Finola Hughes (born 29 October 1959) is a British actress, best known for her role as Anna Devane on the ABC soap operas ''

General Hospital ''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera created by Frank and Doris Hursley which has been broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC since April 1, 1963. Originally a half-hour seria ...

'' 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, 2 ...

'', and her portrayal of Laura in the 1983 film '' Staying Alive''. She is also known for her portrayal of Anna Devane's identical twin, Alexandra "Alex" Devane on ''

'' and Patty Halliwell 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 broadc ...

''. She also portrayed Carol on the final season of the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

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 w ...

''. Hughes has also appeared in the films, '' Aspen Extreme'', '' Above Suspicion'' and ''

Like Crazy ''Like Crazy'' is a 2011 American romantic drama film directed by Drake Doremus and starring Anton Yelchin, Felicity Jones, and Jennifer Lawrence. Written by Doremus and Ben York Jones, the film tells the story of Anna ( Felicity Jones), a B ...

''.

Career

Hughes trained in dance and performing arts at the Arts Educational Schools London. In 1981, she originated the role of Victoria the White Cat 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 theatre, West End and on Broadway theatre, Broad ...

's musical ''

Cats The cat (''Felis catus''), also referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae. Advances in archaeology and genetics have shown that the ...

''. In 1983, Hughes starred with

John Travolta John Joseph Travolta (born February 18, 1954) is an American actor. He began acting in television before transitioning into a leading man in films. List of awards and nominations received by John Travolta, His accolades include a Primetime Em ...

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

Saturday Night Fever ''Saturday Night Fever'' is a 1977 American Dance in film, dance Drama (film and television), drama film directed by John Badham and produced by Robert Stigwood. It stars John Travolta as Tony Manero, a young Italian Americans, Italian-America ...

''. 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 in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer/editor Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby, the team first appeared in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 (September 1963). Although initial ...

character

Emma Frost Emma Grace Frost is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Chris Claremont and artist/co-writer John Byrne (comics), John Byrne, the character First appearance, first appeared in ''The Uncanny ...

in the television movie ''

Generation X Generation X (often shortened to Gen X) is the Demography, demographic Cohort (statistics), cohort following the Baby Boomers and preceding Millennials. Researchers and popular media often use the mid-1960s as its starting birth years and the ...

'' (1996). In 1997, Hughes starred in Aaron Spelling'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: People * Lara (name), can be a given name or a surname in several languages * Lara (mythology), a naiad nymph, daughter of the river Almo in Ovid's ''Fasti'' Places *Lara (state), a state in Venezuela * Electoral district ...

, Kal-El's biological mother in '' Superman: The Animated Series''. Another voice-over role she had was Miss Robertson on an episode of Fox's animated comedy series '' Life with Louie''. FinolaHughesApr09

From 1985 to 1992, she played Anna Devane on ''

''. Hughes won a Daytime Emmy 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 performed in movies, Broadway theater, television, and made records of popular music. Known for her extensive work on screen and stage, she has received many accola ...

in the satirical film ''

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'' (1991). Two years later, she played a leading role in the film '' Aspen Extreme'' (1993). It was announced in April 2006 that Hughes would be returning to ''GH''. In May 2006, as part of the May Sweeps period, three ''GH'' veterans would return. Finola Hughes would be reunited with

Tristan Rogers Tristan Rogers (born 3 June 1946) is an Australian 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 currently starri ...

( Robert Scorpio) and Emma Samms ( Holly Sutton). 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, 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'', '' Make It or Break It'' and '' Melissa & Joey''. 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 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 and Tracy Spiridakos.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

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