'General Hospital' star Genie Francis remembers late co-star Anthony Geary
"General Hospital" actress Genie Francis is remembering her late co-star Anthony Geary, who died Sunday at the age of 78. Francis and Geary famously starred as Laura and Luke Spencer in the long-running soap opera for 37 years.
"Tony was a very warm person, very sensitive person, and incredibly funny," Francis told ABC News. "I was very, very young and Tony was very protective of me. But we knew we were doing something very edgy."
"[Television producer] Gloria Monty always said that we were going to change the face of daytime," Francis continued. "And we were doing that. We were so excited. We didn't want to leave when we were released. We'd sometimes sit on the stage and just talk about what we had done."
Francis and Geary's portrayal of the iconic couple earned both Daytime Emmy Awards and in 1981, when their characters married, about 30 million Americans tuned in to watch the wedding on "General Hospital."
Geary opened up about his and Francis' chemistry and success together in an interview with "Good Morning America" back in 2013.
"There are all kinds of successes but ours was different in that it was truly lightning in a bottle," Geary said at the time. "It was the most unexpected place, a soap opera, which was about to be canceled, that took everyone's interest and swept the nation. It's a piece of history that I'm glad I took part in."
Actor Cameron Mathison, who is a current "General Hospital" cast member, said he admired Geary as a young actor and fondly recalled his idol.
"The Luke and Laura days ... they were huge. They were massive celebrities. They could barely walk outside," Mathison recalled. "He was just a very, very, very sweet man, very kind, very encouraging but also just had this confidence, this sort of essence about him that was pretty magical."
Francis, now 63, said she will miss her longtime partner.
"I'm just heartbroken. I'm so sad," said Francis. "But again, I am so lucky that I got to have this man as my first leading man. He ruined me. He ruined me for leading men for the rest of my life basically. Because I started with the best."
