Pop Quiz with Genie Francis

An estimated 30 million viewers -- the largest audience ever for a daytime drama -- watched the November 1981 wedding of General Hospital's Luke and Laura. Since then, Luke (Anthony Geary) and Laura (Genie Francis) have weathered affairs, an avalanche, a kidnapping and other dilemmas -- until June 18, when they signed divorce papers. Francis, 39, shared her thoughts on the end of a great American duo.



Your views on the divorce?
I think it's a sad thing. But [the producers] want to keep the story current. Who knows? They may even get another wedding out of it.

Was it emotional?
It's heart-wrenching.

What led to the split?
Eight years ago, the writers used my character to get Luke and Laura to settle down. I think that began the trouble for the couple. Luke hated domesticity. And she needed it.

What happens now?
Laura is getting involved with her first husband, Scotty [Kin Shriner]. Our romance is a return to her youth in a very, very sweet way. I am happy about this change.

Does your real life compare with your television life?
She does everything before I do. Although I'm not getting a divorce! [Francis, married to actor-director Jonathan Frakes, has two children.]

Any memories of your TV wedding?
I remember wearing these really high spiky-heeled shoes that got stuck in the dirt. I remember wearing a silk dress that wrinkled so much I could not sit down in it. I remember my headdress poking into my head.

And how have you and Anthony Geary gotten along all these years?
He and I have a partnership that I haven't found anywhere else. I could act with him forever.