Eugenie Ann Francis (born May 26, 1962) is an American actress. She is best known for playing the role of Laura Spencer on the television soap opera General Hospital from 1977 to present, for which she won a Daytime Emmy Award in 2007. Francis also appeared in the soap operas Days of Our Lives from 1987 to 1989, All My Children from 1990 to 1992 and The Young and the Restless from 2011 to 2012. Early life Francis was born in Englewood, New Jersey. Her father was Canadian actor Ivor Francis. Her mother, Rosemary Daley, is a former actress/model of Lithuanian descent. Genie has an older brother, Ivor Jr.; a younger brother, Kenneth; and an older half-sister, Shelley, from her father's first marriage. Career Francis began acting in the two part episode titled "Jury Duty" on the television series Family. Her biggest role came in 1977 with Laura Spencer on General Hospital as she was a recast. It would bring her instant stardom in the late 1970s. The television couple of Luke 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. 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 to General Hospital in 1983 for a limited run, to coincide with the departure of Luke when Anthony Geary decided to leave the series. Francis was also offered the lead role for the movie Splash but turned it down because she thought the script was silly. In 1984, 1986 and 1990, Francis guest starred on Murder, She Wrote as Jessica Fletcher's niece Victoria. In 1985, she starred in the miniseries North and South as Brett Main Hazard. Francis would reprise her role of Brett Main Hazard in 1986 and 1994 in the miniseries North and South: Book II and Heaven and Hell: North and South Book III respectively. In 1993, she starred in the television film Perry Mason: The Case of the Killer Kiss as Kris Buckner which was based on the CBS television series of the same name. In 1996, Francis provided the voice of Betty Ross on the Incredible Hulk animated series that ran on UPN. Through the years, Francis has appeared on numerous other