Spike Lester
| Spike Lester | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Passions character | |||||||
| Portrayed by | Christopher Maleki | ||||||
| Duration | 2005–08 | ||||||
| First appearance | March 10, 2005 | ||||||
| Last appearance | January 7, 2008 | ||||||
| Created by | James E. Reilly | ||||||
| Profile | |||||||
| Occupation |
Nightclub Owner (formerly) Criminal | ||||||
| Residence | Harmony, New England | ||||||
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Spike Lester is a fictional character on the NBC/DirecTV soap opera Passions. He was played by Christopher Maleki from March 10, 2005 to January 7, 2008.
Character history
Spike runs two sleazy after hours clubs in Harmony until the first is smashed up by Ethan Winthrop, Fox Crane, and Chad Harris; the second is burned down by Noah Bennett. Spike sleeps with Jessica Bennett and turns her into a drug addict and prostitute. He kills one of her johns and tricks Jessica into thinking she committed the crime; in order to keep her under his control, he kills more of her johns and makes her believe that she is the murderer, then threatens to expose her if she leaves him. Spike is also responsible for the murder Noah Bennett and Maya Chinn witnessed years ago and is revealed to be conspiring with Alistair Crane and Noah's blackmailer, Lena.
Spike marries Jessica and lives with her and the Bennett family until he is arrested. After Alistair's death, he shoots and blackmails Chris Boothe. He then tries to rob the Crane mansion, and shoots Pilar Lopez-Fitzgerald after she tries to call the police. He also tries to kill Theresa by locking her in a sauna. Young James Boothe identifies Spike (from behind) as the man who killed the Cranes' maid, Phyllis, and Fancy Crane tries to catch him, but Spike renders her unconscious and attempts to rape her; Chris stops him, however.
Spike and the Blackmailer begin working together, digging up Jessica's dead johns' bodies in a ploy to frame her. In an attempt to kill Miguel, Spike is caught by Tabitha and becomes Edna and Norma's slave. Under the magical charm of Endora Lenox and Kay Bennett, Spike confessed to his grisly misdeeds and is arrested by Paloma Lopez-Fitzgerald, but escapes. He is later recruited by his former employer, Alistair Crane, as an assassin, his first target being Crane's eldest grandson, Vincent Clarkson. However Sheridan, Alistair's daughter and Vincent's aunt, intervenes and, through circumstance, ends up apparently killing Vincent after Spike tells her he knows the location of her supposedly dead son, Marty. Spike escapes after Vincent's death and is able to go free after he convinces Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald to destroy his criminal record in exchange for information about Marty. Spike drops off-canvass on January 7, 2008, after meeting his and Jessica's newborn son, Samuel Herbert Bennett, for the first time and demanding that he be allowed to play a role in his child's life. Several months later, however, Jessica shares that she is still in the process of divorcing Spike, and is raising Samuel without Spike's influence.