On Friday, February 20, General Hospital will pay tribute to the late Anthony Geary with a special episode honoring his iconic alter ego, Luke Spencer, the character who helped define the show for generations.
The episode features six fan favorites — Genie Francis (Laura Collins), Jane Elliot (Tracy Quartermaine), Maurice Benard (Sonny Corinthos), Laura Wright (Carly Spencer), Rebecca Herbst (Elizabeth Webber), and Alexa Havins (Lulu Spencer). At its emotional core is Lulu, who was comatose when Luke died in 2022 and never had the chance to grieve her father.
Disney/Christine Bartolucci
For Laura Wright, whose Carly is one of the last remaining Spencers on the canvas, participating in the tribute carried special weight. “I was beyond honored,” she says. “I was shocked and surprised and grateful, and I loved every second of the part that I got to play. This was not a planned episode — no one expected Tony to pass — so it was carefully put together. It is a show out of time, and it just felt so magical and special doing that. When we would put on the costume for that particular show, you could feel it was a different experience.”
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She adds that the episode reflects the emotional range that defined Geary’s performances. “It’s a love letter to the fans,” Wright previews. “You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, which was very Tony and very Luke. He could make you laugh, and then five minutes later, you’re sobbing in a scene. There are scenes with Lulu and Laura that are just so beautiful, and scenes with Tracy and Lulu at the bar that are as well. I got to have scenes with Genie that were special at Bobbie’s diner. And, of course, scenes with Maurice, and then everybody else. It was just amazing.”
The cast filmed the episode over several days, and despite the heaviness of the material, the mood on set wasn’t all somber. “There was a day when only three people had lines,” Wright shares. “And Jane and I kept getting in trouble for chit-chatting.”
Disney/Christine Bartolucci
Wright’s connection to Geary stretches back long before she shared scenes with him. A fan of GH and Luke and Laura growing up, she still vividly remembers her first time working opposite him. “I sat across from him at Kelly’s [diner], and he said, ‘Look, I like to juggle, tap dance, and sing all at the same time in a scene,’” Wright relays. “And I’m like, ‘Great, let’s go.’ And that’s what it was like working with Tony Geary. It was amazing.”
Her admiration for him only grew in 2006, when she judged the Daytime Emmys’ Lead Actor category. Seated in a room full of peers watching the top five submissions, Wright found herself riveted by Geary’s performance. “It was a scene where Tony was in the hospital with Lucky, who was played by Greg Vaughan, and he was in a coma, or something, and Luke was telling him to come back to him,” she recalls. “And it was so good that you were stopped in your tracks. It was eight minutes, and in those eight minutes, he had everyone with tears rolling down their face, and you were just in awe of this man. I remember leaving thinking, ‘They were all great, but Tony was incredible. Tony blew your mind.’ And that’s what it was like to work with him.”
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Reflecting on Geary’s legacy, Wright doesn’t hesitate. “He changed everything,” she declares. “Luke and Laura changed everything — it’s a package deal. You had Luke, a force larger than life, but it was his love for Laura that every woman swooned over. I think he changed the dynamic of what a leading man looks like. He didn’t have to be Prince Charming — he was a criminal, and he won the heart of General Hospital‘s sweetheart. So, I think he changed the game, and he raised the bar and changed the dynamics of what the acting looked like on daytime as well at that time.”
Ultimately, she believes episodes like this carry a responsibility that goes beyond the script. “I think it’s very important to honor these people who passed that the fans have been so dedicated to watching,” she notes. “I think they feel included when you do that, and they should feel included, because we’re only here because of them.”
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