General Hospital star Genie Francis pens Anthony Geary tribute

General Hospital star Genie Francis has penned a heartbreaking tribute to her costar Anthony Geary after his shock death at age 78 on Sunday.

The actress played Laura to his Luke on the soap opera; they were the it couple on TV of their day.

On Monday she took to Facebook to express her grief.

The 63-year-old star said that she 'woke up and went into my husband's arms' after her life 'was flashing before me and I was afraid of death' in her sleep. 

She then received a phone call from General Hospital executive producer, Frank Valentini, telling her that Geary died.

'I immediately felt remorse, I hadn't spoken to him in years, but I felt his life end in my sleep last night, and with it a big part of me, and mine,' Francis wrote. 

'He was a powerhouse as an actor. Shoulder to shoulder with the greats. No star burned brighter than Tony Geary. He was one of a kind.'

She added, '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. He was the anti-hero, always so irreverent, but even the most conservative had to smile.'

She added that working with Geary was 'always exciting,' adding 'you never knew what might happen.'

'He spoiled me for leading men for the rest of my life,' she wrote. 'I am crushed, I will miss him terribly, but I was so lucky to be his partner. Somehow, somewhere, we are connected to each other because I felt him leave last night. Good night sweet prince, good night.'

Francis and Geary played 'supercouple' Luke and Laura Spencer. Their characters' 1981 wedding saw 30 million viewers.

He went on to earn a record eight Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series prior to his retirement.

Geary died on Sunday following complications from an operation three days prior, TV Insider reported. 

'It was a shock for me and our families and our friends,' Geary's husband, Claudio Gama, told the outlet in a statement. 

'For more than 30 years, Tony has been my friend, my companion, my husband.'

Geary was born in Coalville, Utah, in 1947 and raised by Mormon parents.

The actor won a scholarship to study theater at the University of Utah, then moved to Los Angeles in the 1960s for acting roles. 

In the early 1970s, Geary landed supporting roles on TV shows including All in the Family, The Partridge Family, Marcus Welby, MD and The Mod Squad.

In 1971, he played David Lockhart on the NBC soap Bright Promise before getting the part of George Curtis on The Young and the Restless.

The latter raped one of the show’s main heroines, Chris Brooks (Trish Stewart), in what was then a shocking storyline, according to The Soap Opera Encyclopedia.

He made his debut as Luke on General Hospital in 1978.

Geary was originally only supposed to be on the show for 13 weeks, but fans took to his character.

In a 1979 episode, Luke raped Laura during a drunken night in a very dramatic turn. The rape was made to come off as a forced seduction, taking place in a disco while Herb Alpert's song Rise played.

Some fans were disgusted but, in an odd twist, most viewers liked the two together and General Hospital writers worked on a love storyline.

It was controversial at the time as they became a couple. Their characters wed in 1981. Elizabeth Taylor was such a fan of the couple that she appeared in the wedding episode as character Helena Cassadine.

The nuptials landed the show 30 million viewers and the episode was called the 'wedding of the year.' It remains the highest-rated hour in American soap opera history. Luke and Laura became the power couple of the day. 

'I didn’t set out to be a sex symbol. I’ve always been the first to say I had a receding hairline, a weak chin, a sallow complexion. But if the public finds that attractive, who am I not to be a sex symbol?' he said to Soap Opera Digest.

Geary is survived by his husband, Gama, with whom he lived in Amsterdam alongside their cat.

He continued to work long after General Hospital.

The star appeared in Agony, Do You Know the Muffin Man?, The Disorderlies, You Can’t Hurry Love, Crack House, Weird Al Yankovic‘s UHF, Scorchers, Night of the Warrior and Carpool Guy. 

During his final interview in 2023, which was with Digest, the actor said he was happy with his career.

'Not being on the show after having been on it for 30-plus years, practically half my life, I have a feeling of satisfaction because I did it, I showed up, I did my work, I won some trophies, I enjoyed the people I worked with for the most part and I feel I got out in time,' Geary shared.

'I look back on it and it’s great and it gave me this wonderful life I have now, so I’m not going to complain. 

'I live in the city [Amsterdam] that I’ve always wanted to live in my whole life and I have somebody who loves me and I have a life now, that I didn’t have before, no matter how many fan letters or Emmys or how many pages of dialogue to learn. I didn’t have what I have now. So, everything happened at the right time, I guess.'