- - Looking Back at Luke and Laura’s Wedding on “General Hospital”: From Elizabeth Taylor’s Cameo to Genie Francis’ Complicated Wedding Dress

Victoria EdelDecember 16, 2025 at 4:46 AM

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'General Hospital' stars Genie Francis (left) and Anthony Geary as Luke and Laura on their wedding day in 1981 -

In November 1981, General Hospital's Luke Spencer and Laura Webber tied the knot in daytime television's biggest wedding ever

The long-awaited event even included a cameo from Elizabeth Taylor

Geary, who played Luke Spencer, died Dec. 14 at the age of 78

Daytime dramas are known for supercouples, but one rose above them all: General Hospital’s Luke and Laura. And in November 1981, Luke Spencer and Laura Webber tied the knot in a wedding so vast that even Elizabeth Taylor even made a cameo appearance.

Luke was played by Anthony Geary, who died Dec. 14 at the age of 78. The character first appeared on the series in 1978. Genie Francis took over the role of Laura in 1977, when she was just 14, and she’s been the only actress to play the part ever since.

“In the beginning, Luke Spencer was a complete bastard," Geary told PEOPLE in 1980. "He was a cheap little punk who managed a disco and was a doper runner for the Mafia. He was a real killer." Controversially, early in their acquaintance, Luke raped Laura, but they still ultimately fell in love.

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Anthony Geary (left) and Genie Francis during Luke and Laura's wedding

"I’ve had to justify it for so many years,” Francis, now 63, said in PEOPLE and on ABC’s 2020 documentary The Story of Soaps of the storyline. “And I have to say, it feels good to sit here and say I won’t justify it. It’s awful. They shouldn’t have done it."

Despite that ignominious beginning, the romance became a fan favorite and helped turn General Hospital into a pop culture juggernaut. Their wedding was watched by 30 million people, the highest-rated episode of an American soap opera, ever. During the height of Luke and Laura’s romance, they averaged 14 million viewers an episode.

"I never realized how big it was when it was happening, and I'm constantly amazed, as the years go by ... that people still care," Francis said in 2006.

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Elizabeth Taylor (right) and Anthony Geary on 'General Hospital' in 1981

The wedding day had two famous interruptions. One was Laura’s ex-husband Scotty Baldwin (played by Kin Shriner), who caught the bouquet. Luke leaped over a balcony to punch him in the face, and the wedding continued.

The other surprising appearance was by Taylor as Helena Cassidine, the wife of the evil Mikkos Cassadine, who Luke and Laura had killed. She dramatically told them, “My curse on you Laura and Luke … my curse on both of you!”

"I'm wild about that show," Taylor told PEOPLE in 1981. "Someone from General Hospital came to see me when I was doing The Little Foxes in New York, and I agreed to do the soap when I got to L.A." Of her time on the set, she added, "I had a ball."

Geary praised her, explaining, “She worked hard and with humor. She wasn't tap-dancing. She hugged each member of the cast, she knew people's names. She treated me like a total peer — not like a clown or a freak." Helena would return to the series throughout the years, though never again with Taylor performing her.

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Genie Francis (left) and Anthony Geary during Luke and Laura's wedding

But the wedding itself was grueling for its two leads. “The dress was made of silk taffeta, which wrinkles terribly, so I couldn’t sit down,” Francis told PEOPLE in 2001. “And the ground was wet so my high heels were sinking into the dirt.” As for the head dress, she said, “any bride who wore it for 12 hours would have had a bad headache like I did. My favorite part of the day was dancing the Virginia reel and, of course, hearing ‘That’s a wrap!’ ”

Carrying the series in general began to drain Francis and Geary. He told PEOPLE, "I have given my life to this show — physically, emotionally, spiritually. The work is harder than on prime-time TV. Genie and I have carried as much as 60 pages of dialogue a day, four or five days a week. No nighttime show, no film makes those demands."

In December 1981, Laura disappeared and was presumed dead. She briefly returned in 1983, telling PEOPLE, “They never really gave me an exit. It was unfair to me and unfair to the fans.” Both Francis and Geary left, seemingly for good, in 1984.

But in 1993, they both returned, with Geary telling PEOPLE, “Basically, I didn't want to do Luke without Laura.”

Luke and Laura divorced in 2001 and Francis left the series in 2001. She returned for plot lines in 2006 and 2008, but Luke had moved on, marrying Tracy Quartermaine (Jane Elliot). Laura returned to the series full-time in 2015, but Geary left the series that same year, making a small return in 2017. General Hospital killed off Luke in 2022.

Francis told PEOPLE in 2001 of her bond with Geary, “He and I have a partnership that I haven't found anywhere else. I could act with him forever.”

on People

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