General Hospital fans have loved watching Genie Francis as Laura Francis for almost 50 years after she joined the soap in 1977.
As Laura, Genie has long been a fan favorite with her character’s popularity, alongside her dramatic romantic pairings with Scott Baldwin and Luke Spencer, helping the show to find a wider audience.
But off screen, Laura has been happily married for almost 40 years.Find out more about her husband – and why you know him – here.
Genie’s wish comes true
Genie was born on May 26 1962 in New Jersey, and joined the ABC soap in 1977 at the age of 15.
Five years later, at the age of 20, she met actor Jonathan then 30, while they were filming the television miniseries Bare Essence.
Two years later they reunited for the miniseries North and South, and they fell in love.
“So we were on location in Charleston and Natchez, and we fell in love – and now, somehow, she wasn’t too young for me. So we have been together ever since our first date on North and South when we took a break for Memorial Day and went to New Orleans 38 years ago,” Jonathan said in 2023 of those first few months.
Wedding day
On May 28 1988, two days after Laura’s 26th birthday, the pair tied the knot, and went on to welcome two children, son Jameson Ivor and daughter Elizabeth Frances, who goes by Eliza and is also a budding writer and director.
“Eliza has this idea, because she was raised with the two of us, that this is how [things work]. And we both know that that’s not the case, right? So it’s hard, I would think, to come into a family where two people have been as fortunate as Genie and I have been,” he said of how his daughter may have unrealistic expectations of the industry.
Jonathan’s small screen success
In 1987 Jonathan was cast as William Riker in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, alongside Patrick Stewart. A spin-off from the original Star Trek series, the show is in the latter third of the 24th century and follows the adventures of the USS Enterprise and its crew.
Commander Riker is the ship’s first officer, a friend and colleague of Captain Picard, played by Patrick.
The show became an instant success, and Jonathan began working behind–the-scenes as well, directing episodes and going on to direct the movies Star Trek: First Contact and Star Trek: Insurrection.
Jonathan has remained a core part of the Star Trek franchise, as he has been involved in the follow-on series Deep Space Nine, Voyager, Enterprise, Discovery, Strange New Worlds, and Picard.
Later years
In the years after The Next Generation ended, Jonathan also appeared in several hit network shows including Roswell, Castle, Leverage, and NCIS: Los Angeles, all of which he also directed episodes.
In 2023 he appeared in his first Hallmark movie, A Biltmore Christmas, and has hosted Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction since 1998.
