It’s Only My Opinion: Honoring Late Legends Like General Hospital’s Luke, Young & Restless’s Katherine
Death has little meaning on soaps because most of the “late” characters turn up alive. But when an actor dies in real life, honoring them is Job One — as is keeping their legacy alive. Carolyn Hinsey takes a look at how the legacy of lost legends are handled on General Hospital, Young and Restless, Days of Our Lives, and Bold and Beautiful.
Gone But Not Forgotten
GH has worked overtime to keep the memories of Bobbie Spencer and Monica Quartermaine front and center, joined most recently by Luke Spencer. Anthony Geary retired in 2015 and Luke was later presumed dead in an off-camera accident. Fast forward to 2025 when Geary died in real life and the question became how to honor him when his character had already perished? Answer: Have Luke’s daughter, Lulu, who was in a coma when he died, reach out to her “stepmonster” Tracy in 2026 and ask for help memorializing him.
The premise was that Lulu found an old photo of Luke and it hit her that she never properly mourned her father. She and Tracy started at a church which felt wrong (“I know!” eye rolled Tracy to the sky), then Tracy paid a staffer at The Brown Dog to let them in before the bar opened. His name? Luke, the first of many easter eggs in this moving episode.
Lulu: “What was Dad’s drink?”
Tracy: “What wasn’t Dad’s drink? I’m not sure this is the best way to honor your father. He did have a drinking problem.”
Lulu: “Don’t tell him that.”
Elsewhere, Elizabeth dropped by Laura’s office to report that Aiden passed his driver’s test, which sparked a discussion about how Aiden comes by his love of cars honestly via his grandpa Luke. Laura then stopped into the church to remember her ex.
Laura (talking to Luke): “You were a force of nature. I see you in our kids’ refusal to live their lives small, and whenever I stand my ground. That’s why it’s so hard to accept you are gone. What we had was never really over for me. Our hearts are bonded; nothing can change that. Thank you for the dance, the adventure, and the love of a lifetime.”
She wiped her tears and headed to Bobbie’s to thank Carly for keeping it open after Luke’s dear sister died. Carly remarked that she and Sonny were just reminiscing about Luke after a poker chip turned up (another easter egg) and they wound up joining the group at the bar for a belated wake.
Sonny (to Lulu): “Your dad gave Tracy a run for her money.”
Tracy: “Literally.”
Sonny: “In some cultures people believe you die twice: Once when you take your last breath and then when your name is mentioned for the last time.”
Tracy: “Could ‘Jackass’ suffice? Luke would live on forever.”
Elizabeth: “Everyone’s rituals are different…”
Cue the lanterns set out on the water at the pier as Sonny intoned, “May he always roll sevens” and Laura decreed that with Luke it was always more “See you later” than good-bye.
Lulu (seeing Luke in the mist): “See you later, Dad.”
Sniff!
The key to a moving memorial is to honor the person fans knew (i.e. acknowledging Luke’s drinking and pursuit of danger/money/women) supported by flashbacks that highlight their life. GH got it right here, showcasing Luke and Laura jumping out of a plane… dancing at Wyndham’s… finding the house in Port Charles… giving birth to Lesley Lu when Lucky helped name her… the Triple L Diner exploding… their iconic wedding… and many more. It was everything we loved about Luke and his time on GH being celebrated by the OG players who knew him best.
Laura: “You don’t need a special occasion to miss someone.”
Amen.
In the same way that GH honors Bobbie with the diner, Y&R remembers Katherine Chancellor with Chancellor Park, the Chancellor Park Cafe, and the company that bears her name, which is still being fought over by the Newman, Abbott and Winters families. Just last week, Adam confirmed Billy Abbott had stolen Chancellor Industries from Newman Enterprises (with help from Phyllis).
Nikki: “That’s hard to hear. It was so nice knowing I was continuing Katherine’s legacy, making her proud. On long, hard days I would ask for advice and imagine what she would say. What would she say to me now?”
Victor: “That you ran the company brilliantly, and you will again.”
Nikki: “We don’t know that. How did things get so out of hand so quickly?”
That fakakta AI program, that’s how. Billy has a lot to prove to his mother Jill, who was Katherine’s hated rival for years and yet wound up with her company. Katherine would not be pleased that Billy wrestled Chancellor from her beloved Nikki, but karma is hot on Billy’s trail.
Billy: “What’s wrong with striving for the things everybody said you couldn’t have? We all have dreams. Mine just happens to be coming true right now.”
Sally: “The problem is when you get close, you get blinded — and I completely disappear. It’s over, we’re done.”
Billy: “Don’t do this.”
Sally: “You did this.”
It’s a testament to Katherine (and her beloved portrayer, Jeanne Cooper) that 13 years after her death her legacy can still spark so much drama.
Ditto DAYS’s Stefano DiMera, whose portrait has stared at his errant children every day since 2016 when he went missing (and when powerhouse Joseph Mascolo died in real life). The show finally addressed Stefano’s death in February after the bones from the DiMera crypt turned out to be his.
Tony: “I’m so sorry; another cruise interrupted.”
Anna: “Learning that your father is really and truly off to the great beyond, how could you have enjoyed the rest of our trip?”
How indeed? Gathering Salem’s OGs was the only way to honor The Phoenix, so having Steve, Kayla, Roman, Kate, Marlena, Chad, EJ, Kristen and Theo together was proper.
Theo: “Everyone’s behaving.”
Kristen: “Give it some time.”
Stefano’s urn became a talking point as Anna disapproved of the color (!) while Johnny, Kate and Marlena alternately talked to it. Marlena charitably told EJ that while Stefano’s chapter may be closed, the book is not because their families are connected. Cue the flashbacks of Patch thinking he was Stefano and Stefano dancing with Marlena, a.k.a. his Queen of the Night. Since this really seems like it was Stefano’s final good-bye, there should have been a million more snippets of his rich and dangerous life.
Kayla: “We are used to The Phoenix rising from the ashes but this time it’s going to be different.”
Yes it will. But the portrait remains.
Speaking of portraits, the exception to the rule that few characters stay dead on soaps is B&B’s Stephanie Forrester — because when Susan Flannery said she was retiring in 2012, she meant it. Stephanie’s picture remained on the mantel for years until the image of Eric’s next wife Quinn replaced it, to the chagrin of Stephanie’s loved ones. Currently, Eric’s own portrait stares down at his misbehaving family as they argue over whether he’s too old to be working for Katie at Logan.
Eric (to Bill, Katie, Donna, Ridge and Brooke): “I’m in the room! I’m old, but I’m not invisible. Getting old is an achievement. Respect your elders.”
The best stories do exactly that.
Hey. It’s only my opinion.
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