General Hospital Reveals Plan to Honor the Late Anthony Geary and Luke Spencer

ABC will honor the passing of General Hospital legend Anthony Geary, who died at the age of 78 on December 14, 2025, with a special encore presentation of his final episode of the long-running soap, in which Luke Spencer said goodbye to Port Charles.

TV Insider broke the news that on Thursday, January 1, 2026, GH will rebroadcast the show in question, which originally aired on July 27, 2015.

Encore, Encore

Geary made his first appearance as Lucas Lorenzo “Luke” Spencer on November 20, 1978, and though the character was initially only planned to last for 13 weeks of storyline, Luke proved popular with viewers and stuck around for years.

The actor left in 1983, returning for a guest arc in 1984 alongside longtime co-star Genie Francis (Laura). Then, in 1991, Geary came back to GH as a new character: Luke’s look-alike cousin, Bill Eckert.

In 1993, Bill was killed off, and the actor stayed on to bring Luke back to the canvas once more. Over his years on the soap, Geary took home a record eight Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor.

After Luke received treatment, he was released from the hospital and it seemed like his life was back on track — but Laura returned to Port Charles and crashed his engagement party to Tracy bearing terrible news: their son, Lucky (Jonathan Jackson), had been kidnapped.

This kicked off one last Luke and Laura adventure, where he not only saved his sons, Lucky and Ethan (Nathan Parsons), but rescued young Jake (James Nigbor) — who, it was believed, Luke had killed in a drunken hit-and-run back in 2011 — from the clutches of Helena Cassadine (Constance Towers).

Soon after, Luke decided it would be best if he left Port Charles forever, telling Sonny, “I have recently experienced some Category 5 changes in my life that tore me up pretty badly, put me in pieces. I need to go away, and get myself together…. Find out who the hell I’m going to be the rest of my life.”

Two years later, Geary made a surprise cameo appearance on May 4, 2017, when Tracy — who at the time had decided to leave Port Charles forever — ran into him in a coffee shop in Europe at the very end of the episode, signalling a happily-ever-after for the veteran fan faves.

Alas, on New Year’s Day 2022, Tracy shared the news that Luke had died in a cable car crash in Austria, an incident that was later revealed to be the handiwork of Victor Cassadine (Charles Shaughnessy).

General Hospital Laid Luke to Rest Years Ago… So How Will the Show Pay Tribute to Anthony Geary — and, Make No Mistake, It Must

In the wake of Anthony Geary’s passing, General Hospital fans have found themselves wondering if and when the show might pay tribute to the actor and his iconic alter ego, Lucas Lorenzo Spencer.

But as fans of the soap know, Luke passed away several years ago in a move that was considered controversial by many.

Does that mean fans will not be given the closure they long for? Not necessarily… and here’s why.

The Story Behind Luke’s Exit

Hard as it is to believe, it was way back in 2015 that Geary announced his intention to leave the soap which had been his home-away-from-home on-and-off since 1978.

“This show has been a huge part of my life for over half my life, and Luke Spencer is my alter ego,” he told TV Guide at the time. “But I’m just weary of the grind and have been for 20 years.”

While the prospect of walking away might have filled some with trepidation, the opposite was true for Geary. “The closer it comes,” he said, “there is less anxiety and dread at seeing the end of the tunnel and it’s more like nirvana because my life is now wide open.”

Not long after Luke left town, the show crafted a story in which the much-loved character died. Yet this being a soap, rumors of Luke’s death proved greatly exaggerated when he crossed paths with former wife Tracy Quartermaine in May of 2017.

Just as Geary had relocated to Amsterdam in real life, it was later revealed that Tracy and Luke were happily living together in the Netherland’s capital city.

How Did Luke Spencer Die?

Aside from the occasional mention or update, that was the last viewers heard of Luke. Then, on New Year’s Day of 2022, Tracy returned to Port Charles sans her true love, reporting that he’d been killed when a cable car exploded in Austria.

Viewers were, to say the least, unhappy with this twist. Most refused to believe that so legendary a character would be killed in an off-screen accident. As reader GreenPalmtree said after reading the news in our recap of the episode, “Luke is the least dead character there has ever been on a soap and that is saying something!”

As for us, we declared Luke’s resulting funeral the Best Sendoff of 2022, even while adding “we still don’t buy that General Hospital really killed off” the character.

That was an assertion we stood by, assuming eventually the show would convince Geary to return for at least a few episodes with which to give Luke a proper ending and fans some much-needed closure.

Now, of course, that would seem impossible. Or is it?

A Final Farewell

It seems impossible to imagine that General Hospital won’t find a way to pay their respects to Geary, Luke and their mutual importance to the show’s history. While it won’t be a simple task, it feels imperative.

While the show managed to craft posthumous storylines for Leslie Charleson’s Monica and Jacklyn Zeman’s Bobbie, those character had been kept alive — if off-camera — for several years. This was not the case with Geary’s Luke.

That said, imagine if Luke’s loved ones were to discover that he had, in fact, been alive the past three years. Racing to rescue him from a captor — Helena, is that you? — they arrive too late.

Suddenly, they must deal not only with another wave of grief but also guilt for having been fooled into believing earlier reports of his passing.

Another option would be for General Hospital to simply do a standalone episode in which the cast, crew and fans share their favorite memories of both the actor and his creation.

Given that he and Genie Francis were heading up the show during its most wildly popular era, ABC might even consider airing the special during primetime.