‘General Hospital’ (GH) spoilers love nothing more than celebrations and anniversaries, and with the show celebrating being on air for 60 years, it’s also cool to look at some of the cast members who are also in the midst of a long run of their own.
Genie Francis (Laura Collins) has made her mark on daytime television on numerous shows, but she’s best known for being part of the super couple with Luke Spencer (Anthony Geary) as their wedding drew 30 million viewers.
It was a benchmark for any show and it made them household names for those that hadn’t heard of them before that.
While she was conquering daytime television, she also caught the eye and the heart of actor and director Johnathan Frakes, best known as William Riker on ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’.
‘General Hospital’ Spoilers – In the beginning
During an interview with People, the couple talked about their nearly 40 year relationship.
Like any great couple, there has to be an origin story on how they met, and William laid it out, as well as his surprise that she agreed to go out with him.
“We’ve been together for 38 years. I met my wife, the wonderful Genie Francis, on a show called Bare Essence, which was the last of the nighttime soaps – and she was too young for me!”
The couple are ten years apart and Johnathan is 71 and when they met he was 30 and she was 20. They were then cast in the Civil War miniseries ‘North and South’ that’s more known for staring Kirstie Alley and Patrick Swayze.
“The dailies were so good that they said, ‘Why don’t we make it, from six hours, make it 12 hours?’ or whatever it was. So we were on location in Charleston and Natchez, and we fell in love – and now, somehow, she wasn’t too young for me. So we have been together ever since our first date on North and South when we took a break for Memorial Day and went to New Orleans 38 years ago.
“Somehow, she took a chance on me, because I was like, number 37 on the call sheet on North and South and she was up there with Patrick Swayze and Lesley-Anne Down. So why she would go out with me is a mystery!”
‘General Hospital’ Spoilers – 38 years
It’s never easy being with someone for several decades and their marriage can best be called a classic Hollywood romance and fairy tale.
He helps her go over her lines for her shows, and he’s followed her footsteps into doing Hallmark Christmas movies, with his first one premiering this past Christmas.
‘A Biltmore Christmas’ is new territory for Johnathan, but he’s enjoying himself and as their marriage draws closer to a full four decades, ‘General Hospital’ Spoilers wouldn’t doubt he could appear on ‘GH’ in some capacity.
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