Many soap stars did not like to travel…but I did. Mr. Chenowitz got in touch with me and asked me to come to a mall he managed in South Bend, Indiana.
I met him in his upstairs office. And he was smiling big. He handed me a check for two thousand dollars. When it was time, he escorted me to the escalator that went to the first floor.
All of a sudden they saw me coming and began screaming. I didn’t think I was ready for this and thought about climbing the escalator back to the second floor. But I didn’t.
Some of the ladies were holding up hand made signs . There was a small stage and a sound system. I was told to bring some cassettes and I did. I picked some people out and they danced with me on the stage. That is when I was bitten by the mall bug. When I arrived back to Los Angeles I got a call from Mr C. Saying that many other malls wanted to book me.
Then of course there were interviews with magazines like Soap Opera digest. They ran the article with pictures of me at Luke’s Disco.
Before GH I was not well known. Now I couldn’t go anywhere. I would go to the car wash and the lady at the counter would ask me questions about the cast. I would go to the supermarket and buy my vegetables . People would come up to me and ask what is Genie Francis really like? I was even in church once and a man told me I was helping his daughter lose weight because of the show.
Some days I would go home and wonder how did all this happen to me. I was just an aerobic instructor helping people get fit.
I have to tell you about soap opera festivals. They were held at hotels . Ten or so soap opera stars would sit behind a table and autograph their pictures. When I arrived there was already a line formed at my table. I am left handed so I had to be very careful that my messages on the photos did not smear. Some did smear and I’d throw it away then I signed another one.
The day arrived…. Luke and Laura were getting married. It was the most watched daytime show on tv. 30 million people were glued to their set. I was on that yacht sipping apple juice from a champagne flute. Luke and Laura looked so happy you would think they really were getting married.
In another message I will tell you why I left GH. Decades later, the new executive producer asked me to come back to the show…and I did. Some of the original cast members were still there. Some of the other cast members I didn’t know at all. It was all about the nurses ball.
I shot for about three weeks. I did have a lot of fun but I felt a little out of place. I was asked to do more episodes but it really wasn’t in my heart. Again when I walked down the street people would shout, “Go back to GH they miss you.”
One day I asked Genie Francis out for dinner. She is married to Jonathan Frakes, A handsome man who is also an actor. I used to watch him on the tv show Star Trek. Genie has two children Elizabeth and Jameson. We laughed and talked about the old times on GH. When I was doing an infomercial taping at Slimmons, Genie snuck in to surprise me.
I then asked Anthony and Jane to have dinner with me . Mr G came to my house and brought me several books that he thought I would enjoy reading. Jane met us at the restaurant dressed in a beautiful kimono looking jacket. We talked a lot. Mr G retired and lives a quiet life in Amsterdam. I am sure he is still reading up a storm. Ms Elliot is still on GH entertaining the millions.
I will never forget the friendships that I made on this soap opera. Who knows…maybe some of these actors and actresses will get in touch with me after writing these messages.
