Duke Lavery is a fictional character from General Hospital, an American soap opera on the ABC network, primarily portrayed by Ian Buchanan.

Duke is introduced as the mysterious owner of a local night club who falls in love with police chief Anna Devane (Finola Hughes).

The producers would recast the role with Greg Beecroft as Jonathan Paget who was revealed to be Duke with plastic surgery only for the character to be killed off in 1990 – dying in Anna's arms due fan disapproval.

Duke is introduced as a night club owner who is immediately smitten with police chief Anna Devane (Finola Hughes).

The arrival of his associate Damon Grenville (Will Jeffries) puts pressure on Duke to eliminate Anna's fellow officer Frisco Jones (Jack Wagner) who has become suspicious of the operation.

Duke maintains his innocence when Frisco and his wife Felicia (Kristina Wagner) skip town after the organization frames her for theft.

On the orders of one of his superiors Mr. Big—Duke proposes to Anna and she accepts only to break it off when her ex-husband Robert Scorpio (Tristan Rogers) exposes Duke's mob ties.

Four years earlier, Duke had covered up the murder of Evan Jerome when Camellia killed him in self-defense and blocked out the traumatic event.

[5] In 1988, Anna is kidnapped by Grant Putnam (Brian Patrick Clarke) and a desperate Duke turns to mob kingpin and Evan's father Victor Jerome (Jack Axelrod) for help.

[9] In late 1989, Jonathan Paget (Greg Beecroft) came to town claiming to be Duke with plastic surgery but he is killed by Julian just as he meets up with Anna in early 1990.

Anna finally breaks it off with Luke and reunites with Duke; they plan to attend Felicia's wedding to Mac Scorpio (John J. York) only for Duke to be left comatose after he falls into a trap set for Anna by Liesl Obrecht (Kathleen Gati) – the woman who had helped keep him captive on behalf of Faison.

When Tracy Quartermaine (Jane Elliot) regains control of the company ELQ leaving Duke unemployed, he instead goes to work for media mogul, Derek Wells (William deVry).

Sonny's enforcer Shawn Butler (Sean Blakemore) convinces Duke to hire former Jerome employee Jordan Ashford (Vinessa Antoine).

However, before Duke and Anna can leave town, he falls victim to a botched hit from former enforcer Carlos Rivera (Jeffrey Vincent Parise).

[12] According to Soap Opera Digest, the casting process was quite extensive due to executive producer Gloria Monty being so particular about crafting the role.

Then Monty heard about Buchanan who had been living in New York at the time though her contacts thought he wouldn't fit because of his lack of acting experience.

The romance was very melodramatic as Monty had borrowed from one of her favorite movies, the 1941 film A Woman's Face starring Joan Crawford.

"[12] While Buchanan admittedly didn't see what the big fuss was about the chemistry between Duke and Anna, he believed it was his great relationship with Hughes off screen that had something to do with the duo's success.

Of the ongoing conflict and threats to their relationship, mostly because of how Duke makes a living and his past, Buchanan said "If it were real life I think she would have told him to go hell by now.

To facilitate Buchanan's exit, in story, Duke testifies against mobster Victor Jerome (Jack Axelrod) putting himself in danger.

As Duke was written out in April 1989 in a "heroic blaze of glory" presumably killed in an explosion, there were no plans to recast or introduce a new love interest for Anna.

There was speculation (as indicated by articles in the Bluefield Daily Telegraph & The Index Journal ) that Anderson could possibly carry on in the role as Lavery.

[35][36][37] Ian Buchanan reappeared for the first time in 23 years on August 27, 2012 and the 1990 recast was officially retconned with Paget being scripted as an impostor.

[38] "I've come to the conclusion that's why nobody can use a cell phone in the studio" Buchanan said joking to Soaps in Depth in reference to his top secret return.

[41] The April 13 issue of Soap Opera Digest reported that a "back from the death character" was soon to be killed off as part of cast cuts.

While some viewers questioned Duke's loyalty to fellow mobster Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard) over Anna, Buchanan appreciated that the writing actually acknowledged it.

While Buchanan did not get the chance to work with Matt Cohen who had recently joined the cast as Duke's long lost son, the actor said of the plot twist, "I think it's very nice.

"[49][50] Buchanan returned for one episode on March 8, 2017, when his character appeared as a hallucination of the deranged Olivia St. John (Tonja Walker).

In reference to the General Hospital's lackluster surprises, Mallory said "I thought this big reveal would be neither large or revelatory but oh my WOW, was I wrong.

[70] In 2023, Charlie Mason from Soaps She Knows placed Duke at #22 on his ranked list of General Hospital’s 40+ Greatest Characters of All Time, commenting "May we have this dance?