Ms. Francis got her start in television on General Hospital as a teenager (following a guest appearance on ABC's primetime series, Family) and literally grew up in the enormously popular role of Laura. The wedding of Laura to Luke Spencer (played by Anthony Geary) in November, 1981, remains the most-watched daytime drama event in the history of television. The fictional couple's romance even garnered a cover story in Newsweek magazine. It wasn't until 1997 that Francis received her first-ever Daytime Emmy nomination. In 2007, the actress won an Emmy in the Supporting Actress category.
In 1981, after five years on General Hospital, Ms. Francis left the show, returned briefly two years later, and again in 1984.
Following her work on General Hospital, Ms. Francis was featured in the television movie, Bare Essence, in 1982. The movie was then developed into a primetime series in which Ms. Francis re-created the starring role of Tyger Hayes. She also co-starred in the hit ABC miniseries, North and South (Books I and II), as the good Southern sister, Brett Main. Genie's extensive television work also included recurring appearances on Murder, She Wrote. Ms. Francis created the role of Ceara Connor on ABC's daytime drama, All My Children, in 1990. Her portrayal of an adult incest survivor earned her critical and viewer plaudits.
On the stage, she has appeared in Crimes of the Heart and See How They Run. In 1991, Ms. Francis appeared in the Williamstown Festival Theater production of Defying Gravity. That same year, she made her New York City debut in The Baby Dance at the Lucille Lortel Theatre in Greenwich Village. She also appeared in a Comedic Curtain Raiser at Manhattan Class Company for their festival of One Acts, called "The Group."
Ms. Francis has been seen in the television movie, Perry Mason and the Case of the Killer Kiss, and in Heaven and Hell, the third North and South installment.
Francis and her husband, actor/director Jonathan Frakes, reside in Los Angeles, along with their two children, Elizabeth, 11, and Jameson, 14. She also owns a cottage furnishings and home accessories store in Maine called The Cherished Home.
May 27, 2011 to November 2, 2012
TV You Control: Bar Karma
2011
Taking a Chance on Love
Peyton Macgruder
2009
The Note
Peyton Macgruder
2007
Roswell
2000
Oh Baby
Rachel
2000
3rd Rock From the Sun
Gwen McMichael
February 8, 2000
Terror in the Shadows
Sarah
1995
Heaven & Hell: North & South, Book III
Brett Hazard
1994
Perry Mason: The Case of the Killer Kiss
Kris Buckner
1993
Loving
Ceara Connor Hunter
1991
Ceara Connor Hunter
1990-1992
Diana Colville Winters
1987-1989
North and South II
Brett Main Hazard
1986
North and South
Brett Main Hazard
1985
Murder, She Wrote
Victoria Brandon Griffin
1984, 1986 and 1990
Bare Essence
Tyger Hayes
1983
December 28, 1976 to January 15, 1982; November 14, 1983 to December 27, 1983; November 9, 1984 to December 11, 1984; October 29, 1993 to September 6, 2002; October 26, 2006 to November 22, 2006; August 26, 2008 to November 12, 2008; February 11, 2013 to August 28, 2013; June 5, 2015 to January 22, 2018
HEIGHT: 5'5"
HAIR: Blonde
EYES: Blue
MARITAL STATUS: Married, Jonathan Frakes [May 28, 1988]
CHILDREN: Two; Son, Jameson [Aug 20, 1994] and Daughter, Elizabeth [May 30, 1997]