Actress apologizes for ‘GH’ departure

In case anyone is still carrying a grudge from 1982, Genie Francis would like her fans to know she’s sorry.

The actress played Laura on the ABC daytime soap opera “General Hospital,” and her fairy-tale wedding to Luke (played by Anthony Geary) riveted 30 million viewers in 1981 and landed the couple on the cover of Newsweek.

Now Francis is apologizing for quitting the show the following year. “I’m sorry for leaving you so abruptly, for not taking into account the feelings of the people who helped Laura truly take on a life of her own,” the 45-year-old actress said in a statement Thursday. “It was the decision of a young, impetuous girl, and the woman she has become asks for your forgiveness.”