Wes Ramsey originated the role of the fiendish Peter August on General Hospital in 2017 and became one of Port Charles’s most dangerous villains. Since 2003, he’s been in several TV shows and movies, including Charmed, House, and Stalker, among many others. He stepped into the soap opera world in 2001, playing Sam Spencer on Guiding Light, where he met his partner, GH star Laura Wright, who plays Carly Spencer. He also appeared on Days of our Lives in 2009; however, his run as Peter on GH was his most memorable role, and he’s still beloved by fans today.
What is Peter August's real name on General Hospital?
The citizens of Port Charles didn’t know about Peter’s mysterious past at first. Drew Quartermaine (played by the late Billy Miller) hired him to be COO of Aurora Media and to run the Invader newspaper. His identity didn’t remain a secret for very long, and everyone was shocked when it was revealed that he was really Heinrik Faison, the son of international supervillain Cesar Faison (Anders Hove). Peter had a hand in a few diabolical schemes before arriving in town, and although he tried to change his ways, his villainous past would send him down a dark and tragic path.
What was Peter August's backstory on General Hospital?
Prior to arriving in Port Charles, Peter worked with the villainess Helena Cassadine to capture Drew as part of her experiment to turn him into the ultimate assassin through brain mapping. Drew was Jason Morgan’s (Steve Burton) long-lost identical twin, and because of Jason’s brain damage from a near-fatal car accident, Jason wasn't susceptible to the conditioning. Drew became the alternate choice. Drew’s memories were taken and stored on a flash drive, while Jason’s memories were implanted in Drew's brain.
Peter was also the brother of Detective Nathan West (Ryan Paevey), who at the time was married to Maxie Jones (Kirsten Storms). In an effort to bait his criminal father out of hiding, Peter had reporter Lulu Falconeri (Emme Rylan) publish an article exposing Faison as Nathan’s biological father. The plan worked with tragic results: Faison had taken Maxie hostage and ended up shooting Nathan dead when Nathan tried to rescue his wife. It was only shortly after that when Peter learned he was also Faison’s son, making him Nathan’s paternal brother.
Nathan’s mother turned out to be the nefarious Dr. Liesl Obrecht (Kathleen Gati), who had turned over a new leaf and become one of the good guys. However, her rage at Nathan’s death drove her to kidnap Peter and imprison him in a cabin, where she tortured him for several weeks. He ultimately got out of that jam and became romantically entangled with Nathan's widow, Maxie.
David Henry Archer, a.k.a. Shiloh (Coby Ryan McLaughlin), arrived in town as the leader of a nefarious cult called Dawn of Day. In the past, Shiloh had been the person whom Peter had hired to kidnap Drew, so Shiloh blackmailed Peter by threatening to reveal Peter's dealings with Helena. Peter was forced to help Shiloh break out of prison, but Peter was careful to frame Sam McCall (Kelly Monaco) for the deed. In the end, Sam killed the cult leader in self-defense, but she ended up going to jail for a time because the authorities thought she had motive to kill Shiloh, since they believed that she had helped him escape from jail.
Dr. André Maddox (Anthony Montgomery) was the scientist who had created the memory mapping technology that was used on Drew. Maddox knew about Peter's association with Helena, prompting Peter to contemplate killing the doctor to keep his secrets buried. However, Peter wanted to be a better man for Maxie, so he put a stop to Maddox being killed.
Peter’s crimes continued as he made it look like Drew’s plane had gone down in the Gulf of Aden (when in reality, Peter’s minions captured the Quartermaine scion), and he framed Liesl for sabotaging it. By this time, Drew’s memories had been implanted in Franco Baldwin (Roger Howarth). As Drew, Franco recalled Peter’s previous crimes. To protect his secret, Peter murdered Franco and framed Jason for it. Peter also worked with the evil Victor Cassadine (Charles Shaughnessy), in an attempt to activate Drew's memory mapping once again.
For a time, Peter believed that Anna Devane (Finola Hughes) was his mother, so he wasn’t happy to discover that Anna had lied and that it was her twin sister, Alex (also played by Hughes), who was his biological mother. As Peter and Maxie grew closer, she discovered that she was pregnant. Once the relationship soured, Peter tried to have one of his minions induce Maxie's labor in order to steal the baby. Maxie and Brook Lynn Quartermaine hatched a scheme to make him think the baby had died, when in reality, Maxie gave her newborn daughter to Brook Lynn to raise and keep safe. As luck would have it, Brook Lynn had faked a pregnancy, so the timing worked to both of their advantages.
Why did Peter August leave General Hospital?
Peter had grown obsessed with Maxie. When he learned of her deception, he pursued her to Europe and desperately tried to persuade her to run away with him. Ultimately, Maxie’s mom, Felicia Scorpio (Krstina Wagner), rescued her daughter by giving Peter a killing blow to the head with a tire iron. Anna arrived and held her nephew as he died. She confessed that she hadn't called an ambulance for him because his crimes had warranted his death.
