This piece appeared in Soap Opera Magazine on February 9, 1999.

Anthony Geary's Moving Eulogy to GH's Beloved Norma Connolly Rodman

This week, GH will lay to rest Aunt Ruby, the character played by Norma Connolly Rodman, who died last November. She will be missed by her many fans and castmates, among them Anthony Geary (Luke), who played Ruby's nephew and who gave a moving eulogy at her memorial service. Here, in its entirety, are Geary's own words on how he felt about this remarkable woman:

"Norma joined the cast of General Hospital in 1979. She played the irrepressible Ruby Anderson, former madam, owner, cook, and chief bottle-washer of Kelly's Diner. Ruby was the aunt of Luke and Bobbie Spencer and anything but the typical, glossy garden-variety soap opera character. She was a working-class, salt-of-the-earth, pull-yourself-up-by-the-boot-straps kind of gal. A dignified survivor of an extremely undignified past. If you lived in Port Charles, you could always count on Ruby for a good cup of coffee and a shoulder to cry on or a room to crash in if you needed it. She was also good for a stern reprimand if she thought you deserved it. Justice, decency, compassion, and a fair deal for the underdog was her creed.

"These same qualities prevailed in Norma's personal and professional life, as demonstrated by her work through the years with many different causes, support groups, and organizations, such as California's State Commission on the Status of Women, Hollywood Helps, and as a member of the board of directors for both AFTRA and the Screen Actors Guild. She believed firmly in equal opportunity for all, equal pay, workers' rights, solidarity, and the importance of a strong labor union. To have to cross a picket line would make her physically ill.

"Norma's Ruby was a woman who endured more than her share of bad breaks and had seen too many acts of cruelty to be heartless or unkind herself. She was never insensitive to people's needs and could never bring herself to exploit their flaws or weaknesses. But if you crossed her or anyone she loved, you risked open warfare with a formidable opponent. To this end, Norma developed a quality in Ruby that she reserved for characters who meant her or her loved ones harm. It was delicious. I can only describe it as a withering, bone-chilling, overt contempt.

"Ruby was a champion fighter--strong, ethical, empathic--without a shred, an iota, of self-pity or self-aggrandizement. To use an annoying cliche, Ruby was real. Audiences knew it and loved her.

"Norma crafted a full, flesh-and-blood character from her life's experience, who was tough yet open, accessible, reliable, genuine. Ruby was someone you'd like to know, someone you'd be lucky to have as a friend or relative, because Ruby Anderson would love you unconditionally and stand fearlessly by you when the chips were down.

"Ruby was Norma under other, very specific, circumstances--which is, in a nutshell, the clue to all great acting. Ask Ruby's opinion, and you'd always get the truth as she saw it. Ask Norma, and you could expect no less. Ruby, like Norma, was a devoted friend and a fearless advocate. In a word, she was courageous. Her courage was generous and infectious; just knowing her gave others courage. Am I talking about Ruby now or Norma? I forget.

"Like her counterpart, Norma was never one to stick her nose in other people's business. During the 20 years I knew and worked with her, I cannot recall one instance where she passed on gossip or innuendo. When it came to a person's personal life, everybody had the right to be or do whatever suited them. Norma was not a judge and she refused to participate in the deliberations of self-appointed juries. The details and choices of real people's lives were not entertainment to Norma.

"As warm and open as she could be, she never failed to maintain a clear sense of boundary. She held a healthy regard for personal privacy and she could be counted on utterly to keep a confidence. Today I'd venture to say that on Wednesday when she passed away she took a lot of our secrets with her.

"Norma Connolly's Ruby Anderson graciously supported and animated the life and times of mythical Port Charles for 20 years. They were two tough-crusted cookies with one enormous marshmallow heart.

"Norma did not consider herself a great actress; she often referred to herself as a journeyman actor. (One who has learned her trade well, is experienced and reliable, but not necessarily brilliant or colorful.) But in fact, Norma Connolly was a master craftsman in the tradition of master craftsmen who pass on the stories and mythology of their craft and a lifetime of personal knowledge and experience through example. She was the consummate professional to the end.

"I wager that during the last 20 years on General Hospital, Norma inadvertently, and/or intentionally, taught more young actors their craft than most of the schools and acting labs in Los Angeles. No kidding, for a while there, Kelly's Diner looked a lot like Norma's Acting Emporium.

"Norma's motivations to act weren't fame. She didn't do it for busloads of screaming fans. She didn't crave attention or awards. Norma wasn't seeking great wealth or her name above the title. She didn't have a fragile, shattered ego that required public tending. Simply put, Norma did it for "the work." She gave herself completely because she loved the job and the art of acting. She loved the process and the fellowship of like-minded artistic temperaments. She loved her character and the show. She never wasted a second, looking down on the medium of daytime or taking for granted the good fortune any actor has to enjoy a good, steady job.

"It was obvious that she adored actors and writers, but she also had the highest regard for directors, technicians, and craftspeople of all description. Norma respected anyone who worked hard and took pride in the outcome. And if they did it well, well, that was someone special. There was no hierarchy of position with Norma; she was unimpressed with the illusion of power. She was a pure egalitarian and not the least bit shy about telling you so.

"Norma prided herself on being what she called 'the last unlifted face in Hollywood.' And, oh, what a face! Gentle. Warm. Open. Strong. Vulnerable. She had a solid, unassuming beauty and a practical Yankee elegance that spoke of understated taste, high intelligence, and steely determination. Like all good actors, Norma's eyes were her most refined and telling feature. Their brilliant blue brimmed with wit, ached with empathy, flared with anger, set in defiance, and shined with pride.

"At times, when she was being sly or naughty, they'd playfully twinkle behind a big, broad smile and a knowing wink. She could flutter girlish eyelashes with the best of them when she chose to produce a ruthless parody of coy. All followed by her rich, distinctive, rolling, baritone laugh. It is the warm, velvet gravel of that laugh, the constancy of her love and friendship, and the depth of her humanity that I will miss the most. All these she gave freely to her colleagues at work and to her audience through work. I, like millions of her other fans, will dearly miss our sweet Aunt Ruby.

"And so, now I must stand alone in Kelly's Diner. It's dark... cold... the doors are locked... the jukebox unplugged. Stacks of dirty dishes rattle 'goodnight' on their way to the kitchen for soaking and scrubbing. The never-empty coffeepot hits an unprecedented bottom. Cacophonies of endless dialogue fade around me, only the sound of Norma's deep, soothing voice remains. 'I am a caveat, sweetheart,' I hear her say. 'I'm a sturdy old lighthouse with a stubborn, unquenchable beacon. I'll always be here, in your heart, reminding you to beware the rocky, ragged shore of indifference. Beware the ever-swirling winds of false and foggy judgment. Beware the ebbing tides of foolish pride and self-delusion. Be ever aware, alert, on guard against a closed and remote heart. Raise your head, your hopes; have courage, keep focused, be determined... there is life and grace in the eye of every hurricane. I was living proof."

Sidebar: Anthony Geary Remembers His Friend Norma Connolly Rodman

"When I think of Norma, I think of her unconditional love and support, friendship, and her laugh"
by Anne Marie Allocca

On Nov. 18, the GH cast was stunned by the death of veteran actress and consummate professional Norma Connolly Rodman, who had portrayed Ruby Anderson since 1979. This week the soap pays tribute to Connolly Rodman--as well as Ruby--with a touching memorial service.

In the storyline, Ruby has indicated in the papers she left that she didn't want a big funeral. Instead, she wanted her friends and family to gather at Kelly's, sip some coffee, and reminisce about their times with her.

Anthony Geary (Luke) spoke with SOM about the tearful farewell--to both the character and the woman. "It was emotionally challenging to be that vulnerable. It was also a fitting closure to Ruby. And Norma was a good friend of mine," he says quietly.

But Geary wasn't at all concerned with trying to keep his feelings in check during these emotionally charged scenes. "I don't know that it's necessary to separate yourself [from your character] because the relationship is so similar, and so much of our time was spent together as Ruby and Luke. It occurs to me that Luke might express [his feelings] not as Tony, and if the emotion overcomes me, I have to just let it be. Whereas, I learned a long time ago that it's much more interesting to watch an actor try not to cry than to watch him try to cry. So it's all translatable. Life is very translatable into acting.

"This has been a sad couple of years for us at General Hospital, starting with losing John [Beradino, Steve]," Geary continues. "In many of our hearts, it will always be John's show, so it's very difficult as actors to lose such historical people and characters. It's difficult to separate [the emotions], and I don't think it's appropriate, necessarily, to separate them unless your character hated the other person. It's an odd thing to even talk about and an even odder thing to experience, but it's not an unusual fact of life."

Geary wrote a moving eulogy to his friend and co-star which he read at Connolly Rodman's memorial service last November. Some of his words have been incorporated into the scenes airing this week.

"They asked me to send them the eulogy so the writers could see how Norma and Ruby were, to me, the same person. And they wanted to give the writers an insight. I believe they also asked Jackie [Zeman, Bobbie] to give them some recollections," says Geary.

The poem at the end of the eulogy will be heard during the scenes. Geary, known for often tweaking his scripts, found himself changing the words he'd written in tribute to Connolly Rodman. "I found it interesting because I had to rewrite it. It worked as a eulogy, but for me it didn't work with what we were going to do. I didn't change it that much--it was more poetic," says Geary, the irony not escaping him. "The older I get and the longer I'm on the show, art keeps imitating life."

Geary doesn't hesitate when asked to recollect some special times he shared with Norma and Ruby.

"My number-one memories are of Norma, not of Ruby. Ruby was a creation of Norma; she invented an enormous amount of her, her sensibility, which all good actors do. Norma was a damn good actor as well as a great friend. When I think of Norma, I think of her unconditional love and support, friendship, and her laugh. We were close, as Ruby and Luke were close. When we were in New York once, I took her to visit the New York home of Ron Woods [of the Rolling Stones]. I had met him and his family in Jamaica. When I was going to visit him, I asked Norma if she wanted to come, and she said, 'I wouldn't miss it.' We had a great time. I think of Ruby as a dignified survivor who was honest and had a lot of heart." says Geary.

As for his favorite scene with the esteemed actress, Geary says the scene was on his Emmy reel the year he took home the statue for best actor. "That was when Ruby was in the hospital. That has always been one of my favorite scenes," he says. "Another one was a Thanksgiving that Bobbie and Luke had at Ruby's some years ago, where we improvised wildly about who would cut the bird. We always had a good time. And Jackie did too. I'm sure she would tell you the same thing."

Geary received a card from his former co-star Loanne Bishop (ex-Rose), who upon leaving GH passed on her character's place of business to Ruby. He felt her words expressed the feelings of many when speaking of Connolly Rodman. "One line she said is so true," Geary recounts. "She said, 'She touched me so, and I always looked up to her as a kind of moral, ethical guide.' I think a lot of us felt that way about Norma. She was devoted to her craft, her profession, and her colleagues. She was nice to be around."