General Hospital star Jonathan Jackson earned his sixth Daytime Emmy for Supporting Performance in a Daytime Drama Series during the October 17 ceremony. The soap veteran became emotional as he thanked his family and costars in his acceptance speech.
Jackson notably gave a shoutout to Anthony Geary, who played his TV dad, Luke Spencer, on General Hospital for decades until his retirement in 2015. “Even though I didn’t get to work with you this time around, the truth is, you are with me in every single scene I do,” Jackson said in his acceptance speech about Geary. He also took a moment to thank Genie Francis, who plays his TV mom, Laura Spencer. “I owe you a debt of love that I will never be able to repay,” he admitted.
Jackson also mentioned his longtime onscreen love, Rebecca Herbst, who plays Elizabeth Webber, and his GH pal Steve Burton, who plays Jason Morgan, as well as executive producer Frank Valentini and the ABC soap’s writers.
The actor returned to General Hospital in 2024 after nearly 10 years away. He originated the role of Lucky Spencer, Luke and Laura’s son, in 1993 when he was just 11 years old.
After just nine months, Jackson decided to leave Port Charles once again earlier this year. The Nashville star’s home base with his family is in Tennessee, while GH films in Los Angeles. The traveling back and forth was tough on the actor and his family.
“There was always that possibility because it was a bit of an experiment on my part to see if I could make it work with the family dynamic,” Jackson told TV Insider. “There were moments where I thought, ‘I think I can find this balance with the family and time back and forth,’ and then you just have to pray about it and try to do what you feel is right. We gave it our best shot, but we weren’t able to keep it going.”
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