Why Did Anthony Geary Leave General Hospital?

General Hospital (GH) legend, Anthony Geary (Luke Spencer), announced in 2015 that he was leaving the show. Geary’s departure occurred in late June 2015 when his contract ended. However, Geary was not happy with the writing of General Hospital at the time of his departure. Why did Geary leave General Hospital?

General Hospital – Tony Geary Is Leaving His Legendary Role

On May 9, 2015, Michael Logan at TV Insider had revealed that Tony Geary was leaving the soap that he has been attached to on and off since 1978. Geary won his eighth Emmy before announcing his departure. Geary holds the record for the most Daytime Emmys for his role as Luke. Geary had required back surgery in 2014 and was forced to take time off to recuperate.

However, Geary had also fallen in love with Amsterdam and planned to live there. Geary taped his last scenes on June 23, 2015. Two hundred of his castmates and crew gathered to say goodbye to the General Hospital legend and wish him well. Geary was sent off after a montage of Luke’s greatest moments. Geary said his departure was based on personal and professional circumstances. However, Geary’s displeasure with the decision to rewrite Luke killing his grandson, Jake Webber (Hudson West) may have been the deciding factor.

GH – The Role Of Luke Spencer Was Supposed To Be Short

The former General Hospital star stated at the time, “I signed on for a 13 week stint on General Hospital in 1978. Apart from an eight year hiatus in the 1980’s, Luke Spencer has been my alter ego ever since. I’d like to thank ABC, my producers and the ‘GH’ audience for a long and exciting ride.” Ironically, Tony, who was once ok with Luke Spencer committing suicide, was a bit teary-eyed on his last day. However, Geary explained that his emotional reaction had nothing to do with leaving the role and everything to do with the people. Geary says the hard part was saying goodbye to people he had spent half his life with and that was the hard part. Several of his co-stars seem to agree as they tweeted their goodbyes to him.

General Hospital – What Are Anthony Geary’s Plans?

General Hospital’s Geary, when asked what he was going to do with the rest of his life, spoke about the difficulty in separating reality from fiction. Geary says after 35 years the first thing he did was cut his hair and shave. Geary says he had to shed his character. Geary laughingly said that within two days he was wondering if there wasn’t something he should be doing. Since realizing he didn’t have any responsibilities, Geary signed up for a 10-week course at the University of Amsterdam on Dutch theater history and literature. Geary says he got in a lot of writing as well.

Geary made sure to reiterate that he had not retired from acting, just from G.H. Geary further stated his dislike for not only the Jake story but the rewrite of Frank Smith’s story as well. Geary was certainly unhappy with the writing when he left the show. Perhaps Geary’s disdain for what he considers weak writing and insulting actions is why it was better to kill off the character of Luke Spencer.

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