Anthony Geary

In the two-hour solo portion of his interview, Anthony Geary describes his early interest in movies and his acting ambitions. He talks about his move to Los Angeles, appearing with Jack Albertson in The Subject Was Roses on stage. He describes his work in two soap operas, Bright Promise and The Young and the Restless. He mentions his primetime appearances in the 1970s on such series as All in the Family and The Streets of San Francisco (in particular one Streets episode on which he played a heroin addict). He speaks about his approach to acting and how he learned the craft. He recounts his casting in his most well-known role, as "Luke Spencer" on the daytime serial General Hospital and his work with ingénue Genie Francis, who played "Laura." Geary gives his impressions of producer Gloria Monty and credits her with changing the face of soap operas. He talks about Monty's unconventional approach to producing General Hospital and cites as an example Monty's decision to shoot a scene between Genie Francis and him entirely improvised: a nine-minute sequence that led to his first Emmy award win. He looks back on the character of "Luke," how he was originally conceived, and his backstory. Throughout the interview, Geary discusses frankly his continuous struggle to keep the integrity of his character and avoid the pitfalls of clichéd writing. He talks about General Hospital storylines, working with his fellow actors, and fan reaction to "Luke." He speaks about playing a different character (a cousin of "Luke") in the early 1990s on General Hospital and how that character was killed off, dying in the arms of "Luke Spencer," thereby completing the transition for another return of Geary as "Luke." He fondly recalls meeting screen idol Bette Davis and the thrill it was to hear her say that she knew his work.

In the half-hour joint portion of their interview, Anthony Geary and Genie Francis discuss acting together as "Luke" and "Laura" on General Hospital. They also talk about the fan reaction to their appearance at ABC's Super Soap Weekend in 2006. Barrie Nedler conducted the interviews on June 14, 2007 in Beverly Hills, CA.