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 and All My Children, 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 All My Children and Patty Halliwell on the supernatural series, Charmed. She also portrayed Carol on the final season of the NBC sitcom Blossom. Hughes has also appeared in the films, Aspen Extreme, Above Suspicion and Like Crazy.
Early life Hughes was born 29 October 1959. She was educated in London. Hughes trained in dance and performing arts at the Arts Educational Schools London.
Career In 1981, Hughes originated the role of Victoria the White Cat in the London production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Cats. In 1983, she starred with John Travolta in the musical film Staying Alive, a sequel to Saturday Night Fever. She played the role of Laura, an English dancer who is the romantic interest of Travolta's character Tony Manero.
From 1985 to 1992, Hughes played Anna Devane on General Hospital. She won a Daytime Emmy in 1991, for Outstanding Lead Actress on General Hospital. Hughes was nominated for the same category in 1990 for Anna, in 2000 for All My Children as Alex, and, in 2002, as Anna. After establishing herself as a daytime television star, she was cast in a feature film cameo as a soap opera actress who loses an award to Sally Field in the satirical film Soapdish (1991). Two years later, she played a leading role in the film Aspen Extreme (1993).
Hughes also appeared on the sitcom Blossom in 1993 to 1995 and as the X-Men character Emma Frost in the television movie Generation X (1996). In 1997, she starred in Aaron Spelling's short-lived primetime soap opera Pacific Palisades. She was a frequent guest star on the television series Charmed, playing the mother of the Halliwell girls, Patricia "Patty" Halliwell.
She provided the voice of Lara, Superman'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.
Hughes briefly returned from November 13 to 22, 1995 as Anna's spirit to comfort the character's daughter Robin Scorpio (Kimberly McCullough), who is dealing with the loss of her boyfriend to AIDS-related illness and is herself HIV-positive.Matheson, Whitney. "Recalling some of TV's dearly departed." USAToday.com August 31, 2005.
Hughes was cast as Alexandra Devane in 1999 on All My Children. At first, it was unknown what character she would portray. Alexandra debuted on July 23, 1999. Hughes left in the fall of 2000 for maternity leave and returned in February 2001. Alex left on July 9, 2001, to Budapest, Hungary.
In 2001, Hughes started playing Anna on All My Children. In 2003, Hughes left All My Children.
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 (Robert Scorpio) and Emma Samms (Holly Sutton). Following a rise in ratings from her sweeps return, Hughes returned to General Hospital 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. In 2010, she also appeared in the CSI: NY, Make It or Break It and Melissa & Joey.
Finola made a permanent return to General Hospital in 2012. On April 6, 2012, executive producer, Frank Valentini announced on Twitter that Hughes had been placed on contract with the series.
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.
Hughes reprised her role as Alexandra on General Hospital, beginning April 5, 2017, masquerading as Anna; the duplicity wasn't revealed until May 12, 2017. Hughes ended her reprisal role of Alexandra on June 8, 2017. Hughes reprised the role from March 18 to 21, 2019.
In 2020, Hughes once again reprised the role of Alex while portraying Anna from October 30 to November 9.
Personal life Hughes married artist Russell Young in 1992 and divorced in 2021. Together they have two sons, Dylan and Cash, and one daughter Sadie.
Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1980 The AppleDancer1981 Clash of the Titans 1982 NutcrackerNadia Gargarin 1983 Staying AliveLaura 1984 The Master of Ballantrae Alison Graeme 1987 Haunted by Her Past Megan McGuire 1990 The Bride in Black Cybil Cobb 1991 SoapdishAll My Trials Actress 1993 Aspen Extreme Bryce Kellogg 1994 Dark Side of Genius Jennifer Cole 1995 Above Suspicion Iris1996 Generation XEmma Frost / White Queen The Crying ChildJo Parker1997 Prison of SecretsAngie The Corporate Ladder Dr. Woodward Voice1998 Jekyll IslandRonnie Fredericks Pocahontas II: Journey to a New WorldQueen Anne Voice 12 BucksClassy1999Rockin' Good TimesGinger2000IntrepidKatherine JesselTycusAmy Lowe2009Killer HairJosette Radford2010DisarmedLilian2011Driving by BrailleBeth AllenLike CrazyLizAll-Star SupermanLiloVoice A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.Scooby-Doo! Legend of the PhantosaurProfessor Svankmajer2013The BetDirector and executive producer2014Dance-OffJoAnnOriginal title: Platinum the Dance Movie2017Byrd and the BeesDirector and executive producer
Television Year Title Role Notes 1982 The Kenny Everett Television Show Various 1983 The Hot Shoe Show Dancer 1987 L.A. Law Lauren Sevilla 3 episodes 1985–present General Hospital Anna Devane / Dr. Liesl Obrecht / Alex Devane1985–92, 1995, 2006–08, 2012–present (Anna); 2013 (Liesl); 2017, 2019 (Alex) 1992–93 Jack's Place Chelsea Duffy 18 episodes 1994 Burke's Law Rhonda Bentley Episode: "Who Killed Romeo?" 1994 Dream On Laura North Episode: "Tis Pity She's a Neighbor" 1993–95 Blossom Carol 28 episodes 1996 Superman: The Animated Series Lara Lor-Van Voice, episode: "The Last Son of Krypton" 1997 Pacific Palisades Kate Russo 13 episodes 1997 Sunset Beach Helena Greer 3 episodes 1997 Life with Louie Miss Robertson Voice 1998 The Love Boat: The Next Wave Alison Townsend / Hart-Williams Episode: "Affairs to Remember" 1999 Tracey Takes On... Josie Episode: "Obsession" 1999–2003 All My Children Alex Devane Marick and Anna Devane 1999–2001 (Alex); 2001–03 (Anna) 2004 Hope & Faith Herself 2 episodes 1998–2006 Charmed Patty Halliwell 9 episodes 2008 General Hospital: Night Shift Anna Devane 4 episodes 2005–08 How Do I Look? Host 2010 CSI: NY Mrs. Christensen Episode: "Sanguine Love" 2010 Make It or Break It Viola Pettinger Episode: "What Are You Made Of?" 2010 Melissa & Joey Herself Episode: "Dancing with the Stars of Toledo" 2013–2014 Beware The Batman Lady Shiva Voice, 7 episodes 2014–2015 Granite Flats Avon Lady / Zelda 3 episodes 2020 Good Trouble Director; episode: "Daylight"
Awards and nominations +List of acting awards and nominations Year Award Category Title Result Golden Raspberry Award Worst Supporting Actress Staying Alive Golden Raspberry Award Worst New Star Staying Alive Soap Opera Digest Award Outstanding Lead Actress: Daytime General Hospital Soap Opera Digest Award Favorite Super Couple: Daytime (shared with Ian Buchanan) General Hospital Soap Opera Digest Award Favorite Super Couple: Daytime (shared with Ian Buchanan) General Hospital Soap Opera Digest Award Outstanding Heroine: Daytime General Hospital Daytime Emmy Award Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series General Hospital Soap Opera Digest Award Outstanding Heroine: Daytime General Hospital Daytime Emmy Award Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series General Hospital Soap Opera Digest Award Outstanding Lead Actress: Daytime General Hospital Soap Opera Digest Award Best Wedding (shared with Tristan Rogers) General Hospital Soap Opera Digest Award Outstanding Lead Actress: Daytime General Hospital Daytime Emmy Award Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series All My Children Soap Opera Digest Award Favorite Return All My Children Daytime Emmy Award Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series All My Children LA Femme Filmmaker Award Best Feature The Bet Daytime Emmy Award Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series General Hospital Daytime Emmy Award Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series General Hospital Daytime Emmy Award Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series General Hospital Daytime Emmy Award Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series General Hospital Daytime Emmy Award Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series General Hospital Daytime Emmy Award Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series General Hospital
See also List of dancers
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