Anthony “Tony” Geary, who played one of daytime TV’s most iconic characters, has died at age 78. The Daytime Emmy winner died Sunday from post-op complications in the Netherlands.
Tony became an overnight sensation as Luke Spencer on ABC’s “General Hospital” in the 1970s.
ABC didn’t have longterm plans for Luke Spencer who r*ped Laura Webber (played by Genie Francis) in 1978.
But public support for the couple was so strong that Luke Spencer and Laura Webber became a supercouple.
Luke and Laura became a nationwide phenomenon dominating soap headlines and gracing the cover of magazines on a weekly basis.
Luke and Laura’s 1981 wedding episode is still the highest-rated soap opera episode of all-time with over 30 million viewers.
Tony won a record 8 Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his role.
He returned to General Hospital in 1991 as Luke’s cousin and look-alike Bill Eckert. But fans disapproved of the character.
Bill Eckert was killed off, and Tony returned to General Hospital as Luke Spencer in 1993.
Tony shocked his female fans when he came out as gay. He met Claudio Gama in February 1995, and the couple married in February 2019. Tony and Claudio moved to the Netherlands after Tony’s retirement in 2015.
Claudio broke the news of Tony’s death on Monday, December 15.
“It was a shock for me and our families and our friends,” he told the “TV Insider” website. “For more than 30 years, Tony has been my friend, my companion, my husband.”
Watch the GH episode below.
