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Loving Luke and Laura
ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images
(The following is excerpted from PEOPLE’s collector’s editionGeneral Hospital: Celebrating 60 Years of Love & Dramaavailable now on Amazon or wherever magazines are sold.)
In 1981 a once-in-the-history-of-soaps convergence of story, character, a wild cameo fromElizabeth Taylorand national appetite turned the wedding of twoGeneral Hospitalcharacters, Lucas Lorenzo Spencer (Anthony Geary) and Laura Webber (Genie Francis), into a cultural milestone — and the highest-rated moment in daytime history, with 30 million tuning in.
Taylor, a rabid fan, had volunteered to crash the wedding as Helena Cassadine and put a curse on the couple. “I’m wild about that show,” the Hollywood icon said. “I had a ball!”
AsGeneral Hospitalturns 60, take a look back at the pair’s storied — and somewhat controversial — romance.
02of 10Where It All StartedABC Photo ArchivesMob hitman Luke and young Laura met as employees at the Campus Disco, developing a flirty friendship in 1979. One night, thinking his latest assignment from the Mob was about to get him killed, Luke drank heavily and confessed his love to Laura.“I’m not going to die without holding you in my arms just one time. Dance with me,” he said. As they swayed to Herb Alpert’s “Rise,” Laura grew fearful and tried to leave. The camera panned away as Luke forced himself on her and Laura screamed, “No!” After it was over, Laura ran sobbing out of the disco, and Luke cried, “What have I done?“The producers, who were planning to kill Luke, noted the piles of fan mail coming into the studio for the couple and began referring to the act as a “seduction.” Laura refused to name her attacker and gradually admitted she had feelings for Luke — and that maybe, perhaps it wasn’t exactly rape.
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Where It All Started
ABC Photo Archives
Mob hitman Luke and young Laura met as employees at the Campus Disco, developing a flirty friendship in 1979. One night, thinking his latest assignment from the Mob was about to get him killed, Luke drank heavily and confessed his love to Laura.
“I’m not going to die without holding you in my arms just one time. Dance with me,” he said. As they swayed to Herb Alpert’s “Rise,” Laura grew fearful and tried to leave. The camera panned away as Luke forced himself on her and Laura screamed, “No!” After it was over, Laura ran sobbing out of the disco, and Luke cried, “What have I done?”
The producers, who were planning to kill Luke, noted the piles of fan mail coming into the studio for the couple and began referring to the act as a “seduction.” Laura refused to name her attacker and gradually admitted she had feelings for Luke — and that maybe, perhaps it wasn’t exactly rape.
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On the Run
Interest exploded in 1980 when Luke and Laura went on the run, providing a daily dose of high adventure. The couple spent the summer and fall of 1981 on a quest to save the world.
04of 10Fountain of TruthABC Photo ArchivesThe Left-Handed Boy they were in pursuit of turned out to be a statue that held the key to decoding an incriminating black book.
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Fountain of Truth
The Left-Handed Boy they were in pursuit of turned out to be a statue that held the key to decoding an incriminating black book.
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Event of the Century
Abc-Tv/Kobal/Shutterstock
On Nov. 17, 1981, Luke and Laura said “I do.”
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Wedding Crasher
ABC
07of 10A Day of DramaLuke comforted Laura after his over-the-top wedding-day brawl with Scotty.
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A Day of Drama
Luke comforted Laura after his over-the-top wedding-day brawl with Scotty.
08of 10Family PortraitABC/Craig SjodinUltimately their marriage didn’t last — in part because Francis left the show for a bit — but Luke and Laura’s legacy includes son Lucky (Jonathan Jackson) and daughter Lulu, here in the 1990s.
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Family Portrait
ABC/Craig Sjodin
Ultimately their marriage didn’t last — in part because Francis left the show for a bit — but Luke and Laura’s legacy includes son Lucky (Jonathan Jackson) and daughter Lulu, here in the 1990s.
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ABC/CRAIG SJODIN
The pair reunited — and were remarried — in 2006, a quarter century after their first wedding, though it was invalid because of Luke’s marriage to to Tracy Quartermaine (Jane Elliot).
10of 10General Hospital at 60For more on all thingsGeneral Hospital,pick up PEOPLE’s special collector’s editionGeneral Hospital: Celebrating 60 Years of Love & Dramaavailable now on Amazon or wherever magazines are sold.
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General Hospital at 60
For more on all thingsGeneral Hospital,pick up PEOPLE’s special collector’s editionGeneral Hospital: Celebrating 60 Years of Love & Dramaavailable now on Amazon or wherever magazines are sold.
source: people.com
