DR TONY GARCIA played by TONY ALVAREZ

Dr Tony Garcia was a typical Spaniard - volatile, emotional and flirtatious. But he also had a caring and sensitive side. He had failed relationships with Dr Susan Richards, Lisa Brooks and Jo Jo Adams, but his biggest love affair was with Nurse Tania Livingston. The pair's on again-off again relationship led to a stormy marriage which ultimately made them both unhappy. Although in love, they were ill suited. Tony was unable to truly commit to Tania, and eventually they separated. He finally decided to leave the Albert and go into general practice.

Tony Alvarez died in late 1997, just a few months short of his 42nd birthday. He was born in Spain, to an Army Colonel and an actress. His mother died when he was only 13, and Tony ran away to France, where he eventually became a Pierre Cardin model. Later, he moved to England, and met John Dommett (The Young Doctors' Jim Howard), who suggested he should try his luck in Australia. Once in Australia, Tony got work as a model, singer and actor, before landing the role of Dr Tony Garcia in Grundy's medical soap The Young Doctors. He was the show's original heartthrob, and when his character married Nurse Tania Livingston, the couple captured the hearts of the nation. But their relationship was a rocky one, ending with Dr Garcia leaving the hospital to work at Dr Clifford Langley's clinic. He and Tania eventually divorced.

After leaving the show, Tony starred for two years in the stage musical Evita, in the role of Che Guevara, and released the single "Talking in My Sleep". He later appeared as Godfrey Carson's fiery Spanish manservant in Carson's Law, but when the show was axed he took on some part time work as an interpreter with the Immigration Department. In 1981, Tony did a three month tour of the UK in Cabaret, with well-known comedian Ronnie Corbett. This was followed by a move to the US, in an attempt to find fame in Hollywood. Tony went on to appear in the popular daytime soaps General Hospital and The Bold and the Beautiful. He also had roles in the movies A Man Called Horse and Mambo Kings. During the filming of Mambo Kings, he and Antonio Banderas struck up a friendship and discovered they were from the same town in Spain. During his varied career, Tony also held an art exhibition in New York, and owned an antiques shop in Los Angeles.

After a long battle with cancer, Tony returned to Sydney, where he died not far from the TV studios where he had first found fame. Close friends from his Young Doctors days, including Judy McBurney (Tania), Peter Lochran (Peter Holland) and Richard Kent, kept a vigil at his bedside. At Tony's funeral, songwriter friend Peter Threlfall said: "Some people come into our lives like soft summer breezes. We enjoy them and then they are gone and forgotten. Then there was Tony. A life force as strong as a hurricane."

This obituary first appeared at classicaussiesoaps.com