Anthony Geary, the award-winning actor who played Luke Spencer on the long-running soap opera General Hospital died on Monday at the age of 78.
Geary's husband, Claudio Gama, confirmed the actor's death to TV Insider, saying, "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.”
The 78-year-old died of complications during a medical procedure.
Who was Anthony Geary?
Born 29 May 1947 in Utah to working class parents, Geary moved to Los Angeles in the 1960s to pursue a career in acting.
The actor's first role was in an episode of Room 222. He went to play small parts in All in the Family, Dan August, and Mod Squad, among others in his early career.
Geary's breakthrough, however, came in 1978, when he was cast as Luke Spencer on ABC's soap opera General Hospital, initially for a 13-week story arc, portraying a hitman and a rapist (Luke Spencer) who falls in love with his victim (Laura Webber).
Soon, Geary became a regular in General Hospital, with the Luke and Laura pairing becoming a cultural sensation.
Spencer's romance with Laura Webber (played by Genie Francis), eventually led to an on-screen wedding that was watched by 30 million live viewers, as per Variety, with the 1981 installment still being the highest-rated soap opera episode in US TV history.
For this role alone, Geary was nominated for 17 Daytime Emmy awards. He ended up winning eight of them.
From 1978 to 2017, Geary stepped into the shoes of Luke Spencer in a whopping 1,997 episodes of General Hospital, having retired in 2015 and returning for a cameo two years later.
Geary never found the success of General Hospital in other roles he played in his career, he did star in ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic's film debut UHF (1989).
Despite his much-celebrated on screen relationship with Francis, Geary married Claudio Gama in February 1995, and the couple tied the knot in 2019.
The couple had been living in Amsterdam following Geary's retirement from General Hospital.
