Anthony Geary, who played Luke Spencer on General Hospital, has died at the age of 78.
His husband, Claudio Gama, told TV Insider that Geary died on Sunday in the Netherlands following complications from an operation three days prior.
“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 said.
Geary began his soap opera career with roles on The Young and the Restless and Bright Promise before joining General Hospital in 1978 as Luke Spencer on and off for nearly 40 years.
He left the show in 1984 before returning in 1991, but playing a similar-looking cousin of Luke instead. The audience didn’t like that, according to executive producer Frank Valentini, so the cousin was dropped and Geary returned once again as Luke in 1993. Geary left the show in 2015.
Geary holds the record for the most Daytime Emmy wins for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his work as Luke, with eight wins in total.
Geary told TV Insider in 2015 that he had been tired of the monotony in his career for 20 years.
“There was a moment, after my spinal surgery last year, when it became clear to me that my time wasn’t infinite,” he said. “And I really don’t want to die one of these days on the set of General Hospital.”
Genie Francis, who played Geary’s longtime partner on General Hospital, reacted to the news of his death on social media.
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“This morning I woke up and went into my husband’s arms. In my sleep, my life was flashing before me and I was afraid of death,” Francis, 63, wrote. “An hour later, I received a call from Frank Valentini, he told me Tony 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,” she continued. “He was a powerhouse as an actor. Shoulder to shoulder with the greats. No star burned brighter than Tony Geary.”
Francis said the actor was “one of a kind.”
“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,” she wrote. “He was the anti-hero, always so irreverent, but even the most conservative had to smile. Working with him was always exciting.”
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Francis said she is “crushed” by the news and she will miss him terribly.
“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,” she added.
General Hospital executive producer Frank Valentini said the “entire General Hospital family is heartbroken” over the news of Geary’s death.
“Tony was a brilliant actor and set the bar that we continue to strive for,” Valentini said in a statement. “His legacy, and that of Luke Spencer’s, will live on through the generations of GH cast members who have followed in his footsteps. We send our sincerest sympathies to his husband, Claudio, family, and friends. May he rest in peace.”
— with files from The Associated Press
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