Anthony Geary

Tony Dean Geary was born on 29 May 1947 in Coalville, Utah, to Russell Dean Geary and Dana (née Anderson) Geary. His father was a contractor who owned his own construction business, and his mother was a homemaker who worked as the bookkeeper for the family business. He was one of four children, growing up alongside his sisters Dana, Jeana and Jana.

Both of his parents were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and Geary was raised in the Mormon faith. In a 1984 interview with The San Diego Union-Tribune he credited that upbringing with giving him a "solid family base", while also saying he had felt a sense of repression stemming from its philosophies and prejudices.

Geary was one of 53 students who graduated from North Summit High School in Coalville. He then attended the University of Utah on a full theatre scholarship, studying acting and performing on stage before moving to Los Angeles in 1967.

After being discovered by Jack Albertson, Geary relocated to Los Angeles in 1967 and joined a touring company of The Subject Was Roses. He made his television debut in an episode of Room 222 and in 1971 played Roger in the All in the Family episode "Judging Books by Covers", a role that put him on screen with Rob Reiner and Carroll O'Connor. Guest roles followed on The Mod Squad, Mannix, Marcus Welby, M.D., The Streets of San Francisco, The Partridge Family, Barnaby Jones, Starsky and Hutch and The Six Million Dollar Man.

His first soap opera role was David Lockhart on NBC's Bright Promise from 1971 to 1972. He then played George Curtis on The Young and the Restless; after six months he was asked to re-sign so the character could be rehabilitated, but he declined in order to focus on films.

In 1978 General Hospital hired him for a 13 week arc as Luke Spencer. The role became permanent, and Luke's romance with Laura Webber (Genie Francis) turned "Luke and Laura" into a cultural phenomenon. Their 1981 wedding holds the record as the highest rated soap opera episode of all time, and it included a cameo by Elizabeth Taylor as Helena Cassadine. Geary won his first Daytime Emmy for the role in 1982 and left in 1983, briefly returning in 1984.

The following years brought theatre, television films and features, but Geary found filmmakers reluctant to take a soap actor seriously; Oliver Stone cast him in Salvador and then withdrew the offer when he learned of his General Hospital fame. To break the mould he pursued the role of Philo in "Weird Al" Yankovic's UHF (1989), arriving at the casting meeting in character with his hair grown out, and landed it on the spot. In 1991 he returned to General Hospital as Bill Eckert, Luke's cousin and look-alike, but viewers wanted Luke back, and he resumed the role in 1993 when Genie Francis returned.

Geary went on to win further lead actor Emmys in 1999, 2000, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2012 and 2015, finishing with a record eight wins from 16 nominations for the same role. He announced his departure on 8 May 2015, taped his last scenes on 23 June 2015, and his final episode as a regular aired on 27 July 2015. He returned for a cameo in May 2017 to help send off his co-star Jane Elliot (Tracy Quartermaine).

Geary appeared in more than 50 stage plays, including the award winning one man show Human Scratchings in 1996. His films include Johnny Got His Gun (1971), Disorderlies (1987) with the Fat Boys, Penitentiary III (1987), Pass the Ammo (1988), UHF (1989), Night of the Warrior (1991), Scorchers (1991), the animated Teacher's Pet (2004), in which he provided a voice, and Andrea Arnold's Fish Tank (2009). He also played Luke Spencer in crossover appearances on Roseanne (1994), Port Charles (1998) and General Hospital: Night Shift (2008).

Geary met Claudio Gama in February 1995, and the two married in February 2019 after more than two decades together. Following his retirement from General Hospital in 2015, the couple moved to the Netherlands, settling in Amsterdam, where Geary had owned a home for years. He was the uncle of the American professional golfer Brendan Steele. In a 2010 appearance on The Wendy Williams Show, he disclosed that he had had a brief relationship with Elizabeth Taylor in the early 1980s.

Geary spoke candidly about his Mormon upbringing, describing it as both a source of family stability and of repression. Professionally he was known for his independence: he walked away from General Hospital more than once at the height of his fame to pursue theatre and film, and colleagues such as Steve Burton later recalled how he would rewrite and improve scenes on set.

Luke Spencer is widely regarded as one of the defining characters of American daytime drama, and Luke and Laura remain the archetypal soap opera supercouple. Their wedding helped make General Hospital a cultural phenomenon in the early 1980s and still holds the ratings record for the genre. Geary's eight Daytime Emmy wins for Outstanding Lead Actor are a record, and General Hospital's official statement after his death said he "set the bar that we continue to strive for".

Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series: won in 1982, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2012 and 2015, with further nominations in 1981, 1983, 1997, 1998, 2003, 2007 and 2009. Soapy Award for Best Actor: 1980, 1981 and 1982. Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Lead Actor: won in 1999 and 2000, nominated in 1993 and 1994. TV Land Award nomination for Most Wonderful Wedding (shared with Genie Francis), 2006.

The Luke and Laura story made Geary a household name, and the 1981 wedding is still cited as a landmark television event. His turn as Philo in UHF gave him a separate cult following among comedy fans, and his 1971 All in the Family guest role drew renewed attention when he and Rob Reiner died on the same day in December 2025.

Geary died in Amsterdam on 14 December 2025, at the age of 78. His husband, Claudio Gama, told TV Insider that he died following complications from a scheduled operation, a surgical procedure performed three days earlier. "It was a shock for me and our families and our friends," Gama said.

General Hospital said the entire General Hospital family was heartbroken, and tributes came from Genie Francis, John Stamos, Rick Springfield, Emma Samms, Maurice Benard, Kimberly McCullough, Sarah Joy Brown, executive producer Frank Valentini and the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. ABC re-aired his 17 July 2015 episode on New Year's Day 2026, displayed a memorial title card at the end of the 6 January 2026 episode, aired a compilation of his work as Luke on 23 January 2026, and broadcast a full tribute episode dedicated to Luke Spencer on 20 February 2026. Where he is buried or memorialised has not been made public.