Dr. Liesl Obrecht, MD., PhD. is a fictional character and the deuteragonist on the ABC soap opera General Hospital.
She is the sister of the late socialite Madeline Reeves and the mother of the late Dr. Britt Westbourne and the late Det. Nathan West.
She has been portrayed by actress Kathleen Gati since the character's debut on August 24, 2012.
She returned on October 25, 2023 after Damon Montague's arrest, Cyrus Renault's release from prison, and Ellen Garten left town.
She made her last appearance on December 12, 2023 before being since replaced by James Patrick Stuart as Valentin Cassadine before the character left town and disappeared, Jack Dylan Grazer as Donald Cassadine, Scarlett Fernandez as Charlotte Cassadine before the character left town and disappeared, Jeff Kober as Cyrus Renault before the character dropped off the canvas and later returned, Charles Mesure as Jack Brennan, and later Cyrus Hobbi as Yuri Tamashevich as well as Adam J. Harrington as John Cates (previously Jagger Cates) before the character's death, Dieterich Gray as Adrian DeWitt, Virginia Ma as Madison Yeung, Parry Shen as Brad Cooper, Amor Owens as Linda Boyle before the character's arrest, Carlo Rota as Jenz Sidwell before the character ran off and fled, and Judy Kain as Elaine Smith before her storyline ended.
She will later be portrayed by Carolyn Hennesy who portrayed Diane Miller as a recast.
Development[]
"They needed a German doctor to say a few things and then go" Gati remarked to Soaps In Depth of how her character came to be.
However, the writers were so impressed that they kept bringing Gati back. Gati said her status with the series "was always precarious and still is," despite the role being expanded.
The role was only meant to last a few days to "take Robin (Kimberly McCullough) from Room A to Room B and talk to Tony Geary [Luke] in the hall to help him avoid seeing Robin and Anna Devane (Finola Hughes)."
It was actually Tony Geary who sang Gati's praises to the executive producer, Frank Valentini after their scenes. Immediately impressed, Valentini sent head writer Ron Carlivati a piece of her scenes knowing Carlivati would be inspired to write more for her.
Gati made her first appearance on August 24, 2012.
Valentini chose Gati out of five other actresses that were up for the role. Valentini immediately informed his Carlivati of how good she was.
Though she was finding success in other recurring gigs, Gati insisted that "if GH asks me to sign a contract, I'll say yes. I feel like I'm at home here. I've been in Los Angeles for 15 years, and for the first time, I actually feel like I belong to a family."
In October 2013, the role was briefly played by Finola Hughes when Dr. Obrecht tries to pass herself off as Anna Devane.
Her final episode before going on a three-month hiatus aired on December 17, 2012. She reprised the role of Dr. Liesl Obrecht on March 22, 2013 for a short few week stint and returned to the screen once again on July 26, 2013.
On April 10, 2020; Soaps.com confirmed that Gati will temporarily be exiting General Hospital when her character, Liesl Obrecht is extradited to The Hague. However, they also revealed that this will not be the last we see of her as she will return at a later date. She made her last appearance for the time being on April 13, 2020 before being replaced by James Patrick Stuart as Valentin Cassadine, Jack Dylan Grazer as Donald Cassadine Scarlett Fernandez as Charlotte Cassadine, Andi Chapman as Dolores Maloney, Dan Buran as Linc Brown, Jeff Kober as Cyrus Renault.
On September 28, 2020; Gati made a surprise return to GH when Obrecht was revealed to be the one who told Dr. Kirk to release Dante Falconeri on a mission to prove her innocence, Peter's guilt, and Anna's involvement.
On June 23, 2023; Gati revealed on Twitter that she has no upcoming scenes. She was last seen on May 19, 2023 and later replaced by James Patrick Stuart as Valentin Cassadine, Jack Dylan Grazer as Donald Cassadine, Scarlett Fernandez as Charlotte Cassadine, Darin Toonder as Damon Montague, Jeff Kober as Cyrus Renault, Cyrus Hobbi as Yuri Tamashevich via second chance, and later Diahnna Nicole Baxter as Ellen Garten.
On September 15, 2023; Gati teased that she's returning to GH as Liesl. On October 14, she confirmed Liesl will return on October 25.
She made her final appearance as Liesl on December 12, 2023 before being since replaced by James Patrick Stuart as Valentin Cassadine before the character's disappearance, Jack Dylan Grazer as Donald Cassadine, Scarlett Fernandez as Charlotte Cassadine before the character's disappearance, Jeff Kober as Cyrus Renault, Charles Mesure as Jack Brennan, Mark Engelhardt as Roman Hume before the character's arrest, later Cyrus Hobbi as Yuri Tamashevich, Adam J. Harrington as FBI John Cates previously Jagger Cates before the character's death, Dieterich Gray as Adrian DeWitt, Virginia Ma as Madison Yeung, Parry Shen as Brad Cooper, Amor Owens as Linda Boyle before the character's arrest, Carlo Rota as Jenz Sidwell, and Judy Kain as Elaine Smith.
Carolyn Hennesy who portrayed as Diane Miller will be recast as Liesl Obrecht. The actress was given a long blonde wig to match Kathleen Gati's previous portrayal and adopt a German accent.Storylines[]
On May 4, Liesl was at General Hospital at the crime scene where Jason and Britt escaped. Liesl then comes face-to-face with General Hospital Chairman of the Board Cyrus Renault who he reminds her of the late Cesar Faison and he bores an uncanny resemblance to him as Liesl secretly threatened him behind his back after what Trent Beech and Carl Pine was trying to do with Britt leaving Brad Cooper traumatized in prison offscreen.
On June 4, Liesl visits her daughter Britt in Canada. Liesl and Britt became happy that Cyrus Renault was arrested for holding Portia Robinson and her daughter Trina hostage at their home. Afterwards, Liesl got to meet Portia Robinson as well as being granted immunity along with Carly Corinthos and her friends and allies.
Liesl got to meet Keith Miller who was revealed to be the survivor after the death of her son Nathan West.
Liesl later joins in on the investigation on who the unknown person aka The Hook is. She and the others are working through the article on The Invader and the photographs since there were no leads.
She and the others narrowed down the gender of the attacker is female; which gave them a lead, but not much of one. She found out that The Hook is a serial killer working for the True Believers. She knew if Jason Morgan were still around, he would've likely shot and killed her.
On January 5, Liesl begins to wear her late daughter Britt's doctor jacket as she comes face-to-face with Victor's co-conspirator Esme Prince who was thought to be The Hook as she's trying to figure out the identity of the killer before Alexis Davis of The Invader identified The Hook as Esme's biological mother Heather Webber before and after the death of Esme's biological father Ryan Chamberlain who was wanting revenge for the late Cesar Faison and Jerry Jacks one month later. After the death of both of her children, it is revealed that Diane's own children Keith and Sally Miller are the survivors.
After she accepted a ride home; she was later replaced by Valentin Cassadine and his children Donald and Charlotte Cassadine, American inmate Cyrus Renault at Pentonville Penitentiary, American attorney Diane Miller, later Belarusian Yuri Tamashevich via second chance since after Drew's imprisonment at Pentonville Penitentiary, and later new doctor and psychiatrist at General Hospital Damon Montague.
On October 13, Liesl gained Sonny Corinthos as her nephew-in-law by Nina's marriage to Sonny in Puerto Rico at the same time that Obrecht's enemy Cyrus has been released from prison leaving Drew to be in Cyrus' place in prison with Johnny Zacchara becoming Drew's new cellmate at the same time that Cyrus Renault got released from prison after Damon Montague's arrest.
On October 25, Liesl returned and is with her great niece Willow who had returned from Sonny's island in Puerto Rico before being replaced again after Ellen Garten left for Texas.
On December 12; Liesl and Scott meet up after Drew Cain went to Australia, later replaced by Cyrus Renault and Esme Prince moving out and replaced by Lucy Coe. She and Scott breaks up and she is last seen before being replaced by Valentin Cassadine, his own children Donald and Charlotte, Cyrus Renault after his release from prison, Yuri, John Brennan who arranged a hostile takeover of the WSB before and after the death of Austin Gatlin-Holt and Roman Hume of Pikeman Security Group before their arrests, Diane Miller who later became Yuri's immigration lawyer, and later FBI agent John Cates aka "Stone".Crimes Committed[]
- Accomplice of Jerry Jacks during the Metro Court hostage crisis [Feb 2007; arrested, lawyered up, and extradited back to Switzerland by Interpol in the aftermath]
- Conspiracy; helped Cesar Faison, Jerry Jacks, Dr. Ewen Keenan, and Joe Scully, Jr. to kidnap Dr. Robin Scorpio-Drake and hold her against her will to keep her away from her family and friends including Sonny Corinthos [2012]
- Helped Jerry Jacks and Cesar Faison terrorize Port Charles with a deadly pathogen in the water while holding Robin against her will [2012]
- Complicity; helped Janice Lomax and Landon Dixon to violate a chapel-full of people's constitutional rights [Feb 19, 2016; successful then later arrested Jun 14, 2016; then later released]
- Withheld the information that Jonah Corinthos is alive and being raised as Brad Cooper and Lucas Jones' deceased adoptive son [Dec 26, 2018-Feb 19, 2020]
- Secretly threatened Cyrus Renault who reminds her of the late Cesar Faison and bores an uncanny resemblance to him behind his back if she finds out that he hurt Britt in any way [May 4, 2021]
- Threw hydrochloric acid on Peter's hand to escape from him who was wanting revenge for his late father Cesar Faison and the imprisoned Cyrus Renault by following in his late father's footsteps [Nov 1, 2021]
- Planted a bug on Victor [Feb 15, 2022]
- Stole a housekeeper's key at the Metro Court Hotel [Revealed Jun 7, 2022]
- Muffled Victor's friend/co-conspirator/boss Esme Prince with a cloth in her mouth and injected her with a sedative which knocked her out [Jan 6, 2023]
Health and Vitals[]
- Kidnapped by masked men (dancers in the Ball) and tied to a toilet so she couldn't crash the 2016 Nurses' Ball [May 24, 2016]
- Drugged and kidnapped by two Greek hijackers under the orders of Victor Cassadine and Esme Prince [Aug 31-Sep 1, 2021; Victor's involvement revealed on Sep 2, 2021 and Esme is still in Port Charles]
- Held captive in a lavish room on Victor's compound by Victor and his men and women and replaced by Diane Miller [Sep 2-27, 2021]
- Held at gunpoint by Peter [Sep 27, 2021]
- Held captive in Victor's compound prison and was forced to treat other prisoners, particularly Drew Cain and replaced by Diane Miller [Sep 28-Oct 18, 2021]
- Kidnapped again by Drew, who was programmed by Peter to do his bidding who Drew is replaced by Yuri Tamashevich [Oct 18, 2021; revealed on Oct 19, 2021]
- Lost consciousness [revealed on Oct 19, 2021]
- Held captive by Peter on Cassadine Island and replaced by Diane Miller [Oct 19-Nov 1, 2021; revealed on Nov 1, 2021]
- Knocked unconscious with an injection [revealed on Nov 1, 2021]
- Mistakenly shot in the stomach with a speargun by Britt Westbourne, who'd mistaken her for an enemy [Nov 1, 2021]
- Passed out when Britt tried to remove the spear in her chest [Nov 2, 2021]
- Shot at by Peter during Peter's shootout with Jason Morgan [Nov 19, 2021]
- Rendered unconscious following a tunnel collapse caused by Peter's shootout with Jason [Nov 19-22, 2021]
- Donated her bone marrow to save great niece Willow's life [revealed on May 12, 2023]
Family tree[]
Relationships[]
- Nelle Benson - Liesl's great niece, Madeline's granddaughter, and Willow's fraternal twin sister (deceased)
- Wiley Cooper-Jones - Liesl's great-great nephew and Willow's son (deceased)
- Amelia Corinthos - Liesl's great-great niece and Willow's daughter
- Michael Corinthos - Liesl's great nephew by marriage of Sonny and Nina and great nephew-in-law
- Morgan Corinthos - Liesl's great nephew by marriage of Sonny and Nina (deceased)
- Sonny Corinthos - Liesl's nephew-in-law
- Wiley Corinthos - Liesl's great-great nephew and Nelle's son
- Kristina Davis - Liesl's great niece by marriage of Sonny and Nina
- Maxie Jones - Liesl's daughter-in-law by marriage of Nathan
- Madeline Reeves - Liesl's older sister (deceased)
- Nina Reeves - Liesl's niece and Madeline's daughter
- Willow Tait - Liesl's great niece, Madeline's granddaughter, and Nelle's fraternal twin sister
- James West - Liesl's grandson
- Nathan West - Liesl's son with Cesar (deceased)
- Britt Westbourne - Liesl's daughter with Cesar (deceased)
- Günther Westbourne - Liesl's father (deceased)
- Elisha Adams - Officer of the Port Charles Police Department
- Curtis Ashford
- Jordan Ashford - Former Commissioner of the Port Charles Police Department, current Deputy Mayor of Port Charles, the late Elieen Ashby's successor, and Liesl's ally
- Franco Baldwin - Scott Baldwin's son with Heather Webber, the late Esme Prince's maternal half brother, Liesl's friend, former co-worker and Art Therapist at General Hospital (deceased)
- Scott Baldwin - Liesl's ex-lover, Franco's father, and former District Attorney
- Asher Bellamy - FBI agent
- Charlotte Cassadine - Valentin's daughter with Lulu, Helena and Victor's granddaughter, and Liesl's former great niece
- Donald Cassadine - Valentin's son with Elaine, Helena and Victor's grandson, and Liesl's former great nephew
- Helena Cassadine - Her ex-nephew-in-law Valentin Cassadine's late mother, Donald and Charlotte's paternal grandmother, and the late Cesar Faison's former accomplice (deceased)
- Harrison Chase - Detective of the Port Charles Police Department
- Laura Collins - Current Mayor of Port Charles and Liesl's ally
- Brad Cooper - Her daughter Britt's best friend
- Nicolas Dean - FBI agent
- Anna Devane - Liesl's ally
- Landon Dixon - Conspired with him and Janice Lomax to violate a chapel-full of people's constitutional rights, the late Helena Cassadine's male counterpart, and the late Carlos Rivera's new friend before Carlos' death (imprisoned)
- Dante Falconeri - Liesl's ally and Detective of the Port Charles Police Department
- Violet Finn - Her grandson James' female counterpart
- Austin Gatlin-Holt - (deceased)
- Andrew Grey - Cyrus' son with an unknown woman
- Liz Grey - Cyrus' daughter with an unknown woman
- Martin Grey - Cyrus' brother
- Tara Horowitz - FBI agent
- Jerry Jacks
- Ric Lansing - Plaintiff in civil court, former District Attorney, and Sonny's maternal-half brother
- Janice Lomax - Former Mayor of Port Charles now the receptionist at The Invader after Valentin bought The Invader from Shawn
- Richard Lowe - Court judge
- John Martinez - Officer of the Port Charles Police Department
- Shane McAvoy
- Sam McCall - (deceased)
- Diane Miller - Liesl's American counterpart and former defense attorney now living in Los Angeles and Yuri's immigration lawyer
- Keith Miller - Diane's son with an unknown man
- Sally Miller - Diane's daughter with an unknown man
- Wayne Miller - Officer of the Port Charles Police Department
- Trey Mitchell - (deceased)
- Jason Morgan
- Brook Lynn Quartermaine
- Zoe Raleigh
- Portia Robinson
- Trina Robinson
- Ellen Scully - Officer of the Port Charles Police Department
- Joe Scully, Jr. - (deceased)
- Carly Spencer - Liesl's ally
- Damian Spinelli
- Selina Wu - Brad's aunt
- Hank Archer - aka "Shiloh" who bore a striking resemblance to her late son Nathan West and Wiley Cooper-Jones' biological father (deceased)
- Peter August - Her late great niece Nelle Benson's male counterpart and Faison's son with Alex who followed in his late father's footsteps before being replaced by two armed robbers Eric Watson and Harry DeFranco at Charlie's Pub who were wanting revenge for Peter August (deceased)
- Trent Beech - Cyrus' henchman (deceased)
- Jack Brennan
- Linc Brown - Music producer and Cyrus Renault and the late Victor Cassadine's friend and ally (captured)
- Valentin Cassadine - The late Helena Cassadine's son with Victor, Donald and Charlotte's father, Liesl's ex-nephew-in-law, Patrick Drake's evil counterpart, and Janice Lomax's friend and supporter now the owner of The Invader and new leader of Pikeman Security Group
- Victor Cassadine - Valentin Cassadine's late father, Donald and Charlotte's paternal grandfather, and the late Esme Prince's former co-conspirator/friend/boss (deceased)
- Ryan Chamberlain - Kevin Collins' late twin brother and the late Esme Prince's father who was like the American version Cesar Faison (deceased)
- Amber Chua - Judge in civil/criminal court
- Elijah Crowe - The late Peter August's counterpart (captured)
- Steven Culp - Former editor of The Invader under Peter August and her late great niece Nelle Benson's friend
- Harry DeFranco - Armed robber
- Cesar Faison - Her late children Nathan and Britt's father (deceased)
- Sonny Faison - Cesar's son with unknown woman; Peter, Nathan, and Britt's paternal half-brother
- Pres Floyd - Former Mayor of Port Charles and Janice's predecessor
- Jameson Forsyth - (deceased)
- Ron Gallo - Sniper working for Pikeman Security Group who grazed Ava's hand and put her daughter Avery in the line of fire the same day that Spencer dragged Esme with him before FBI agent John Cates came to Port Charles
- Brock Garrison - Cyrus' henchman (deceased)
- Mason Gatlin - Cyrus' former henchman (imprisoned)
- James Gunn - Sniper working for Pikeman Security Group who shot Curtis left Ava unharmed and put Violet in the line of fire
- Oz Haggerty - (deceased)
- Jim Harvey - The late Cesar Faison's American and Niagara Equities counterpart (deceased)
- The Hook - Serial killer whose face and identity concealed and is revealed to be Franco and Esme's biological Heather Webber unknowingly working for Victor and the True Believers wanting revenge for the late Cesar Faison (captured)
- David Hopkins - The late Peter August's henchman and Cyrus Renault's possible henchman (captured)
- Marie Hopkins - The late Peter August's henchwoman and Cyrus Renault's possible henchwoman (deceased)
- James Horowitz - Judge in civil/criminal court
- Damon Montague - Psychiatrist who wanted revenge for the late Victor Cassadine (captured)
- Raj Patel - (deceased)
- Carl Pine - Cyrus' African-American henchman (deceased)
- Esme Prince - The late Ryan Chamberlain's daughter with Heather Webber, the late Franco Baldwin's maternal half sister, the late Victor's former co-conspirator/friend/associate, and former receptionist at The Invader replacing her hospitalized stepcousin Lulu after Esme gained her memory back (deceased)
- Cyrus Renault - Former Chairman of the Board at General Hospital, Martin's brother, Laura's paternal half-brother; Lucky, Lulu and Nikolas' uncle; Spencer and Ace's great uncle, her ex-lover Scott's client, and Esme's new ally before Esme's presumed death now host of KZPC's radio show "Searching with Cyrus"
- Carlos Rivera - (deceased)
- Winston Rudge - Her ex-nephew-in-law Valentin's associate from South Africa who bores an uncanny resemblance to Valentin (imprisoned)
- Jennifer Smith - (imprisoned)
- Stone - Ultimate villain whose face, identity, and physical appearance concealed just like "The Hook" killer before she was revealed to be Heather Webber
- Roz Venta - The late Victor Cassadine and the late Esme Prince's African-American former attorney/henchwoman
- Franco Walker - (deceased)
- Eric Watson - Armed robber
- Heather Webber - The late Franco Baldwin and the late Esme Prince's biological mother known as the serial killer called "The Hook" (imprisoned)