Daily News from New York, New York • 424

1. You 3 By SHERRYL CONNELLY AURA'S LEAVING Luke. Yes, wmm it's true. The stars of ABC's daytime 4- 4 'Iff, phenomenon in daytime television. It seemed everyone, everywhere, was tuning in daily to see if Luke and Laura would: a) elude the Mafia hit man on their trail, and b) finally sleep together.

They did and they didn't Well, they did sleep together once, but broke up immediately afterward. And throughout that winter their many newly won fans three-quarters of whom fall into the advertisers' lucrative 18-to-34 age group 6tay tuned to see if Luke and Laura would do it again. On the show, meanwhile, Rick and Lesley were divorced, Alan tried to kill Monica while Heather escaped from the asylum on the same night, Diane was mysteriously shot and Jeff and Ann fell in love. But these subplots were like morsels thrown as a sop to wolves hungry for more Luke and Laura. So last summer, the two were sent off again.

This time to save the world. A madman on a desert island had devised a plot to lower the world temperature to the point where human blood turns to chipped ice. Luke and Laura thwarted him just in time it was getting pretty chilly back home in Port Charles. They returned heroes, and they wed late this fall. s-sfe- hit, "General Hospital," had just been married (on Nov.

17) and the publicity the wedding received was second only to that of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Even Elizabeth Taylor demanded to be invited. But it's often the case that those who make headlines as the perfect couple one moment slide into splits-ville the next "It was a very emotional decision to leave and I didn't make it intelligently," agonizes Laura (in reality, actress Genie Francis) in a telephone interview from the West Coast. "It just came to. me quickly one day when I was having lunch at the Brown Derby with a reporter. I just blurted out, 'I'm she said.

Luke (actor Tony Geary) deserved better than that. No newlywed should suffer the humiliation of reading in Variety about the impending end of his marriage. "I feel terribly guilty," says Francis, but hastens to add that Geary and "everyone else" approve of her defection. By "everyone else," Francis means the rest of the cast of the top-rated soap opera. "They think I'm making the right decision," she says.

"I need a break," she.adds. "After all, I've given the show the best years of my life my teenage years." Francis doesn't say it, but it's possible some of the senior members of the cast think that they need a break, too. From her. Or rather, from her celebrity. Although the coupling of Luke and Laura has resulted in unprecedented ratings for "General Hospital," it has caused other plot lines and characters to be shoved to the side.

This, of course, has created resentment and "General Hospital" regulars have been known to mutter about the matter in public from time to time. Francis films her final episode. Dec. 31. couldn't continue on with this daily grind," she explains, in a soft, sweet voice.

"Five years of Laura has been too much. I've gone from murdering my lover -to saving the world." i UT EVEN AS Laura was waltz vr'ri 8 ing down the aisle, Genie Francis was making noises Demi Moore, seen here on the Jan. '81 cover of Oui magazine, will Join the General Hospital cast next month in the role of Jackie Templeton. The 19-year-old actress is a.fan of the Nu-Kats band and Katharine Hepburn. WPPWMi.ll'jfli 'WHLW-wnwjuipiBp.

JJ L'Hiijipiii' i jp i. lip lliilffriW about leaving the show. She told the press that she wanted to leave the set to go to college. Meanwhile, her agent was negotiating a deal with CBS that would give her the opportunity to do both feature and TV films as well as a sitcom. "I'm a young, young person and this is no time to play it safe." says 20-year-old Francis.

"This is the time to roll the dice, professionally speaking. I'm going to go for the moon and the stars, like everyone else," she says. But what about Luke? What about the show? What about her fans, the 14 million who tune into "General Hospital" daily? "The people who watch the show really care about me. They write me beautiful letters," Francis says. "I think they'll be happy for me." But a Luke (whose contract runs IOW WILL LAURA leave "General ABC won't tell.

It's a cardinal when he suggests Laura join him for a quick cup of coffee, we also know we won't be seeing her again soon. Here's the scenario we favor. Luke leaves Laura. Improbable? Sure, but this is a soap opera, remember? Somehow Luke develops amnesia (the details can be worked out later). He's wandering the streets of Port Charles looking for a key to his identity.

He meets Jackie Templeton and is drawn to her. Laura, who's been holding dinner for Luke for several days, looks out the window and sees the two together. She assumes the worst Not stopping to ask questions, she hails a cab to the airport and boards a plane which is hijacked by a radical group. The whole town pitches in to come up with the ransom, but still Laura doesn't return. Next heard from, she is robbing a bank in San Francisco.

rule, says the show's publicist, that you never discuss what's going to happen next in daytime television. Well, rules are -made to be broken, so here are our possible resolutions: Laura could casually announce that she's off to the corner to buy milk. When she doesn't return, Luke first assumes the deli is closed and she had to walk a few extra blocks. But by the time the late show is over and still no Laura, Luke would go wild. Where's his wife? Where's his hot chocolate? The fans love it when Luke goes wild.

Laura runs into her former husband, Scottie, who has been acting strangely of late. He showed up at the wedding and fought with Luke. Then he cleaned up his act and started talking about what a great couple Luke and Laura make. We know he's not sincere, though, and JARD TO BELIEVE it's only Ify been five years since young Laura Webber, the 14-year-old until the end of '82) without a Laura might be very much the sound of one hand clapping. What's the producer to do? Kill off Laura? A possibility, but one that sidelines Luke.

After all, fans are going to resist Luke getting romantically involved so soon after his young bride's death. And it's axiomatic that Luke has to be romantically Involved. Or Laura could be replaced. Both on the show and in Luke's affections. No, we don't mean a new Laura, but rather a new love interest for Luke.

Jackie Templeton? Probably. But first Laura must be got rid of. All Francis will say is that Laura is; going to make an "exciting exit" from', the show sometime In January. tr i illegitimate daughter of Dr. Lesley Webber, first appeared on the show.

Back then, the ratings of "General Hospital" were faltering. But soon Laura began dating an "older" man. Then she murdered him. Next, a little more grown up and wiser, having evaded the murder rap, she fell in love with Scottie Baldwin, a handsome young law "student All the viewers loved Laura and Scottie and, after only a year's worth of setbacks (not a long time in terms of soap opera development), the two E. 01 8" 4 i I SB The young couple took it all in stride, though, until Laura fell in love with her rapist This young man was, of course, Luke and lLura ran off tardier in were finally allowed to wed.

As newlyweds, Laura and Scottie had the usual problems. They couldn't find an inlaws wer, interfering; they wer short money Laura was raped wanted her dead. the sammeCpf '80 and I. i.H jLS.