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Laura Spencer (General Hospital)

Laura Spencer
Genie Francis as Laura Spencer.png
Genie Francis as Laura Spencer
General Hospital character
Portrayed by Stacey Baldwin (1974–76)
Genie Francis (1977–)
Duration
  • 1974–84
  • 1993–2002
  • 2006
  • 2008
  • 2013
  • 2015–
First appearance 1974 (1974)
Created by Bridget and Jerome Dobson
Introduced by James Young (1974)
Tom Donovan (1977)
Gloria Monty (1983)
Wendy Riche (1993)
Jill Farren Phelps (2006)
Frank Valentini (2013)
Book appearances Robin's Diary
Classification Present; regular
Profile
Other names Laura Vining
Laura Webber
Laura Baldwin
Lucy Johnson
Nora Charles
Lasha Cassadine
Lulu Thornhill
Occupation Receptionist
Model
Businesswoman
Residence Wyndemere Castle
Spoon Island
Port Charles, New York

Laura Spencer is a fictional character from General Hospital, an American soap opera on the ABC network. Laura, originally played by Stacey Baldwin, was introduced in 1974 as the illegitimate daughter of Dr. Lesley Williams (Denise Alexander). The character was written out in the summer of 1976. In early 1977, Genie Francis took over the role of the rebellious teenage Laura. In 1978, thanks to the efforts of executive producer Gloria Monty's plan to entice younger viewers, the character's popularity skyrocketed in the late 1970s and early 1980s due to her pairings with Scott Baldwin (Kin Shriner) and Luke Spencer (Anthony Geary) -- the latter of the two becoming the defining Supercouple for the soap opera genre. Luke and Laura's 1981 wedding — which featured a guest appearance from Elizabeth Taylor — was viewed by 30 million people. In 1982, Francis quit the show and the character was written out having disappeared. Francis returned to the series for brief stints in 1983 to reunite Luke and Laura, and then again in 1984 when Laura was revealed to be pregnant.

In 1993, Laura was re-introduced by producer Wendy Riche, along with Luke and their young son Lucky Spencer (Jonathan Jackson). Their stories consisted of their struggle to hide from mobster Frank Smith, the 1994 birth of their daughter Lesley Lu and the introduction of Laura's illegitimate son Nikolas Cassadine (Tyler Christopher), who comes to town to save an ailing Lesley Lu. Francis quit the series in 2002, claiming unequal treatment compared to her male costar. Laura was written out after suffering a psychotic breakdown, after killing her adoptive father Rick Webber (Chris Robinson). Francis returned in 2006 to celebrate Luke and Laura's 25th wedding anniversary. The return stint, which only lasted a month, featured Laura's reunions with her children, Nikolas, Lucky (Greg Vaughan) and Lesley Lu -- now known as Lulu (Julie Marie Berman), and Laura's renewal of her wedding vows with Luke on their anniversary date. The return garnered Francis the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. Francis returned to the series again in 2008 to help Lulu, who had also been institutionalized. In 2013, in honor of the show's 50th anniversary celebration, Francis would reprise the role of Laura when the writers revisited the iconic Ice Princess plot, and Laura was briefly remarried to Scott. Although initial reports said the actress would stick around, Francis left the role again in August 2013. Francis returned to the series in 2015, this time as part of Luke's exit storyline. Francis later signed a deal for her to remain with the series indefinitely.


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Wikipedia

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