General Hospital fans aren’t unfamiliar with Laura Collins. They have seen her dealing with plenty of challenges at once. She got raped, married to her rapist, and has three children. However, did you know the actress Genie Francis joined the soap when she was just a kid? Since then, she’s been playing Laura Collins and has now completed 42 years on the show. So to celebrate her 42nd anniversary, let’s take a deeper look at her character’s history.
Character History
Initially, child actress Stacey Baldwin played Laura Vinning in 1974. However, she only stayed on the show for just three years. After her departure, Genie Francis made her onscreen debut back on February 8, 1977. The character was rapidly aged and turned into a teenager. However, Francis only signed a three years contract. After that, she left the soap. But later on, she joined the cast again, beating 40 other actresses.
She called her journey at General Hospital “a tremendous learning process.” She revealed in an interview that she was nervous at the beginning but later learned how to act and to stay calm. She further revealed in the interview that she had a father-daughter relationship with her onscreen father. Well, Francis is still on the show and won many hearts through her iconic role of Laura Collins.
Major Storyline
Luke and Laura are the most popular couple on the show. Though many couples came and went away, they remained the supercouple of General Hospital. But do you know Luke actually raped Laura before they came into a relationship? However, after this misdeed, she fell in love with her rapist. While it caused a stir and many were offensive with this content. But plenty of viewers loved the mismatched pairing of Luke and Laura.
The couple decided to tie the knot. They were together for two decades. They got married on November 16, 1981, and it was the most-watched episode in the history of the serial. Laura has three kids and six grandchildren. She has two sons named Prince Nikolas Cassadine, another Lucky Spencer with her ex-husband, and a daughter Lulu Spencer. In 2020 she learned that she has two half-brothers. One is a drug kingpin Cyrus Renault, and another is a well-known attorney Martin Grey. Despite this, she urges to know Martin better.
Is She Leaving The Show?
We are glad to say that she isn’t going anywhere and will continue to portray Laura. She is currently married to Kevin, and she is also the mayor of Port Charles. She has just celebrated 42 years of being in General Hospital. We are hoping that she will continue to be there for many more years. As for her storyline, Laura, in her mayoral capacity, will do everything to save baby Bailey from Peter.
Laura is also working on the Victor angle of the storyline, where she wants to keep him away from her family. Right now, there’s more storyline to come, which will surround mayor Laura. So, of course, she will remain the pivotal part of the show.
