When daytime icon Anthony Geary passed away on December 14, 2025, at the age of 78, fans wondered how General Hospital would pay tribute to the Emmy winner and his character of Luke Spencer, which he played for decades, particularly given that Luke was killed off in a 2022 storyline (albeit off camera). After an encore airing of the actor’s final episode of GH and a memorial card at the end of a recent episode, ABC executive Nathan Varni has promised viewers that more is still planned.
Gone But Not Forgotten
Varni, who serves as Current Programming Executive for the network, delivered that message on Twitter/X. “Our team is working on a loving montage to be included later in the month,” he posted. “Keep an eye out. RIP Tony Geary. 💔”
After working steadily in episodes of prime time television, Geary made his daytime debut as David Lockhart on the NBC sudser Bright Promise in 1971, then had a short stint on Young and Restless as George Curtis in 1973. But it was joining the cast of GH in 1978 as Luke Spencer that made him a soap star. Geary came and went from the show multiple times over the decades — even playing Luke’s look-alike cousin, Bill Eckert, between 1991 and 1993 — before finally retiring in 2015 and moving full-time to Amsterdam, where he lived with Claudio Gama, who later became his husband. During his impressive career, Geary earned a record eight Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor.
Online, many fans protested that re-airing Luke’s final episode wasn’t sufficient enough to pay tribute to a daytime legend like Geary, prompting Varni to take to social media to reassure the audience that a more substantial tribute was in the works. GH already held a memorial for the character of Luke in the January 21, 2022, episode after Tracy returned to Port Charles to report that he had died in a cable car crash in Austria, which was later revealed to be the handiwork of dastardly Victor Cassadine.
At press time, there were no additional details available as to how this montage will be included in the episode or when it will air.
