move On
Anthony Geary and Genie Francis Maureen Donaldson/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Though fans were distraught after the pair left General Hospital in 1984, Francis told Soap Opera Digest in February 1994 that the change was necessary. “We went through so much together,” she said. “When we left, it was such a huge thing. Luke and Laura were so much bigger than Tony and Genie. Both of us really wanted to move on and forget about it. It’s sort of like people who were in the Vietnam War together. I’m sure they don’t meet for lunch once a week and chat about it. We wanted to move on. But it’s not because we don’t love each other – we do.”
They Decided to Return Together
As disappointing as it was when the pair left General Hospital, there was plenty of excitement when they were welcomed back in October 1993. In the same Soap Opera Digest interview, Francis revealed she wasn’t quite sure about the decision to come back.
“I didn’t know whether to do it,” she explained. “My agent would call me up and say, “This is going on too long. You have to decide.’ And I’d say, ‘OK, I’m going to call right now.’ I’d hang up the phone and my heart would pound in my chest and I would breathe into a paper bag and I would pick up the phone and I would dial Tony [Geary, who plays Luke]. Every time I was supposed to call ABC, I called Tony! And I would say, ‘Do you think we can do this? What do you think? Are you ready?’”
In an interview with the same outlet in February 1998, Geary revealed he only would have returned with Francis. “[I would] never have brought back Luke without Laura, because she defines him. His feelings, his life, are all about her. I had so closed the door on Luke that there was a point when I couldn’t even remember who he was. But when I sat down with Genie again, and looked at her and touched her and smelled her, it all came back. I can’t do it without her.”
The Actors Had a Real Love for Each Other
Though Francis experienced difficulty in terms of pay equality between herself and Geary, she told Soap Opera News in June 1997 that her costar wasn’t responsible for it. “There’s no tension between me and Tony whatsoever,” she explained. “Tony and I love each other very much, and Tony wants me to be treated just as well as he is. He doesn’t want the upper hand — that is not who he is. It’s not at all coming from him.”
They Shared ‘Extraordinary’ Moments
Anthony Geary and Genie Francis Vinnie Zuffante/Getty Images
In a July 1997 interview with Soap Opera Digest, Geary praised Francis’ work and their dynamic together.
“The last show on General Hospital on which the audience saw Luke and Laura together, Laura was pregnant. She told Luke about it. I’ll never forget doing that scene,” Francis said. “Genie had no children at the time, and it was the first time she ever said those words to a man. She was so incredible that day. So beautiful. I’ll never forget how excited she was. I got swept up in it and thought afterward: I’ll never forget that. Nobody will ever tell me they are going to have my baby, and if they ever do, I will never feel like that. But the feeling of the moment was extraordinary.”
Tony Geary Shared His Favorite Luke and Laura Scene
While speaking to Soap Opera News in June 1997, Geary revealed his favorite Luke and Laura scene:
“When Laura was kidnapped and gone for a year and Luke was getting on with his life. He became mayor of the town and the sort of man she had always wanted him to be. He was lonely and the ultimate in Port Charles respectability,” he began.
“The night of his inauguration, he’s all alone in the mayor’s mansion and walks out onto the balcony. I shudder just remembering the moment. It was a wonderful scene of a man who had reached a dream and finds it empty. Suddenly, Laura was on the lawn below, and he saw her and thought he was dreaming. He puts down his glass of champagne and the moment their eyes met, he felt, ‘Oh my God, my God! She’s alive, she’s alive!’ It was very touching because Genie and I were both fully in character,” Geary continued.
“Even after we rehearsed it, we stayed in character. We are profoundly close. Nothing means more to me on the set than to make Genie laugh when she looks troubled or to have her just touch my arm and say, ‘I know, honey,’” he also said. “It’s a marriage of creativity that’s 20 years old, so much unspoken material and love between us. I adore her. I adore her. I am so glad we never fell in love in real life because it could never be this good. I couldn’t be unfaithful to Laura with Genie–not that I ever had the opportunity, you understand. She is a very special woman. I once told Jonathan Jackson, ‘Date an actress, never marry one.’ That will take him farther than any acting lesson I could ever impart.”
The Spencer family is back! General Hospital star Genie Francis — known by daytime soap opera fans the world over as the legendary Laura Spencer — will make her return to television next week, Entertainment Weekly reports. The Daytime Emmy winner will be reunited with her onscreen son Lucky, played by Jonathan Jackson, for the […]
It Was OK to Separate Their Characters
Anthony Geary and Genie Francis Jesse Grant/Getty Images for NATAS
Luke and Laura separated and reunited several times throughout the actors’ time on the soap. In a 2016 interview with Fox News, Geary explained why it was OK for Luke and Laura to go their separate ways.
“The past is best left in the memory. Nothing stays the same except butterflies under glass. In drama, there has to be conflict and movement. There is nothing less interesting to me than the thought of a 65-year-old man making goo-goo eyes as he feeds his wife strawberries and they forever relive their glory days,” he said. “The [viewers] you speak of have always wanted Luke and Laura happy and growing old together like Ward and June Cleaver. They’re like a child who never got over his parents’ divorce and lives in perennial hope that mommy and daddy will get back together again. For a variety of reasons, that is not going to happen. The audience needs to let it go and find interest in tomorrow instead of yesterday.”
