Anthony Geary, who played Luke Spencer, dies at 78 — All about 'General Hospital' star's family, husband Claudio Gama

Following the death of beloved General Hospital star Anthony Geary, details are emerging about the actor's generally private family life.

Best known for playing Luke Spencer in the long-running ABC soap opera, Geary passed away at 78 following complications during a medical procedure.

Spencer's marriage with another character in the show Laura Webber (played by Genie Francis) in a 1981 instalment of the show garnered 30 million live viewers, making it the highest-rated soap opera in American TV history.

Anthony Geary childhood: Parents and sisters

Born in Coalville, Utah in 1947 as Tony Dean Geary, the future soap opera star was the son of contractor Russel Geary and homemaker Dana Anderson Geary, and had three sisters—Dana, DeAnn and Jana.

While Geary had described his childhood as being a loving one, he said that he felt like a loner at times, especially after deciding to not follow his father's footsteps and work in construction.

"I had a happy childhood, and my family was always close," Geary told PEOPLE in 1980, when he was close to the pinnacle of fame, courtesy General Hospital.

"But early on they realized I wasn't of this earth, that I wouldn't follow my father's lead... In school I was always an artistic loner,” he had said.

The aspiring actor got a theater scholarship for the University of Utah, and during his sophomore year, was cast in a play that took him to Los Angeles.

In the city of angels, Geary stayed back and eventually began his career as a television actor.

Anthony Geary marriage: Who is husband Claudio Gama?

For most of his adult life, Geary's closest family member was his husband Claudio Gama, as per reports, with the couple having enjoyed a three-decade long relationship.

Geary met Gama in the 1990s and married him in 2019, with the couple shifting to Amsterdam following Geary's retirement from General Hospital in 2015.

Although the two were largely private about their married life, posts by Gama on Instagram depict a happy couple.

Geary and Gama seemingly also have a pet cat by the name of Max, who has been with them for the last 16 years.

"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," Gama told TV Insider on the actor's death.

Anthony Geary's other 'family'

While the actor had a close support system throughout his childhood and adult life, he had also often referred to his General Hospital colleagues as family, particularly Genie Francis, with whom his on-screen romance blossomed.

Weeks before his death, Geary was seen on social media reacting to former co-star Francis' appearance on Maurice Benard's State of Mind podcast.

Gama, who shared the clip, wrote, that watching the two made the 78-year-old actor “very happy”.

The actor also told his husband then, "those are two lovely and talented people great friends and I miss them."

After news broke of Geary's passing, Francis said she was devastated.

"He spoiled me for leading men for the rest of my life. 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," wrote Francis, bidding farewell to her General Hospital co-star.