Paul Hornsby was a fictional character on General Hospital.
He is the ex-husband of Tracy Quartermaine and the father of Dillon Quartermaine.
Casting[]
The character was introduced in 1991 as a villain because he was a member of the cartel, but eventually he overcame his dark beginnings through his love for Jenny Eckert, his now ex-wife.
He was portrayed by Paul Satterfield from 1991-94.
13 years later in February 2007, he was portrayed by an unknown actor.
He has been portrayed by Richard Burgi since July 8, 2015 and is under contract 21 years later.
On October 7, 2016; Soap Opera Digest confirmed Burgi's exit from General Hospital before being since replaced by James Patrick Stuart as Valentin Cassadine and Scarlett Fernandez as Charlotte Cassadine eight days later on October 13 before the characters left town and disappeared on July 17, 2024.
Storylines[]
Paul Hornsby first came to Port Charles in March 1991 at the request of his old friend, Sean Donely, to help restructure ELQ International following the sabotage of the "S.S. Tracy" that February. After the Quartermaines reluctantly agreed to his demands, Paul was instated at ELQ's CEO, much to the dismay of then CEO Ned Ashton and his mother, Tracy Quartermaine. Tracy made it no secret that she disliked Paul at the helm of her father's company since he had nothing to lose should it go under, but she eventually eased up a bit when Paul managed to renegotiate the salvage deal she made with Harlan Barrett to the terms of 50/50. Another person against Paul was Tracy's ex-husband and Ned's father, Lord Larry Ashton, who bribes Alan's soon-to-be ex-wife, Lucy, to charm Paul, but their plans are thwarted when Jennings serves Lucy eviction papers and throws her out the mansion.
After ascertaining 12 million dollars in cash from Harlan for the Quartermaines through negotiations over a plant and the acres around it, Paul catches the eye of Jenny Eckert, the sister of Harlan's partner, Bill. As they become better acquainted, Jenny enlists Paul's help in clearing Mac Scorpio of the charges brought against him for the ELQ Tracy sabotage. When the two are alone, it is revealed that Paul was the one who hired Mac to sabotage the ship and the Cannery. Mac feels double-crossed because Paul neglected to mention that his brother, Robert, was the police commissioner, but Paul assures Mac that he will only be charged with the attempted murder of Robert. Mac does not understand, leading Paul to insinuate that he was the one who set the explosives to the ELQ Tracy. Much to Jenny's chagrin, Mac turns down Paul's representation, but Paul does find a client in Alan, who hires him to be his divorce attorney.13 years later in February 2007, Paul became involved in the Metro Court Hotel hostage crisis gaining Mayor Garrett Floyd as his new enemy as Paul was under Jerry Jacks' orders along with Lorenzo Alcazar in revenge for Ryan Chamberlain before he was revealed to be alive 11 years later in 2018.
Eight years later on August 2015, Tracy ran into Paul at the airport. Paul reconnected with Tracy and Dillon. It was later revealed that he is after Sonny's business and that he shot him and that is the only reason he is back in Port Charles. He is also the new D.A. because he has it in with the Mayor.
In late 2015, it was later revealed that Paul had collusion with Jerry Jacks as his new boss of holding Robin Scorpio-Drake against her will after disabling Sonny Corinthos so that he couldn't rescue her.
Paul also started having an affair with Ava Jerome, his accomplice, behind Tracy's back. On December 22, Tracy caught Paul and Ava in bed together after the capture of his boss Jerry Jacks. After Tracy refuses to take him down, Paul develops an obsessive crush on Anna Devane.
In May, Paul and Ava are discovered to be trading weapons with mobsters, but Paul spins it into a sting operation and gets himself and Ava legally exonerated. He still hangs onto the flash drive though, so he can use it against Ava in the future.
In July, Paul had no skills of being hostage negotiator just like Mayor Lomax and he was not qualified as one and never went to Cassadine Island to rescue Ava along with the others and had no contact to with Interpol and the Greek authorities from Paul's new enemy Valentin Cassadine.
In August 2016, Paul attempts to use the flash drive to force Ava to testify against her brother Julian Jerome.
On August 29, Paul is revealed to be the serial killer. Ava finds out, and gets proof that she can use to blackmail Paul into helping her get the charges against Julian dropped. On September 15, Paul strangled Sabrina Santiago to death in revenge for Valentin Cassadine after she discovered he was the hospital killer.
On October 5, 2016; he was sent to prison after he pleaded himself guilty of being the General Hospital serial killer. Nearly three weeks after that, Valentin was released and became the new owner of Spoon Island in Port Charles after Valentin was released by the Greek authorities with Mayor Lomax's help of having the charges against him dropped overseas. Paul's successor of District Attorney was Margaux Dawson.
Paul gains Cyrus Renault as his new friend and cellmate following his successor Margaux Dawson's resignation as District Attorney and later moved to Seattle in the Pacific Northwest. After Cyrus was released from prison with a full exoneration, Paul was left alone until Brad Cooper comes in and becomes Paul's new cellmate sometime after he met Frank Anderson and Greg Barnes who were involved in the crime at Metro Court Hotel.
On July 8, 2021; Paul's friend from six years ago Judge Naomi Carson gets incriminated by Martin Grey.
His former cellmate Brad Cooper was out on parole after the death of Jason Morgan on Cassadine Island via tunnel collapse.
After Cyrus Renault was transferred back to Pentonville Penitentiary, Paul becomes Cyrus Renault's cellmate once again.
On March 28, 2023; Paul's friend Epiphany Johnson died of heart complications due to smoke from a car crash exacerbating her heart condition the same day that deputy mayor Eileen Ashby died after being thrown off a bridge by Paul's friend/counterpart Victor Cassadine and drowned.
On June 29, it is revealed that Paul had been transferred to another inmate Johnny Zacchara who is now Paul's new cellmate since Cyrus knew Drew Cain after Linc Brown's arrest and the death of his counterpart Victor Cassadine via drone strike to The Haunted Star by the WSB.
On September 18, 2024; Paul gains Alexis Davis as a fellow inmate who Alexis gains Heather Webber as her cellmate before Alexis was released from prison when she was exonerated and later Heather Webber when her sentenced was vacated by Judge Orvis two months after Valentin left town with his daughter Charlotte Cassadine and disappeared.
On October 17, 2024; Paul was mentioned by Cody Bell.Crimes Committed[]
- Unknown business transactions with Victor Cassadine [1981-2014; revealed Aug 2015]
- Hired Mac Scorpio to sabotage the Quartermaine ship "E.L.Q. Tracy" and a cannery [1991]
- Conspired with Finian O'Toole to kill Mac Scorpio (they failed) [1991]
- Set up a false bank account in Robert Scorpio's name and wired funds from it into Mac Scorpio's account [1991]
- Associated with known cartel members Leopold Taub, Cesar Faison, and Harlan Barrett and worked to take over ELQ on their behalf [1991]
- Accomplice of Jerry Jacks during the Metro Court hostage crisis [Feb 2007; arrested and lawyered up in the aftermath]
- Helped Carlos Rivera fake his death [May 18-Nov 23, 2015; revealed Nov 23, 2015]
- Ordered Charlie Heineck to hijack two of Sonny Corinthos' shipments [Jul 2015; revealed Sep 21, 2015]
- Conspiracy; helped Jerry Jacks, Ava Jerome, and Johnny Zacchara hold Robin Scorpio-Drake against her will at Cassadine Island to keep her away from Port Charles, Sonny, her friends and family [revealed Nov 2015-Dec 22, 2015]
- Shut the hospital's power off [Aug 29, 2016]
- Pushed Elizabeth Webber down the hospital steps [Aug 29, 2016]
- Stalked Dr. Monica Quartermaine with a syringe and was about to kill her until his phone went off [Aug 31, 2016]
- Attacked and injected Monica Quartermaine with Derisifol from behind [Sep 13, 2016]
- Murdered Sabrina Santiago [Sep 14, 2016; he snatched her, dragged her into a room against her own will, and then fatally strangled her in revenge for Valentin and Victor Cassadine; Sabrina was revealed to be strangled on Sep 15, 2016]
Health and Vitals[]
- Knocked over the head with a gun by Anna [Oct 3, 2016]
Relationships[]
- Jenny Eckert - Paul's ex-wife
- Susan Hornsby - Paul's daughter
- Dillon Quartermaine - Paul's son with Tracy
- Tracy Quartermaine - Paul's ex-wife
- Lorenzo Alcazar - (deceased)
- Frank Anderson - The late Cesar Faison's former henchman and fellow inmate
- Larry Ashton
- Greg Barnes - The late Cesar Faison's former henchman and fellow inmate
- Hayden Barnes - The late Franco Baldwin's sister-in-law
- Raymond Berlin
- Steve Book - Fellow inmate
- Jack Brennan
- Naomi Carson - Paul's friend and former court judge
- Valentin Cassadine - Patrick's evil counterpart
- Victor Cassadine - Paul's counterpart, Valentin's late father, and Ava's ex-great uncle-in-law (deceased)
- Ryan Chamberlain - (deceased)
- Amber Chua
- Mark Crowley - Fellow inmate
- Margaux Dawson - Paul's successor now living in Seattle
- Russ Delvin - The late Cesar Faison's former henchman and fellow inmate
- Hilda Dorsey - Fellow inmate
- Emma Drake - Anna's granddaughter and Patrick and Robin's daughter now living in Berkeley
- Ellen Garten - Former warden at Pentonville Penitentiary now in Texas
- Mason Gatlin - Fellow inmate
- Chris Gentry - Fellow inmate
- Paul Gentry - Fellow inmate
- Stan Hayes - Current warden at Pentonville Penitentiary
- James Horowitz - Court judge
- Jerry Jacks - Paul's former accomplice
- Ava Jerome
- Olivia Jerome - Ava Jerome and the late Julian Jerome's paternal half-sister, and Paul Hornsby's new friend (deceased)
- Maggie Johns
- Epiphany Johnson - Former Head Nurse at General Hospital (deceased)
- Thomas Johnson - Epiphany's ex-husband and fellow inmate
- Tony Jones - (deceased)
- Rachel Lasser
- Janice Lomax - Former crush, former Mayor of Port Charles, Valentin and Charlotte Cassadine's friend and supporter, former receptionist at The Invader, and current owner of The Invader
- Dolores Maloney - The late Sam McCall's former parole officer
- Manrico
- Stephen Ordway - Fellow inmate
- Natalie Rawles - Court judge
- Cyrus Renault - Paul's new friend and former cellmate from the Pacific Northwest who bores an uncanny resemblance to the late Cesar Faison and former Chairman of the Board at General Hospital before changing his appearance to look like fellow inmate Johnny Zacchara 25-30 years later and bore an uncanny resemblance to the late Victor Cassadine now host of KZPC's radio show "Searching with Cyrus"
- Carlos Rivera - (deceased)
- Heather Roth
- Mark Sands - Fellow inmate
- Jeffrey Scribner - Paul's counterpart (deceased)
- Suzanne Stanwyck - Fellow inmate
- Tilda
- David Walters - Court judge
- Waltz
- Johnny Zacchara - Fellow inmate and now cellmate
- Curtis Ashford
- Scott Baldwin - Former District Attorney
- Drew Cain - Former Navy SEAL
- Sonny Corinthos
- Anna Devane - Current Commissioner of the Port Charles Police Department
- Patrick Drake - Robin's husband now living in Berkeley
- Hamilton Finn - Now living in Seattle
- Pres Floyd - Former Mayor of Port Charles
- Barbara Gordon - aka Batgirl
- Poison Ivy
- Julian Jerome - (deceased)
- Ric Lansing - Paul's predecessor
- Andre Maddox
- Sam McCall - (deceased)
- Griffin Munro
- Diana Prince - aka Wonder Woman
- Sabrina Santiago - (deceased)
- James Scorpio - Robin's brother
- Mac Scorpio
- Robin Scorpio-Drake - Now living in Berkeley
- Lucky Spencer
- Luke Spencer - (deceased)
- Lulu Spencer - (hospitalized)
- Elizabeth Webber
- Mary Wells - Current Head Nurse at General Hospital
Positions held[]
ELQ International[]
| Predecessor | CEO of ELQ International | Successor |
|---|---|---|
| Ned Quartermaine (1990-91) |
Paul Hornsby (1991) |
Ned Quartermaine (1991-96) |
District Attorney[]
| Predecessor | District Attorney | Successor |
|---|---|---|
| Scott Baldwin (2013-15) |
Paul Hornsby (2015-16) |
Margaux Dawson (2016-19) |