Ahead of General Hospital’s Luke Memorial, Genie Francis Reveals Her Theory That ‘They’re Setting the Stage for a Wonderful Comeback’ for Anthony Geary

Credit: ABC; Everett

Everyone knows, when it comes to soaps, goodbyes don’t always mean forever.

General Hospital fans won’t want to miss today’s Friday, January 21, episode as family and friends gather at the Haunted Star for a memorial in honor of Luke Spencer. ABC7’s George Pennacchio, who also happens to be a soap fan, visited the set to talk about the big event and the iconic character behind it all.

“I just have a hard time believing in my heart that the great Luke Spencer died in an accident,” Genie Francis (Laura) shared — and she wasn’t the only castmate to express that belief. Tristan Rogers (Robert) and Finola Hughes (Anna) recalled that their characters both came back after having been declared dead. “No one stays dead on a soap,” Francis also stated. “I don’t know how many times I’ve been dead!”

More: First-look photo from Luke’s memorial

While discussing how the writers killed Luke off in a cable car accident in Austria, and the upcoming memorial ahead, Hughes made it clear that she really wants there to be “some kind of mystery as to how this happened.” With Rogers and Kristina Wagner (Felicia) by her side, she suggested, “If we can go and investigate that, all of us, that would be perfect.” Rogers and Wagner agreed and reminded viewers that “there’s a lot of power in death on a soap opera.”

Castmate Jacklyn Zeman (Bobbie) and Lisa LoCicero (Olivia) discussed details from Luke’s memorial, to which LoCicero stated, “I know how to cry for fake but it makes you want to cry for real.” Then Hughes chimed in with a tease, “Here’s the thing that you have to know… All weddings and all funerals are interrupted by something.”

So, what’s the big interruption in question? We can tell you that no one is pleased to see Victor crash the event but you have to watch the video to hear the sinister words he leaves Luke’s followers with. “I feel like they’re setting the stage really, for a wonderful comeback,” Francis admitted.

More: General Hospital alum has a ‘killer’ night ahead

View the full interview below, which includes a few sneak peeks from Luke’s service, then let us know in the comments what you think really happened to Luke — or if you believe, after years of being involved in one dangerous situation after another, he finally met his fate.

After checking out the surprising way Luke might still live on in a whole new character, join us as we walk back through time with a look at his adventures and misadventures over the years in our photo gallery below.

Video: ABC7

GENERAL HOSPITAL, Anthony Geary, Jackie Zeman, (1979), 1963-, © ABC / Courtesy: Everett Collection

GENERAL HOSPITAL, from left: Genie Francis, Anthony Geary, (1980), 1963- , ph: Curt Gunther/TV Guide/©ABC /Courtesy Everett Collection

GENERAL HOSPITAL, from left: Anthony Geary, Genie Francis, (1980), 1963- , ph: Curt Gunther/TV Guide/©ABC /Courtesy Everett Collection

GENERAL HOSPITAL, from left: Anthony Geary, Elizabeth Taylor, (1993), 1963- , ph: Craig Sjodin/©ABC /Courtesy Everett Collection

GENERAL HOSPITAL, 1963-present, Genie Francis, Anthony Geary, in the wedding episode, 11/16-17/81

GENERAL HOSPITAL, Janine Turner, Demi Moore, 1963-present, photo c. 1982

GENERAL HOSPITAL, luke holly (from left): Emma Samms, Anthony Geary, (mid-1980s), 1963-. © ABC / Courtesy Everett Collection

GENERAL HOSPITAL, robert scorpio luke Tristan Rogers, Anthony Geary, (ca. early 1980s), 1963-. © ABC/ Courtesy: Everett Collection.

GENERAL HOSPITAL, from left: Anthony Geary, Carol Lawrence, (1991), 1963- , ph: Craig Sjodin/©ABC /Courtesy Everett Collection

GENERAL HOSPITAL, from left: Genie Francis, Jonathan Jackson, Anthony Geary, 1995, 1963- . ph: Craig Sjodin /© ABC /Courtesy Everett Collection

GENERAL HOSPITAL, from left: Genie Francis, Anthony Geary, (1995), 1963- , ph: Cathy Blaivas/©ABC /Courtesy Everett Collection

Anthony Geary, Julie Berman "General Hospital" hw luke lulu

Anthony Geary, Jonathan Jackson "General Hospital" Set The Prospect Studios ABC Studios Los Angeles 03/02/11 ©Howard Wise/jpistudios.com 310-657-9661 Episode # 12271 U.S.Airdate 03/28/11

Finola Hughes, Anthony Geary gh anna luke ps

Nathan Parsons, Anthony Geary "General Hospital" Set The Prospect Studios ABC Studios 05/22/15 © Sean Smith/jpistudios.com 310-657-9661 Episode # 13340 U.S. Airdate 07/03/15

Jane Elliot, Anthony Geary "General Hospital" Set The Prospect Studios ABC Studios Los Angeles 11/30/10 ©Howard Wise/jpistudios.com 310-657-9661 Episode # 12210 U.S.Airdate 12/27/10

Anthony Geary general hospital fluke hannibal lecter mask

Jane Elliot, Anthony Geary"General Hospital" SetThe Prospect StudiosABC Studios03/29/17© XJJohnson/jpistudios.com310-657-9661Episode # 13799U.S. Airdate 05/04/17

GENERAL HOSPITAL CAMERON MATHISON drew gh gallery

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Ahead of General Hospital’s Luke Memorial, Genie Francis Reveals Her Theory That ‘They’re Setting the Stage for a Wonderful Comeback’ for Anthony Geary

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<p>When first we met Luke, the rapscallion was enlisted by scheming sis Bobbie to help break up her crush Scotty and his future wife Laura. Luke nailed it… but in the worst way possible.</p>

<p>Though Luke became so obsessed with Laura that he forced himself on her at the Campus Disco, she couldn’t stay away from him. Whether he was grabbing her arm became irrelevant.</p>

<p>On the run with Luke, Laura helped him stop the villainous Mikkos Cassadine from freezing Port Charles and the world. Of course, as if to prove that no good deed goes unpunished…</p>

<p>Mikkos’ widow Helena (yes, <em>the</em> Elizabeth Taylor back then) not only messed with Luke’s jacket, she placed a curse on him and Laura that didn’t require [bleeping] but also didn’t bode well for their future.</p>

<p>Despite the Helena-shaped shadow looming over them, in the most-watched wedding in daytime history, Laura made an honest man of Luke. Well, as honest a man as ever he was gonna be!</p>

<p>After budding supermodel Laura vanished off the docks of Port Charles, <em>General Hospital</em> floated the idea of pairing him with reporter Jackie (then Demi Moore) and/or her sister, a spare Laura. “Pass,” said Luke. “Same,” said viewers.</p>

<p>“Widower” Luke ultimately rebounded in a big way with impish con artist Holly Sutton… only to “die” himself in a game-changing avalanche. Dumb, stupid snow.</p>

<p>When Luke thawed out, he discovered that BFF Robert had married Holly. You know, to help the Englishwoman stay in the country and all. It was cool, though, ’cause it turned out that Laura was no more dead than Luke was. Nobody in Port Charles dies — ever!</p>

<p>After Luke and Laura left Port Charles, theoretically to enjoy their overdue happily ever after, Anthony Geary returned to the soap in 1991 as his former character’s lookalike cousin, Bill Eckert (opposite Carol Lawrence as mom Angela).</p>

<p>Upon Bill’s death, <em>General Hospital</em> picked up with Luke’s life, which at that point included not only wife Laura and son Lucky but little Lulu.</p>

<p>Returning to Port Charles was not as relaxing as the Spencers might have hoped (or as peaceful as this photo might suggest). Their marriage was rocked by the revelation that Laura had given birth to Stavros’ son — hi, Nikolas — while being held prisoner by the Cassadines.</p>

<p>Luke had to work hard to establish — and maintain! — a relationship with daughter Lulu (then Julie Marie Berman). The future reporter was nobody’s fool, not even her dad’s.</p>

<p>Luke’s connection with Lucky was unbreakable. Though the elder Spencer sure put that theorem to the test! Running over Lucky’s sorta-son Jake was harder for Luke to come back from than Jake’s return trip from the dead…</p>

<p>Adrift without Laura, Luke gravitated toward such attractive prospects as nouveau Quartermaine Skye Chandler and the one and only Anna Devane.</p>

<p>Luke finally got an actual chip off the ol’ block in con artist Ethan, his “Wait, where did <em>you</em> come from?” son with Holly.</p>

<p>There was actually nothing whatsoever about the “courtship” of Luke and rich bitch Tracy Quartermaine that was sleepy. But in one another, they seemed to find a kind of peace.</p>

<p>Repressed memories of his parents’ deaths turned Luke into someone we hardly recognized. And that was before folks caught on and decided it was best that he enter the asylum’s costume contest in Hannibal Lecter drag.</p>

<p>In Geary’s final <em>General Hospital</em> appearance, he reunited Luke with Tracy, in so doing, allowing us to believe that they lived wackily ever after. Spoiler alert: They did not.</p>

<p>In the winter of 2022, Tracy returned to Port Charles to reveal that Luke had been killed in a cable car accident in Austria. More shocked than they look here, those who knew and loved him gathered to pay their respects. But was the deceased <em>really</em> a goner?</p>

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