Anthony Geary, the actor who defined soap opera stardom as Luke Spencer on “General Hospital,” has died. He was 78.
Geary died Sunday from complications following an operation he underwent in his adopted hometown of Amsterdam, his husband, Claudio Gama, told TV Insider.
On “General Hospital,” Geary became a soap superstar as half of the genre’s defining supercouple, Luke and Laura. His pairing with Genie Francis’ Laura Spencer was credited with saving “General Hospital” from cancellation and igniting a soap opera boom in the 1980s.
The 1981 episode in which the two characters were wed drew 30 million viewers, which remains a daytime television record. Hollywood superstar Elizabeth Taylor, herself a huge “GH” fan, asked for and received a cameo in the episode.
“This show has been a huge part of my life for over half my life, and Luke Spencer is my alter ego,” Geary told TV Line when he finally left “GH” for good in 2015 and retired. “I really don’t want to die, collapsing in a heap, on that ‘GH’ set one day. That wouldn’t be too poetic.”
Born May 29, 1947, in the small town of Coalville, Utah, Geary dreamed of being a movie star from an early age. His big break came in college at the University of Utah, which he attended on a theater scholarship.
While starring with Jack Albertson in a collegiate production, Geary made such an impression on Albertson that the Tony winner brought him on tour. That led Geary to Los Angeles, where he began his career picking up guest roles in various TV shows, including “All in the Family” and “Starsky & Hutch.”
Geary’s first soap opera appearance actually came in 1971 on “Bright Promise,” and he made a brief appearance two years later on “The Young and the Restless.” But his life changed in 1978, when he debuted as Luke on “GH.”
Initially, Geary signed up for a simple 13-episode character arc. By the time he was done on “GH,” he’d appeared in more than 1,900 episodes and earned eight Daytime Emmy awards.
“I didn’t really see the character as lasting this long. I read a really exciting story that had a lot of acting potential and dramatic impact,” Geary told Entertainment Weekly in 2008. “When I read it back in those days, I wasn’t looking for a career in soaps. I was trying to do the job as best I could, day to day.”
Luke and Laura won hearts across America despite the couple’s horrifying start, in which a drunken Luke rapes Laura at a club he owns but she falls in love with him anyway.
“I’ve had to justify it for so many years,” Geary told People magazine in 2020. “And I have to say, it feels good to sit here and say I won’t justify it. It’s awful. They shouldn’t have done it.”
But within three years, “GH” was drawing 30 million viewers to watch the duo get married. Despite the massive commercial success, Geary developed a love-hate relationship with the character and the show. His attempts to break out into other shows and movies were foiled in part due to his success — everyone just recognized him as Luke Spencer.
“I’ve come to terms with it. I did resent it in my 30s, early 40s,” he told EW. “When you look at an actor who’s been able to have a secure job for 30 years, that’s such a blessing in this business.”
Like many soap stars, Geary left and returned to “GH” several times, finally departing for good in 2015, while the character was killed off off-screen in 2022.
“It was once very difficult for me to realize that more than likely my obituary in the paper will read, ‘Luke of Luke and Laura fame died today,’” he said in 2015. “It was very upsetting when I came to that realization.”
But Geary also acknowledged all the benefits that came with being a star, including the ability to make contract demands that allowed him to live part-time in Los Angeles and part-time in Amsterdam. He met Gama in the 1990s, and they married in 2019.
“You balance that with what it has given me,” Geary said in 2008. “In the end it’s been well worth it.”