SOAP ICON GONE General Hospital legend Anthony Geary dead at 78 leaving husband, family and friends in ‘shock’
The soap opera legend played the iconic role of Luke Spencer over the course of 40 years, which snagged him a record-shattering eight Daytime Emmy wins.
The award-winning actor died after complications from a scheduled operation he had three days prior, TV Insider first reported.
“It was a shock for me and our families and our friends. For more than 30 years, Tony has been my friend, my companion, my husband,” Anthony’s spouse, Claudio Gama, told the outlet.
At the time of his death, Anthony resided with Claudio in the Netherlands.
Anthony, who was born and raised in a small Utah coal-mining town and moved to Los Angeles in his early 20s with big dreams of making it in Hollywood.
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Through the LA social scene, he eventually met Gloria Monty, one of the executive producers of General Hospital.
She approached Anthony about appearing on the show, to which he reluctantly agreed and signed a 13-week contract.
“In my first meeting, I said to her, ‘I hate soap operas,’ and she said, ‘Honey, so do I, and we’re going to change all that,’” Anthony recalled of his chat with Gloria during a 2007 interview for the Television Academy Foundation.
And changed all of that they did, as those 13 weeks turned into nearly 40 years as Anthony made the role of Luke Spencer, a hitman with ties to the mob, a staple in soap opera history.
That casting cemented itself in TV history when Anthony was paired with Genie Francis’ character of Laura Webber.
The pair’s electric chemistry and provocative storylines propelled the show to record-breaking ratings during the 1980s.General Hospital abruptly cancels show for second time as unexpected schedule change could continue
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Luke and Laura’s TV wedding, which aired in 1981, drew an unprecedented 30 million viewers.
The episode marked the highest ratings ever in the history of daytime television.
GENERALLY SPEAKING
Anthony’s role as Luke made its General Hospital debut on November 20th, 1978.
When his initial contract expired, he signed another one that gave him six more months on the show.
Those months turned into years, and the years turned into decades, with Anthony maintaining his presence on the show throughout his entire career.
He eventually left the show in 2015 after appearing on 1,995 episodes.
In 2015, Anthony announced his retirement from Hollywood and revealed he was moving to Amsterdam with his husband.
“I’m excited to raise the curtain on act 3, to reinvent myself in my new home to pursue whatever opportunity there may be. It’s an exciting prospect to me,” he told Entertainment Weekly in 2015.
While he did return for one final episode of General Hospital in 2017, Anthony had stayed primarily out of the limelight in recent years.
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Anthony’s last episode of General Hospital also marks the final time he was credited with an on-screen role.
His resume also included a number of smaller roles in other projects, including Starsky and Hutch, Murder, She Wrote, and It Takes Two.
