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, and also released a single of the well known song 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 and fortune in Hollywood. He 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. 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."
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