'General Hospital' Star Anthony Geary Dead at 78

Anthony Geary, who famously played Luke Spencer on "General Hospital," is dead ... TMZ has confirmed.

The soap opera star died Sunday in Amsterdam ... according to a family member.

Anthony's official cause of death is unclear, but there are reports he died as a result of complications from a planned surgery in Amsterdam.

Anthony won eight Daytime Emmy Awards and is mostly known for his role on "General Hospital" ... though he also made appearances on "The Partridge Family," "The Mod Squad," "All in the Family" and "The Young and the Restless."

On "General Hospital," Anthony and Genie Francis became the signature couple among soap operas ... and when their characters got married in 1981, a whopping 30 million people tuned in for the TV nuptials, with Hollywood icon Elizabeth Taylor -- a huge 'GH' fan -- making a cameo.

Anthony was born in Utah and raised by Mormon parents. He earned a theater scholarship to the University of Utah and got his career started as a stage actor before moving to Los Angeles in the 1970s and getting into Hollywood.

Anthony was 78.