Jane Elliot Says Tracy and Luke’s Romance Was “Worth the Wait!”
There may have been some longtime GENERAL HOSPITAL fans who were devastated when supercouple Luke and Laura were no more. But Laura’s loss turned out to be Tracy’s gain, as the latter’s portrayer, Jane Elliot, shared during a recent episode of the popular podcast That’s Awesome! With Steve & Bradford.
While discussing her storied history on the soap, Elliot revealed that Luke’s portrayer, the legendary Anthony Geary, had done his GH screentest with her — and she felt an instant connection with the actor! “He tested for the role of Mitch Williams, who was the husband that Susan Moore slept with on my wedding night,” Elliot said, recalling that their scene took place on Tracy’s set, where Geary was sitting at a desk at the bottom of a staircase.
“Tony was doing tic-tac-toe, doodling, waiting for me to make my entrance and come down the stairs. I just walked over, took the pencil out of his hand, and did an X, and he did an O, and it was just life. He and I instantly trusted each other, instantly followed where the other would lead.”
As any soap fan worth their salt knows, Geary wasn’t cast in that role; Christopher Pennock ended up playing Mitch from 1979-’80. Geary, of course, was hired to play another role, that of rogue Lucas Lorenzo Spencer, which then-executive producer Gloria Monty had written specifically for the actor.
But even though Geary was hired for the soap and Luke and Tracy would occasionally cross paths, it would be decades before Geary and Elliot shared a real storyline. And that began in 2005 with Luke and Tracy’s drunken Las Vegas wedding and marriage of convenience. “It took years, years, for us to finally work together,” she shared. “Because he was ‘Luke and Laura’ — hey were a phenomenal couple. It took a long, long time ‘til I got to have my turn with Tony. And it was well worth the wait.”
Indeed it was! While Laura may have been Luke’s past, Tracy is his present, as the couple is currently living together in Amsterdam. That is, when Tracy isn’t back in Port Charles stirring up trouble!
