Anthony Geary

Anthony Geary (born May 29, 1947) is a retired American actor.^[2] Geary is best known for playing the role of Luke Spencer on the ABC daytime drama General Hospital. He originated the role of Luke in 1978, and went on to earn a record eight Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series^[3][4] prior to his retirement.^[5]

Anthony Geary
Geary in 2013
Born	(1947-05-29) May 29, 1947 (age 77) Coalville, Utah, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1970–2017, 2022
Height	6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Spouse	Claudio Gama (m.2020)
Relatives	Brendan Steele (nephew)[1]

In addition to his role as Luke, Geary had a prominent supporting role in the "Weird Al" Yankovic comedy UHF (1989); other notable films include Johnny Got His Gun (1971), Disorderlies (1987), Scorchers (1991), Teacher's Pet (2004) and Fish Tank (2009).

Early life

Anthony Geary was born May 29, 1947, in Coalville, Utah, a son of a contractor father and homemaker mother.^[6] He was raised a Mormon.^[7]

Personal life

Geary married his longtime partner Claudio Gama in 2020. They have resided happily in Amsterdam, Netherlands since 2017. Geary does not have any children. In a comment about the Hollywood divorce rate, Geary once said that he is able to focus on himself because he doesn't have children.

Career

Geary made his first appearance on television in an episode of Room 222 and later appeared in All in the Family, The Mod Squad, Mannix, Marcus Welby, M.D., The Streets of San Francisco, and Barnaby Jones.

Geary's first daytime role was on the NBC soap opera Bright Promise from 1971 to 1972.^[8] He also played rapist George Curtis on The Young and the Restless from August to November 1973.

In 1978, Geary was hired for a 13-week story arc to play Luke Spencer on the ABC soap opera General Hospital. Luke Spencer began as a hit man and rapist who fell in love with - and subsequently married - his victim, Laura Webber (played by Genie Francis). His portrayal of Luke Spencer on General Hospital became a contract role, and the pairing Luke and Laura became a sensation. The 1981 on-screen wedding of Luke and Laura holds the record as the highest-rated soap opera episode of all time.^[9]

Geary holds the distinction of winning a record eight Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. He was first nominated in 1980, and had his first win in 1982.^[10][11] Geary was nominated again in 1983, before leaving the show in 1984.

Over the next several years, Geary took roles in various theater and television productions, as well as in several films, but did not reach his desired level of success in those endeavors. Despite the popularity of his work as Luke Spencer, filmmakers such as Oliver Stone pigeonholed Geary based solely on the fact that he was a "soap actor". In a conscious effort to distance himself from General Hospital, he actively sought a role in "Weird Al" Yankovic's film debut UHF (1989), that of the quietly eccentric scientist Philo (named for television pioneer Philo Farnsworth). Geary, a fan of Yankovic, went so far as to grow his hair out like Albert Einstein's and stay in character as Philo when meeting the film's casting team; he immediately landed the role.^[12]

Anthony Geary holding his 8th Daytime Emmy next to General Hospital Online creator May Lee, April 26, 2015

In 1991, Geary returned to General Hospital as Luke's cousin and look-alike Bill Eckert; Geary expressed a desire to play a different character than Luke.^[9] However, due to poor feedback from the viewing public, Bill Eckert was killed off, and Geary resumed the role of Luke in 1993, when Genie Francis returned to General Hospital.^[9]

He was nominated in 1997 and 1998 for Daytime Emmys for Outstanding Lead Actor, and had his second win in 1999,^[10] and his third in 2000. He received another nomination in 2003, and had his fourth win in 2004.^[13] When Geary won for the fifth time in 2006,^[11][13] he set the record for the most lead actor wins.^[9] Geary received another Emmy nomination in 2007, and in 2008, he again set a record for most lead actor wins with his sixth^[14] Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor.^[15]

Geary set a record in 2012 with his seventh Daytime Emmy win and again in 2015 for his eighth win for Outstanding Leading Actor in a Drama Series after 16 nominations for the same role of General Hospital's Luke Spencer. Geary publicly announced on Friday, May 8, 2015, that he would be leaving his role on General Hospital. ^{[citation needed]} Geary finished taping his last scenes on the General Hospital set on June 23, 2015.^{[citation needed]} His last air date was July 27, 2015.^{[citation needed]} He later made a cameo appearance on a May 2017 episode to facilitate the retirement of co-star Jane Elliot, who played Luke's former on-screen wife Tracy Quartermaine.^[16][17]

The comedy movie UHF was an exception to Geary's dramatic roles. He also appeared in 1987's Disorderlies, with rappers the Fat Boys, and has appeared in more than 50 stage plays, including an award-winning one-man show titled Human Scratchings in 1996.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1970	Room 222	Tom Whalom	Episode: "Choose One & They Lived Happily/Unhappily Ever After"
1971	All in the Family	Roger	Episode: "Judging Books by Covers"
1971	Johnny Got His Gun	Redhead
1971–1972	Bright Promise	David Lockhart	Soap opera
1972	Blood Sabbath	David
1972	The Mod Squad	Johnson	Episode: "Good Times Are Just Memories"
1972	The Partridge Family	Greg Houser	Episode: "Ain't Loveth Grand?"
1973	Mannix	Eddie Decken	Episode: "A Way to Dusty Death"
1973	Shaft	David Oliver	Episode: "Hit and Run"
1973	The Young and the Restless	George Curtis	Soap opera
1974	Doc Elliot	Dennis Graham	Episode: "The Carrier"
1974	Sorority Kill	Tony
1971–1975	Marcus Welby, M.D.	John Gavanelli	2 episodes
1974–1976	The Streets of San Francisco	Gary Jelinek / Cajun / Joe Markham	4 episodes
1975	The Wide World of Mystery	Dennis	Episode: "Distant Early Warning"
1976–1977	Barnaby Jones	Deputy Blake Jeffries / Nelson Mosley / Wilson	3 episodes
1977	Most Wanted	Chops	Episode: "The Driver"
1978	The Return of Captain Nemo	Bork
1978	Project U.F.O. TV Series	Darryl Biggs	Episode: "Sighting 4010: The Waterford Incident"
1978	Starsky & Hutch	Delano	Episode: "The Trap"
1978	The Six Million Dollar Man	Arta	Episode: "The Lost Island"
1978–1984 1993–2015 2017	General Hospital	Luke Spencer
1983	Shaft of Love	Doug Hathaway
1983	Intimate Agony	Dr. Kyle Richards
1984	Antony and Cleopatra	Octavius Caesar
1984	Sins of the Past	Lt. Malovich
1984	The Impostor	Cade
1985	Kicks	Martin Cheevers
1985	Hotel	Eli Gilmour / Phil Tanner	2 episodes
1986	You Are The Jury	Sam Billings	Episode: "The State of Ohio vs. James Wolsky"
1987	P.I. Private Investigations	Larry
1987	Disorderlies	Winslow Lowry
1987	Penitentiary III	Serenghetti
1987	Perry Mason: The Case of the Murdered Madam	Steve Reynolds
1988	You Can't Hurry Love	Tony
1988	Pass the Ammo	Stonewall
1988	It Takes Two	Wheel
1988	Dangerous Love	Mickey
1989	UHF	Philo
1989	Night Life	John Devlin
1989	Do You Know the Muffin Man?	Stephen Pugliotti
1989	High Desert Kill	Dr. Jim Cole
1989	Crack House	Dockett
1989–1990	Murder, She Wrote	Eric Grant / KGB Lt. Fyodor Alexandrov	2 episodes
1990	Sunset Beat	Uncredited Role	Made For TV Movie
1990	Sunset Beat	Uncredited Role	Episode: "One Down, Four Up" (TV Series)
1991–1993	General Hospital	Bill Eckert	Soap opera
1991	Night of the Warrior	Lynch
1991	Scorchers	Preacher
1993	Whistlestop Girl	Andy
1994	Roseanne	Luke Spencer	Episode: "Suck Up or Shut Up"
1995	Burke's Law	Clayton Cole	Episode: "Who Killed the Centerfold?"
1998	Port Charles	Luke Spencer
2004	Teacher's Pet	John / Juan	Voice
2005	Carpool Guy	Carpool Guy
2008	General Hospital: Night Shift	Luke Spencer	Episode: "Past and Presence", (Part One & Part Two)
2009	Fish Tank	Van Man
2013	Alice and the Monster	George

Awards and nominations

List of acting awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Title	Result	Ref.
1980	Soapy Award	Best Actor	General Hospital	Won	[18]
1981	Daytime Emmy Award	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series	General Hospital	Nominated	[19]
1981	Soapy Award	Best Actor	General Hospital	Won	[18]
1982	Daytime Emmy Award	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series	General Hospital	Won	[20]
1982	Soapy Awards	Best Actor	General Hospital	Won	[18]
1983	Daytime Emmy Award	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series	General Hospital	Nominated	[21]
1993	Soap Opera Digest Award	Outstanding Lead Actor	General Hospital	Nominated
1994	Soap Opera Digest Award	Outstanding Lead Actor	General Hospital	Nominated
1997	Daytime Emmy Award	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series	General Hospital	Nominated	[22]
1998	Daytime Emmy Award	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series	General Hospital	Nominated	[23]
1999	Daytime Emmy Award	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series	General Hospital	Won	[24]
1999	Soap Opera Digest Award	Outstanding Lead Actor	General Hospital	Won	[25]
2000	Daytime Emmy Award	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series	General Hospital	Won	[26]
2000	Soap Opera Digest Award	Outstanding Lead Actor	General Hospital	Won	[27]
2003	Daytime Emmy Award	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series	General Hospital	Nominated	[28]
2004	Daytime Emmy Award	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series	General Hospital	Won	[29]
2006	Daytime Emmy Award	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series	General Hospital	Won	[30]
2006	TV Land Award	Most Wonderful Wedding (shared with Genie Francis)	General Hospital	Nominated
2007	Daytime Emmy Award	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series	General Hospital	Nominated	[31]
2008	Daytime Emmy Award	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series	General Hospital	Won	[32]
2009	Daytime Emmy Award	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series	General Hospital	Nominated	[33]
2012	Daytime Emmy Award	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series	General Hospital	Won	[34]
2015	Daytime Emmy Award	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series	General Hospital	Won	[35]
2016	Daytime Emmy Award	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series	General Hospital	Nominated	[36]