Last Updated:December 16, 2025, 04:12 IST

General Hospital icon Anthony Geary, who played Luke Spencer for decades and won eight Daytime Emmys, has died at 78 following complications from surgery.

Anthony Geary died at 78 following complications from surgery.

Anthony Geary, the legendary actor best known for portraying Luke Spencer on General Hospital, has died at the age of 78. The actor passed away on Sunday, December 14, following complications from an operation he underwent three days earlier, TV Insider reported.

Confirming the news, Geary’s husband, Claudio Gama, paid a heartfelt tribute to the late actor in a statement. “It was a shock for me and our families and our friends,” Gama said. “For more than 30 years, Tony has been my friend, my companion, my husband.”

Geary’s death marks the end of an era in daytime television. His portrayal of Luke Spencer — a role he originated in 1978 — transformed General Hospital and elevated the soap opera genre to unprecedented cultural heights. Luke’s on-screen romance with Laura Webber, played by Genie Francis, became one of the most iconic love stories in television history.

Their 1981 wedding episode drew nearly 30 million viewers, making it the most-watched episode in soap opera history and cementing Luke and Laura as daytime television’s ultimate supercouple. Geary remained a cornerstone of General Hospital for decades before stepping away from the series in 2015.

Tributes pour in for the Emmy-winning actor

Following the announcement of his passing, tributes from the General Hospital family and the wider television community poured in. Executive producer Frank Valentini expressed the show’s collective grief in a statement shared with PEOPLE on Monday, December 15.

“The entire General Hospital family is heartbroken,” Valentini said. “Tony was a brilliant actor and set the bar that we continue to strive for. His legacy, and that of Luke Spencer’s, will live on through the generations of GH cast members who have followed in his footsteps.” He added, “We send our sincerest sympathies to his husband, Claudio, family, and friends. May he rest in peace.”

ABC Entertainment also honoured Geary’s lasting impact, noting that his performance as Luke Spencer “helped define General Hospital and daytime television.” The network highlighted his remarkable career, during which he earned a record eight Daytime Emmy Awards. “The 1981 Luke and Laura wedding was a landmark moment that drew tens of millions of viewers and became part of television history,” the statement read.

Born in Coalville, Utah, in 1947, Geary was named Tony at birth and later adopted the name Anthony in 1978. Reflecting on his upbringing, he once told PEOPLE in 1980, “I had a happy childhood, and my family was always close… In school I was always an artistic loner.”

Before becoming a soap opera legend, Geary built a diverse television résumé, appearing in shows such as All in the Family, Starsky & Hutch, The Streets of San Francisco, The Partridge Family, and The Young and the Restless. His work across genres ultimately led to a career that reshaped daytime television and left an indelible legacy.

Click here to add News18 as your preferred news source on Google.