Genie Francis
Francis in 2013
Born	(1962-05-26)May 26, 1962 (age 62)[1] Englewood,New Jersey, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1976–present
Known for	General Hospital The Young and the Restless Perry Mason: The Case of the Killer Kiss North and South Days of Our Lives
Spouse	Jonathan Frakes ​ (m. 1988)​
Children	2
Father	Ivor Francis
Website	geniefrancis.com

Genie Francis (born May 26, 1962) is an American actress. She is best known for playing the role ofLaura Spencer on the television soap operaGeneral Hospital from 1977 to present, for which she won aDaytime Emmy Award in 2007.

Francis also appeared in the soap operasDays of Our Lives from 1987 to 1989,All My Children from 1990 to 1992 andThe Young and the Restless from 2011 to 2012.

Francis was born inEnglewood, New Jersey.^[2] Her father was Canadian actorIvor Francis.^[2] Her mother, Rosemary Daley, was a former actress/model.^[3] Genie has an older brother, Ivor Jr.; a younger brother, Kenneth; and an older half-sister, Shelley, from her father's first marriage.^{[citation needed]}

Francis began acting in the two part episode titled "Jury Duty" on the television seriesFamily. Her biggest role came in 1977 withLaura Spencer onGeneral Hospital as she was a recast. It would bring her instant stardom in the late 1970s. The television couple ofLuke and Laura wed on November 17, 1981, with 30 million viewers tuning in to make the episode the highest-rated hour in soap opera history.^[4] At the peak of her success, Francis left the series in 1982 to try her hand at prime-time television. Soon afterward, she landed a starring role in her own series,Bare Essence, which was unsuccessful. She returned toGeneral Hospital in 1983 for a limited run, to coincide with the departure of Luke whenAnthony Geary decided to leave the series.

In 1984, 1986 and 1990, Francisguest starred onMurder, She Wrote asJessica Fletcher's niece Victoria. In 1985, she starred in the miniseriesNorth and South as Brett Main Hazard.^[5] Francis would reprise her role of Brett Main Hazard in 1986 and 1994 in the miniseriesNorth and South: Book II andHeaven and Hell: North and South Book III respectively.^[6][7] In 1993, she starred in thetelevision filmPerry Mason: The Case of the Killer Kiss as Kris Buckner which was based on theCBStelevision series of the same name.^[8] In 1996, Francis provided the voice ofBetty Ross on theIncredible Hulk animated series that ran onUPN.

Through the years, Francis has appeared on numerous other daytime soaps. She starred onDays of Our Lives asDiana Colville (a reporter who became involved withJohn Black, at the time believing himself to beRoman Brady) from 1987 to 1989 and onAll My Children as con artist and incest victimCeara Connor Hunter from 1990 to 1992. She reprised her role as Ceara onLoving in a crossover storyline in November 1991. Ceara was "killed off" when her character prepared to move to that soap's town of Corinth (although it was an unseen extra stepping off the bus into the line of fire), and years later, Laura also appeared in Corinth onGeneral Hospital when ex-husband Luke found her tied up in the Alden family basement. She then returned toGeneral Hospital in 1993. In 1994, when Francis became pregnant with her first child, the pregnancy was written into the show and she took six weeks off for maternity leave. However, in early 1997, when she was pregnant again, she took a much longer absence from the show, staying away for nearly a year and a half.

In 2004, Francis appeared inTeacher's Pet^[9] andThunderbirds.^[10] In June 2006, she began negotiating with the casting directors on the show to return to the role of Laura Spencer for a limited run through November. Francis returned with spectacular fanfare to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Luke and Laura's wedding. Though she reprised the role for only one month, Francis' stint garnered her aDaytime Emmy Nomination^[11] forOutstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, which she won in June 2007.^[12] Francis returned toGeneral Hospital in August 2008 to reprise her role, appearing until November 12. In December 2008, she had a starring role in theHallmark Channel movie,The Note, which earned her critical acclaim. On January 31, 2009, Francis reprised her role of Peyton MacGruder in the Hallmark Channel movie,Taking a Chance on Love. In 2012, she again reprised her role as Peyton MacGruder in the Hallmark Channel movieNotes from the Heart Healer.^[13]

In March 2011, it was announced that Francis would joinThe Young and the Restless asGenevieve Atkinson, the long-absent birth mother ofCane Ashby. With her appearance, she was reunited with formerGeneral Hospital co-starTristan Rogers, who portrayed Colin Atkinson, Cane's estranged biological father. She received her secondDaytime Emmy nomination in the category ofOutstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Genevieve in May 2012.^[14]

On September 13, 2012, it was announced that Francis had been let go from her role onThe Young and the Restless due to budget cuts.^[15] On January 8, 2013, executive producerFrank Valentini andEntertainment Weekly confirmed that Francis would return toGeneral Hospital, first airing on February 11. However, she remained with the series for only five months, as Laura departed for medical treatment in France, returning on June 5, 2015, as part of a storyline to help facilitate Anthony Geary's departure from the show and would later sign a contract to remain with the show.^[16] In January 2018, Francis was dropped to recurring status^[17] and in late July 2018 signed a contract to return toGeneral Hospital full-time.^[18][19][20]

Francis owned a store called The Cherished Home.^[21] It was located at 31 Searsport Avenue, Belfast, Maine 04915, and they also sold items online. The store sold cottage furnishings and home accessories. Francis sold the store in August 2012, due to her workload onThe Young and the Restless. The store closed in the fall of 2012.^{[citation needed]}

In May 2007, Francis began appearing in magazine advertisements as a spokesperson for theMedifast Diet, claiming she lost 30 pounds as of December 2007, using the diet.

In November 2009, Francis along with her brothers, Ivor Jr. and Kenneth releasedIt's Christmas Time Again.^[22] They decided to donate a part of all record sales to theSisters of Saint Francis Children's Mission inCuernavaca, a mission founded by her cousin Sister Margaret.^[23] Francis decided to donate all of her proceeds/sales to this mission. This endeavor was a project involving various members of her family.^{[citation needed]}

Francis first met actor/directorJonathan Frakes in 1982 while filming the television miniseriesBare Essence. After meeting again in 1984 during the filming of the miniseriesNorth and South, Francis and Frakes began dating in 1985. They became engaged the following year, and were married on May 28, 1988. The couple have two children, Jameson Ivor Frakes and Elizabeth Frances Frakes. After residing inBelfast, Maine, they moved toBeverly Hills, California, in 2008 and later relocated toCalabasas, California.^[24]

• Genie Francis atIMDb
• Genie Francis onTwitter
• Genie Francis Discusses Her Christmas CDArchived 2009-10-24 at theWayback Machine
• Genie Francis profile at Soap Central
• Genie Francis to Guest Star in Web Series
• Genie Francis atThe Interviews: An Oral History of Television

• 1962 births
• 20th-century American actresses
• 21st-century American actresses
• American film actresses
• American people of Canadian descent
• American people of Lithuanian descent
• American soap opera actresses
• American television actresses
• Daytime Emmy Award winners
• Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series winners
• Living people
• People from Calabasas, California
• Actresses from Englewood, New Jersey

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