Finola Hughes (born 29 October 1959) is an English actress, best known for her role as

Anna Devane ''General Hospital'' is the longest-running American television serial drama, airing on ABC. Created by Frank and Doris Hursley, who originally set it in a general hospital (hence the title), in an unnamed fictional city. In the 1970s, the cit ...

on the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

soap operas ''

General Hospital ''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the list of longest-running television shows by category, longest-running American soap opera in pro ...

'' and ''

All My Children ''All My Children'' (often shortened to ''AMC'') is an American television soap opera that aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from January 5, 1970, to September 23, 2011, and on The Online Network (TOLN) from April 29 to September 2, 20 ...

'', and her portrayal of Laura in the 1983 film '' Staying Alive'', the sequel to ''

Saturday Night Fever ''Saturday Night Fever'' is a 1977 American dance drama film directed by John Badham and produced by Robert Stigwood. It stars John Travolta as Tony Manero, a young Italian-American man from the Brooklyn borough of New York. Manero spends his ...

''. She is also known for her portrayal of Anna Devane's identical twin, Alexandra "Alex" Devane on ''

'' and

Patty Halliwell ''Charmed'' is an American television series that was originally broadcast by The WB for eight seasons from October 7, 1998, until May 21, 2006. The series narrative follows a trio of sisters, known as the Charmed Ones, the most powerful good w ...

on the supernatural series, ''

Charmed ''Charmed'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by Constance M. Burge and produced by Aaron Spelling and his production company Spelling Television, with Brad Kern serving as showrunner. The series was originally broadcast ...

''. She also portrayed Carol in the final seasons of the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

sitcom ''

Blossom In botany, blossoms are the flowers of stone fruit trees (genus ''Prunus'') and of some other plants with a similar appearance that flower profusely for a period of time in spring. Colloquially, flowers of orange are referred to as such as wel ...

''. Hughes has also appeared in the films, ''

Aspen Extreme ''Aspen Extreme'' is a 1993 American drama film written and directed by Patrick Hasburgh. The plot is about two ski buddies, T.J. Burke (Paul Gross) and Dexter Rutecki (Peter Berg), who move from Brighton, Michigan to Aspen, Colorado to seek a be ...

'', '' Above Suspicion'' and '' Like Crazy''.

Career

Hughes trained in dance and performing arts at the

Arts Educational Schools London Arts Educational Schools, or ArtsEd, is an independent performing arts school based in Chiswick in the London Borough of Hounslow. Overview ArtsEd provides specialist vocational training at secondary, further and higher education level in m ...

. In 1981, she originated the role of

Victoria the White Cat Victoria is a principal character in the 1981 musical ''Cats'', written by Andrew Lloyd Webber based on T. S. Eliot's 1939 ''Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats''. Primarily a dance role with no solo singing parts, the role demands extensive ba ...

in the London production of

Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948), is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 21 musicals, ...

's musical ''

Cats The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of t ...

''. In 1983, Hughes starred with

John Travolta John Joseph Travolta (born February 18, 1954) is an American actor. He came to public attention during the 1970s, appearing on the television sitcom ''Welcome Back, Kotter'' (1975–1979) and starring in the box office successes ''Carrie'' (19 ...

in the musical film '' Staying Alive'', a sequel to ''

''. She played the role of Laura, an English dancer who is the romantic interest of Travolta's character Tony Manero. Hughes also appeared on the sitcom ''

'', and as the

X-Men The X-Men are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, first appearing in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 by artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby and writer/editor Stan Lee in 1963. Although initially cancelled in ...

character

Emma Frost Emma Grace Frost is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, most commonly in association with the X-Men. The character first appeared in ''The Uncanny X-Men'' #129 (Jan. 1980), and was created by writer ...

in the television movie ''

Generation X Generation X (or Gen X for short) is the Western world, Western demographic Cohort (statistics), cohort following the baby boomers and preceding the millennials. Researchers and popular media use the mid-to-late 1960s as starting birth years a ...

'' (1996). In 1997, Hughes starred in

Aaron Spelling Aaron Spelling (April 22, 1923 June 23, 2006) was an American film and television producer and occasional actor. His productions included the TV series ''Family'' (1976–1980), '' Charlie's Angels'' (1976–1981), ''The Love Boat'' (1977–1986 ...

's short-lived primetime soap opera '' Pacific Palisades''. She was a frequent guest star on the television series ''

'', playing the mother of the Halliwell girls, Patricia "Patty" Halliwell. She provided the voice of

Lara Lara may refer to: Places * Lara (state), a state in Venezuela *Electoral district of Lara, an electoral district in Victoria, Australia * Lara, Antalya, an urban district in Turkey * Lara, Victoria, a township in Australia * Lara de los Infa ...

, Kal-El's biological mother in '' Superman: The Animated Series''. Another voice-over role she had was Miss Robertson on an episode of

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

's animated comedy series ''

Life with Louie ''Life with Louie'' is an American animated sitcom television series that ran on the FOX Network from 1994-1998. The series was based on the childhood of well-known stand-up comedian Louie Anderson, growing up with his family in the town of Ced ...

''.

From 1985 to 1992, she played

on ''

''. Hughes won a

Daytime Emmy The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York–based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (N ...

in 1991, for Outstanding Lead Actress on ''

''. She was nominated for the same category in 1990 for Anna, in 2000 for ''

'' as Alex, and, in 2002, as Anna. After establishing herself as a daytime television star, Hughes shot a feature film cameo as a soap opera actress who loses an award to

Sally Field Sally Margaret Field (born November 6, 1946) is an American actress. She has received many awards and nominations, including two Academy Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Cannes Film F ...

in the satirical film ''

Soapdish ''Soapdish'' is a 1991 American comedy film directed by Michael Hoffman, from a screenplay by Robert Harling and Andrew Bergman. The film was produced by Aaron Spelling and Alan Greisman, and executive produced by Herbert Ross. The film tells ...

'' (1991). Two years later, she played a leading role in the film ''

'' (1993). It was announced in April 2006 that Hughes would be returning to ''GH''. In May 2006, as part of the May

Sweeps Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...

period, three ''GH'' veterans would return. Finola Hughes would be reunited with

Tristan Rogers Tristan Rogers (born 3 June 1946) is an Australian-American actor. He is best known for playing Robert Scorpio on the ABC soap opera ''General Hospital'' and for voicing Jake in Walt Disney Pictures' ''The Rescuers Down Under''. He is curren ...

( Robert Scorpio) and

Emma Samms Emma Elizabeth Wylie Samuelson MBE known professionally as Emma Samms, (born 28 August 1960) is an English actress and TV host, known for her role as Holly Sutton on the American daytime soap opera ''General Hospital'' and as the second actress ...

(

Holly Sutton Holly Sutton-Scorpio is a fictional character from '' General Hospital'', an American soap opera on the ABC network, portrayed by Emma Samms. She originally appeared from July 1, 1982, to September 5, 1985. With Samms choosing to leave the seri ...

). Following a rise in ratings from her sweeps return, Hughes returned to ''

'' for a limited run through August 2006. She returned the following year on 13 July 2007 and once again on 15 April 2008. In September 2008, Hughes guest-starred in the ''General Hospital'' spinoff series '' General Hospital: Night Shift''. It has been said that Hughes would return to ''GH'' in early 2012 as character Anna Devane to be with her daughter,

Robin Scorpio Robin Scorpio is a fictional character from the ABC Daytime soap opera ''General Hospital'' and its primetime SOAPnet spin-off '' General Hospital: Night Shift'', originated and portrayed by Kimberly McCullough on and off for over 30 years since ...

, and help her through her toughest year. She is a recurring character but Anna Devane is front and center and staying in Port Charles awhile. In 2010, Finola also appeared in the ''

CSI: NY ''CSI: NY'' (''Crime Scene Investigation: New York'', stylized as ''CSI: NY/Crime Scene Investigation'') is an American police procedural television series that ran on CBS from September 22, 2004, to February 22, 2013, for a total of nine seaso ...

'', ''

Make It or Break It ''Make It or Break It'' ( ''MIOBI)'' is an American teen/family drama television series that focused on the lives of teen gymnasts who strived to make it to the Olympic Games in 2012. The series was inspired by Touchstone's 2006 teen comedy-dra ...

'' and ''

Melissa & Joey ''Melissa & Joey'' is an American television sitcom starring Melissa Joan Hart and Joey Lawrence that aired for four seasons between 2010 and 2015 on ABC Family (now Freeform). The series follows local politician Mel Burke (Hart) and Joe Long ...

''. Finola made a permanent return to ''General Hospital'' in 2012. In 2013, Hughes made her feature-film directing debut with indie comedy-drama ''The Bet''. She later starred with

Kathryn McCormick Kathryn McCormick (born 7 July 1990) is an American actress and dancer, noted for placing third in the sixth season of the American televised dance competition ''So You Think You Can Dance'', in which she had the highest placement for a woman on ...

in the dance movie ''Platinum the Dance Movie''. In 2015, Hughes directed her second film, ''Byrd and the Bees'' a romantic comedy starring

Jonathan Rhys Meyers Jonathan Rhys Meyers (born Jonathan Michael Francis O'Keeffe; 27 July 1977) is an Irish actor, model and musician. He is known for his roles in the films ''Michael Collins (film), Michael Collins'' (1996), ''Velvet Goldmine'' (1998), ''Titus (f ...

and

Tracy Spiridakos Tracy Spiridakos ( gr, Τρέισι Σπυριδάκος) is a Canadian actress. She starred as Becky Richards on the Teletoon children's comedy series ''Majority Rules!'' from 2009–2010. She then starred as Charlotte "Charlie" Matheson on th ...

Personal life

Hughes was born in London. She married Russell Young in 1992. Their first child, son Dylan Joseph was born on November 9, 2000. Later, they adopted a son, Cash Justice Young born in 2005 and a daughter, Sadie Beatrice Young born in December 2007.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Official website
(archived) * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hughes, Finola 1959 births Living people Actresses from London British identical twins English expatriates in the United States English stage actresses English film actresses English voice actresses English television actresses English soap opera actresses Daytime Emmy Award winners Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series winners People educated at the Arts Educational Schools