Genie Francis Outrage: Daytime Actors Speak Out In Support Of ‘General Hospital’ Actress

Genie Francis being demoted to recurring status on General Hospital has ruffled a lot of feathers. Fans have been speaking out on social media, tagging the show’s executives in tweets about how angry they are. A petition was started to give Francis back her full-time role as Laura Spencer. Unfortunately, it seems that General Hospital isn’t going to back down from their decision to cut the once-staple in Port Charles. Laura was a huge part of the show, but in recent years, things have gone a different way.

This has brought up talks of unequal pay among the male and female actors on General Hospital. The connection is Steve Burton’s return from a five-year hiatus. Since he has returned to the show, several characters have left or been given less screen time. While the correlation between Genie Francis’ demotion and the return of Burton has not been proven, it is a sticking point for a lot of the angry fans.

Since the announcement was made that Genie Francis was dropped to recurring status, other daytime actors have spoken out in support of her. Robin Strasser tweeted about the importance of Laura on General Hospital. Her sentiments were echoed by many. Strasser played Dorian Lord on the now-defunct ABC soap, One Life to Live. Women of daytime have a tendency to stick together, and this was just more proof of that. Also, William deVry tweeted his support for Francis as well. That was a rather bold move considering he was in contract negotiations for quite some time with the show. General Hospital had to rewrite his storyline when they finally agreed to a deal.

It is unclear whether or not the fan effort is in vain, or if General Hospital will actually take their feelings into consideration. Genie Francis was once the most well-known daytime actress. She was half of the Luke and Laura super couple. They dominated the early ’80s in daytime, and now, Luke (Anthony Geary) has retired from acting and Francis has been demoted. Sending her away during a storyline that could have catapulted her back into the limelight is sad for fans, especially those who have watched her over the last few decades. Genie is General Hospital, at least according to the trends on Twitter.