Legendary Hollywood icon implored for a guest-starring role on . The late actress, made an appearance on the ABC soap in 1981. She played the villianess Helena Cassadine, the widow of evil Mikkos Cassadine, who crashed Luke (Anthony Geary) and Laura's (Genie Francis) wedding and cursed the couple.
Luke and Laura wedding was a historic event for General Hospital and for the popular supercouple. The ceremony aired on November 16 and 17, 1981 and drew a record-breaking audience of 30 million. Elizabeth's time on the show was brief as she did a five episode stint.
But the character of Helena remained significant in General Hospital as Dimitra Arliss went on to play her in 1996. But Constance Towers took over fully for the role in 1997 and has played Helena on and off since. Her last appearance was in 2023.
The Cleopatra star was a huge fan of the show which is something she also shared with PEOPLE at the time saying: "I'm wild about . Someone from [ABC] came to see me when I was doing The Little Foxes in New York, and I agreed to do the soap when I got to L.A.
I had a ball." In a , with Anthony who played Luke and the late Jacklyn Zeman who played Nurse Bobbie Spencer, they shared insight into Elizabeth being on the show. Anthony disclosed that the reason she was drawn to General Hospital.
At the time, she was married to Senator John Warber and was reportedly unhappy with her life sitting on their farm in Virginia. It was GH and the Ice Princess storyline that "took her out of her lethargy every afternoon." "Luke and Laura's love story made Elizabeth feel very nostalgic.
She said it reminded her of her youth and the great romance films of the old studio system." Anthony said. Jacklyn added that the show gave her real pleasure.
" and commended Elizabtheth's carefree attitude which she called an inspiration. She said Elizabeth "didn't need anybody's validation." and "was the ultimate cool girl.
" Jacklyn explained that during that time Elizabeth guest role "broke the rules" because soap stars didn't didn't do primetime and primetime stars didn't do movies for example since the industry "was compartmentalized." As Elizabeth Taylor left a mark on the show as she had done in life and her career. The British-American was the first example of modern celebrity culture.
She also created a perfume empire, was the first actress to successfully negotiate a $1 million salary ($10 million today) and was the first globally recognized activist for HIV and AIDs. She dealt with a lot with the tabloids from the ridicule of her eight marriages to classifying her as a "sex symbol" which she rejected. Elizabeth passed away in 2011 of congestive heart failure at the age of 79.
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