genie francis

In case anyone is still carrying a grudge from 1982, actress Genie Francis would like her fans to know she's sorry.

She played Laura on the ABC daytime soap opera "General Hospital," and her fairy-tale wedding to Luke (played by Anthony Geary) riveted 30 million viewers in 1981 and landed the couple on the cover of Newsweek magazine.

Now Francis is apologizing for suddenly quitting the show the following year.

"I'm sorry for leaving you so abruptly, for not taking into account the feelings of the people who helped Laura truly take on a life of her own," the 45-year-old actress said in a statement Thursday from the Hallmark Channel. "It was the decision of a young, impetuous girl, and the woman she has become asks for your forgiveness."

Earlier this year, Francis won her first Daytime Emmy for supporting actress in a drama series. She had returned briefly to "General Hospital" as Laura, a role she began playing at age 14.

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Francis said filming "The Note," a movie about reconciliation, prompted her to examine her past choices and apologize.

"The Note" premieres Saturday on the Hallmark Channel.

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ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Co. Crown Media Holdings Inc. owns the Hallmark Channel.

LOS ANGELES―Genie Francis was transported back to her earliest days on "General Hospital" while doing a scene in a new Christmas movie.
Francis played Laura on the ABC soap opera starting in 1981 and has returned several times over the years, winning a daytime Emmy for the role this year. She recalled a scene in which Laura placed a star on top of a Christmas tree.

"It meant the world to her because she truly believed that the star would grant her one wish every Christmas, and it meant a great deal to me as well," Francis told the Hallmark Channel in a statement.

So she was surprised when reading the script for her new movie "The Note," in which she plays a newspaper columnist searching for the intended recipient of a note that survived a plane crash in which everyone was killed.

During her search, Francis' character meets a reverend who hands her a similar star.

"It's the bookend to the Laura scene, the other half of that moment 28 years later," Francis said. "I knew right then that this script was meant for me. It's a beautiful scene and is reminiscent of the hope that Laura had."

Francis co-stars with Ted McGinley in "The Note," airing Saturday on Hallmark Channel.


Genie Francis
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Genie Francis
Birth name Eugenie Ann Francis
Born May 26, 1962(1962-05-26) (age 45)
Englewood, NJ, U.S.
Spouse(s) Jonathan Frakes
Awards
Other Awards
Nominated: Outstanding Lead Actress - Daytime 1997 General Hospital
Won: Outstanding Supporting Actress - Daytime 2007 General Hospital

Genie Francis (born Eugenie Ann Francis on May 26, 1962 in Englewood, New Jersey, USA) is an actress best known for her portrayal of Laura Spencer on the ABC daytime drama General Hospital, a role she played from 1976 to 2006.

Contents
1 Personal Life
2 General Hospital
3 Commercial endorsements
4 Television filmography
5 Awards (won)
6 Awards (nominated)
7 Footnotes
8 See also
9 External links



[edit] Personal Life
Francis's father, Ivor Francis, a Canadian actor of English descent, died in 1986 from the effects of multiple strokes. He played a brief role on General Hospital as an adoption counselor when his daughter was also on the show. Her mother, Rosemary Daley, is a former actress/model of Lithuanian descent. Genie is a confirmed Catholic. She has an older brother Ivor Jr., a younger brother Kenneth, and an older half-sister Shelley from her father's first marriage.

Genie met actor/director Jonathan Frakes while filming the television show, Bare Essence. After meeting again during the filming of the miniseries, North and South, Genie and Jonathan started dating in 1985. They became engaged in 1986, and married on May 28, 1988. The couple has two children, Jameson Ivor Frakes, born in 1994, and Elizabeth Francis Frakes, born in 1997. They live in Maine, where Genie operates a cottage furnishings and home accessories store, The Cherished Home[1].


[edit] General Hospital
Genie's most famous role, that of Laura Spencer on General Hospital, would bring her instant stardom in the late 70's. Luke (Anthony Geary) and Laura became an international phenomenon and the most popular super couple in daytime history, appearing on the covers of TV Guide, Us Weekly, and People magazines. The television couple wed on November 16, 1981, with 30 million viewers tuning in to make this episode the highest-rated hour in soap opera history. At the peak of her success, Francis left the show in 1982 to try her hand at primetime television. Soon after, she landed a starring role in her own series, Bare Essence, which was not a success. Nevertheless, she remained a fan favorite and viewers were delighted when she returned to General Hospital in 1983 for a limited run to coincide with the departure of Luke when Geary decided to leave the series.

Through the years, other daytime soaps have pursued Francis because of her tremendous popularity. She appeared on Days of Our Lives as Diana Colville from 1987 to 1989 and on All My Children as con artist and incest victim Ceara Connor Hunter from 1990 to 1992. She reprised her role as Ceara on Loving in November 1991. She then returned to GH in 1993. In early 1997 she took an absence from the show to have her second child and stayed away nearly a year and a half.

In September 2002 she abruptly left General Hospital following ABC's refusal to work out a contract she wanted. In 2004 she told USA Today that she thought ABC wanted her out after a 2001 interview where she admitted to heavy drug abuse during the Luke & Laura early '80s heyday.

In June 2006, Francis began negotiating with the casting directors on the show in returning to the role of Laura Spencer for a limited run through November. She returned to the show with great fanfare to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Luke and Laura's wedding. Though she reprised the role for only one month, Francis's stint was so successful that she garnered a Daytime Emmy Nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Daytime Drama, which she ended up winning in June 2007. "Oh my goodness!" she said. "Thank you so much. I am overwhelmed. I've waited 31 years for this moment."


[edit] Commercial endorsements