General Hospital’s Genie Francis to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award at 2026 Daytime Emmys
General Hospital star Genie Francis (Laura Collins), one of the most iconic actors in soap opera history, will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2026 Daytime Emmys, which are taking place on October 30.
Genie Francis Will Receive Daytime Emmys’ Highest Honor
Francis will take home the Daytime Emmys’ highest honor as she approaches the 50th anniversary of her GH debut as Laura. The actress was 14 years old when her first episode as Laura aired on February 8, 1977.
“I want to offer my deepest gratitude to the leadership of NATAS for honoring me with this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award,” Francis said in a statement. “This February marks 50 years since I first portrayed Laura on General Hospital. Stepping onto that set at just 14, I could never have imagined the extraordinary journey that lay ahead”
She continued, “I am deeply grateful to have been welcomed onto your television screens and into your homes for five decades; for the love, support, and loyalty I’ve been given; and for the privilege of being a small part of your lives.
Thank you to NATAS, my colleagues, the daytime community and, most of all, the viewers. My career in daytime television has truly been the adventure of a lifetime, and I am deeply honored by this recognition.”
The president and CEO of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, Adam Sharp, remarked, “We are thrilled to celebrate Genie Francis’ remarkable career. From Port Charles and beyond, she has left an indelible mark on the landscape of daytime television, and she continues to tackle bold topics as a courageous storyteller to this day.”
Genie Francis’ Career in Daytime and Beyond
General Hospital was Francis’ second television credit (the first was a 1976 episode of the prime-time series Family). By the time she first exited the show in 1982, Francis was one of the biggest superstars in soap opera history, with Laura’s on-screen pairing with Anthony Geary (Luke Spencer) making GH the hottest show on TV. A record 30 million viewers tuned in to watch Laura walk down the aisle with Luke in 1981.
Francis returned to GH for visits in 1983 and 1984. Then, from 1987-89, she returned to daytime as Diana Colville on Days of Our Lives. From 1990-92, she starred on All My Children as Ceara Connor. In 1993, she made her triumphant return to Port Charles, playing Laura until 2002. She reprised the role of Laura in 2006 and 2008, earning the Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in 2007.
From 2011-12, Francis played Genevieve Atkinson on The Young and the Restless. She then came back to GH for another short-term run in 2013, returning full-time in 2015.
Outside of her illustrious career in daytime, Francis has notched a wide range of other television credits, including the miniseries North and South and its two sequels, Bare Essence, Perry Mason: The Case of the Killer Kiss, Murder, She Wrote, Roseanne, Roswell and 3rd Rock from the Sun. Her stage work includes Crimes of the Heart, the world premiere of Defying Gravity at the Williamstown Theatre Festival and the off-Broadway production of The Baby Dance at the Lucille Lortel Theatre, which marked her New York City stage debut.
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