GENERAL HOSPITAL Comings & Goings: It’s Official, Kathleen Gati’s Liesl Obrecht Is Returning To Port Charles
As viewers saw on the Friday, July 11 episode of General Hospital, Rocco Falconeri — who is hungry for information on the woman who gave birth to him, the late Britt Westbourne — crafted an email to Britt’s mom, Liesl Obrecht, introducing himself as her former quasi grandson. Soap Opera Digest can confirm that Rocco can expect a reply, as Kathleen Gati, who made her GH debut as Dr. Obrecht back in 2012, is heading back to the canvas after an 18-month absence!
The Doctor Is In
The GH star tells Digest exclusively that it means the world to her that so many viewers have been hoping for her to make a comeback. “The love and loyalty expressed to me over this past year-and-a-half that I have not been on General Hospital has been overwhelming,” she says. “The fans have been faithful, loyal, begging me to return, continuously asking when, oh when will I return. I am truly grateful and so happy that I can bring some story and entertainment back to them again through Obrecht! It means a lot to me. This is why I became an actor, to entertain people through story and characters.”
To those loyal fans, she offers this message: “I have so much gratitude, appreciation and love for all my fans! Over the past thirteen years, each individual message has meant so much, even if I don’t or can’t respond to them all. The love, the support, the loyalty, the excitement upon my possible return, it touches my heart in a way I cannot truly express.”
Gati’s alter ego was originally introduced as the villainous cohort of Cesar Faison, who was helping him carry out his nefarious schemes, such as holding Duke Lavery and Robin Scorpio hostage in Switzerland. To protect Faison, Liesl even went so far as to render Robin’s father, Robert Scorpio, comatose for a year! When she popped up in Port Charles in 2013, she was revealed to be Britt’s mother, and she helped Britt carry out the high-risk scheme that led to Britt successfully impregnating herself with Lulu and Dante’s Falconeri’s embryo, resulting in Rocco’s birth.
Over the years, as Obrecht’s rap sheet expanded, so, too, did her ties to the canvas. In 2014, it was revealed that her sister was none other than the murderous Madeline Reeves, making Madeline’s daughter, Nina Reeves, her niece. Not only that, but Liesl was the biological mother of Nathan West, who Madeline had raised as her own! Though Nathan was tragically killed in the line of duty in 2018, Liesl developed a close bond with his wife-turned-widow, Maxie Jones, the mother of Obrecht’s grandson, James West. Liesl is also the great-aunt of Nina’s daughter Willow, linking her to Willow’s children, Wiley and Amelia, as well.
