General Hospital (GH) spoilers has some amazing news to pass on about a fan-favorite GH star. Genie Francis, who portrays Laura Collins on the ABC soap, has just celebrated an important anniversary. It was 43 years ago that she made her debut on General Hospital – back on February 8, 1977.
But Genie Francis was not the first actress to play the role of Laura. Stacey Baldwin played the role from 1974-1976, then the character was written off the show.
Genie then assumed the role in 1977 and was a rebellious teen character. She was paired with Scott Baldwin (Kin Shriner) and Luke Spencer (Anthony Geary), and of course the Luke and Laura pairing was amazingly popular, and they became a lasting soap super couple.
Laura has battled many demons and tribulations over the years, but her life now seems to be on a more even keel…sort of. She’s just had her son Nikolas Cassadine (Marcus Coloma) reappear after being believed to be dead, and she was shot on the pier as collateral damage in the mob turf war.
But for the most part, Laura enjoys a relatively quiet life with hubby Kevin Collins (Jon Lindstrom) – at least when Ryan Chamberlain (Jon Lindstrom) hasn’t taken his bro’s place!
Fans have been reacting to the news about Genie’s big anniversary on social media with well-wishes and congratulations. One person tweeted: “Happy anniversary, Genie. Been watching you for years. Remember when my Mom introduced me to GH years ago and showed me your character. Fell in love with Laura instantly even though I was very young.”
And another fan said: “Lucky us, she is a rock star. I have loved her since her first scene.” Finally, someone commented: “I’ve been watching all that time…congratulations, and thanks for all the great stories and adventures @geniefrancis. Here’s to many, many more!”
Of course, one of most iconic Genie Francis moments on General Hospital was her November 16, 1981 wedding to Luke Spencer. The wedding was watched by approximately 30 million viewers and is still said to be the highest-rated episode in soap history.
That, in addition to their 1980 summer on the run, were major soap stories, and their pairing remains popular today.
Even though Luke and Laura are obviously no longer together, their pairing goes down in soap lore as one of the top soap couples ever. In fact, they just appeared on the cover of the most recent Soap Opera Digest as one of the greatest soap couples of all time. One wonders if they’ll ever reunite on screen again.
We wish Genie Francis all the best on this special anniversary! Stay tuned to the ABC soap and don’t forget to check CDL often for the latest General