Eight-time Daytime Emmy winner Anthony Geary is synonymous with General Hospital. Geary joined GH in 1978 to play Luke Spencer, one the most prominent characters in the show's history, until his departure in 2015. He won eight Daytime Emmys for the role. The character was claimed to be killed in 2022 in an accident, although it happened off-screen, so fans have always hoped for a possible return—even if it’s a return-from-the-dead scenario.
When Luke's sister Bobbie Spencer died in 2023, fans hoped he would reappear to attend her funeral. That did not happen, but he became the subject of conversation on General Hospital again when Tracy Quartermaine reminisced about her late husband during the July 23, 2024, episode.
Tracy noted that July 23 was Luke’s birthday and told her son Ned that Luke was the love of her life. Tracy and Sonny also discussed Luke later at the park.
Although the return of Luke isn’t likely, it is relevant for his friends and family to discuss him. It was recently announced that his son, Lucky Spencer (Jonathan Jackson), would be returning to Port Charles.
Why Anthony Geary left General Hospital
Geary made a brief reappearance in 2017, but his most prominent exit from the show was in 2015. His character, Luke Spencer, was on a dock, saying goodbye to Sonny before walking into the fog and disappearing after claiming he needed to go find himself. In real life, Geary moved to Amsterdam and tried to figure out what to do with his life.
Geary told Entertainment Weekly, "I'm excited to raise the curtain on act 3, to reinvent myself in my new home to pursue whatever opportunity there may be. It's an exciting prospect to me. They've done a wonderful job of wrapping up the character. So this seems like the ideal time to go."
“After 35 years, it’s hard to separate fiction from reality, so the first thing I did was cut off my hair and shave and try to physically shed this character.” - Anthony Geary on leaving General Hospital (to EW)
Geary flew to Amsterdam and realized that he didn’t have the same daily routine anymore of reviewing scripts or staying in shape for the show. He took a theater history and literature course at the university and started writing. He said he had “not retired from acting. Just GH.”
In the year before his departure from the show, Geary had serious back procedures that required extensive recuperation time and affected his final taping and exit from General Hospital.
