Anthony Geary, the eight-time Emmy Award winner best known for playing antihero Luke Spencer on the long-running soap opera “General Hospital,” has died at 78.
Geary died on Sunday, Dec.14 according to TV Insider. Geary was born on May 29, 1947 in Coalville, Utah. Prior to landing his “General Hospital” role, he made his TV debut on the ABC drama “Room 222” in 1970, on which he starred as Tom Whalom. A year later, he nabbed his standout role in “Bright Promise” as the recurring character David Lockhart. And after that, he landed on “Young and the Restless” as George Curtis in 1973.
His big come-up in Hollywood came with his “General Hospital” casting in 1978. His time on the hit series lasted nearly 40 years before he officially retired in 2015. Along with starring as one of the lead characters, he also played Luke’s look-alike cousin Bill Eckert. He came back for a brief cameo in 2017. His career as Luke earned him eight Daytime Emmy awards for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series.
In a 2015 interview with TV Insider, the actor shared that he’d be leaving the soap, noting that he didn’t want to “die” on its set.
“I’m just weary of the grind and have been for 20 years,” says the Emmy winner, who has won eight trophies for playing Luke Spenser since 1978. “I really don’t want to die, collapsing in a heap, on that GH set one day. That wouldn’t be too poetic.”
Outside of “General Hospital,” Geary also starred in “All in the Family,” “The Mod Squad,” “Mannix,” “The Partridge Family” and more.
On Nov. 17, husband Claudio Gama posted a video on Instagram of Geary watching is former costar Genie Francis’ chat on Maurice Benard’s “State of Mind” podcast.
“Greetings and happy week to all from Amsterdam this evening only one post I showed Tony state of mind show from @mauricebenard latest you tube video series with guest Genie Francis and it really made Tony very happy he told me ‘those are two lovely and talented people great friends and I miss them,’” the post reads.
Geary is survived by Gamo. The two had no children.
