General Hospital's Anthony Geary, Who Played Luke Spencer, Dead At 78

Anthony Geary, who played Luke Spencer on the ABC soap opera "General Hospital" on and off for nearly 40 years, has died at the age of 78.

According to TV Insider, which broke the news, Geary died on December 14 as the result of complications from an operation three days prior.

"It was a shock for me and our families and our friends," said Geary's husband, Claudio Gama, in a statement to the publication. "For more than 30 years, Tony has been my friend, my companion, my husband." (TVLine has reached out to Geary's representative for comment.) 

"General Hospital" executive producer Frank Valentini also released the following statement: "The entire 'General Hospital' family is heartbroken over the news of Tony Geary's passing. 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. We send our sincerest sympathies to his husband, Claudio, family, and friends. May he rest in peace."

A native of Coalville, Utah, Geary was making the rounds in primetime, guest-starring on everything from "Marcus Welby, M.D." to "The Mod Squad," when daytime beckoned. Following short runs on "Bright Promise" and "The Young and the Restless," he was asked to audition for "General Hospital." He didn't get the part, but executive producer Gloria Monty, with whom he'd worked on "Bright Promise," offered to create a new role for him, that of Bobbie Spencer's troublemaking brother.

The gig was only supposed to last 13 weeks but, owing to the newcomer's popularity, kept being extended to the point that it spanned decades. Even after Luke sexually assaulted Laura Baldwin, the object of his obsession, viewers refused to let go. Geary went on to win a record-setting eight Daytime Emmys and, in the early 1990s, took for a spin another "General Hospital" character, Luke's lookalike cousin Bill Eckert.

"Our condolences are with our friends at 'General Hospital' on the passing of Anthony Geary, who won a record-breaking eight Emmys in the Lead Actor category," said Rachel Schwartz, head of the Daytime Emmys, in a statement on Monday. "As one-half of the power couple 'Luke and Laura,' their popularity brought daytime television into the zeitgeist and created one of the genre's most beloved super-couples. Our sympathies are with his family, colleagues, and loved ones."

The actor's longevity did not come easily, he told the Television Academy in 2007. "I don't go for this thinking that, 'Oh, it's just a soap opera.' I approach my work like it's important work," he said. Which often meant fighting to maintain Monty's original vision of Luke as an anarchic antihero. 

"I have fought with many writers and a couple of producers to hold onto that unique aspect to him, and I would encourage any actor playing a character in a serial for decades at a time to do the same," he added. "Otherwise, you disappear or become whatever emotional color is needed at the moment. I refused to be that for them."

Geary retired in 2015 but returned to Port Charles two years later for a cameo, to reunite Luke with wife Tracy Quartermaine on the occasion of Jane Elliot's retirement. (She has since un-retired.) Outside of daytime, the soap legend's credits included Weird Al Yankovic's "UHF" and the Fat Boys comedy "Disorderlies."

How will you remember Geary? Drop a comment with your most vivid memory of his work.