Genie Francis is best known for her role as Laura Spencer on the ABC daytime drama “General Hospital.”  The daughter of character actor and AFTRA pioneer Ivor Francis, she moved with her father from Centerport, Long Island to Los Angeles at age six in 1968.  Eight years later, not long after asking her dad to submit her school photo to agents, Francis won her first television role as Alice Dennison on ABC’s Aaron Spelling-produced “Family.”

 

At a very young age, Genie Francis became one of the most adored characters in daytime television. The beauty, energy, and aptitude Genie displayed in her role as Laura on ABC’s “General Hospital” captivated fans nationwide and spanned generations of viewers along the way. Her character’s wedding on November 17, 1981 was watched by more than 30 million viewers and remains the highest-rated hour in American soap opera history. That same year, and at just 19 years old, Genie was awarded both the Soapy for Outstanding Actress and the Young Artist Award for Best Juvenile Actress in a Daytime Series. She remained with the show for more than two decades, and was honored in 2007 with a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress. Genie also had significant roles on NBC’s “Days of Our Lives” as Diana Colville, ABC's “All My Children” as Ceara Connor and CBS’s “The Young and the Restless” as Genevieve Atkinson. In 2012 she earned her second Daytime Emmy nomination for her portrayal of “Genevieve.”

 

Outside of daytime, Genie appeared in the television movie, “Bare Essence,” and its subsequent primetime series; co-starred in Books I, II and III of the ABC miniseries “North and South.” It was during the latter, after working together on several previous projects, she married actor/director Jonathan Frakes. The two have been married since 1988.

 

Genie had recurring appearances on the primetime series “Hotel,” and  “Murder She Wrote.” Her later television work includes appearances on “Roseanne,” “The Incredible Hulk,” “Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman,” “Roswell,” “3rd Rock From the Sun,” and a number of films for television, including “Terror in the Shadows,” “Perry Mason:  The Case of the Killer Kiss”  She also starred in the films, “The Note,” “Taking a Chance on Love,” and “Notes from the Heart Healer” all on Hallmark Channel.

 

On the stage she has appeared in "Crimes of the Heart" and "See How They Run". In 1991 Ms. Francis appeared in the Williamstown Festival Theater Production of "Defying Gravity".

That same year Genie made her New York City debut in "The Baby Dance" at the Lucille Lortel Theatre in Greenwich Village.