CELEBRITIES
Mexican telenovela star Andrés García dies at the age of 81
The actor was diagnosed with hepatic cirrhosis last year.
Telenovela legend Andrés García has passed away after a battle with hepatic cirrhosis at the age of 81.
The Mexican-Dominican actor was known for his roles in the telenovelas ‘Las Gemelas’ (1972) and ‘La Mujer Prohibida’ (1991), and worked in the Mexican film and television industry for over 50 years.
He passed away in his home in Acapulco on Tuesday.
He passed away peacefully with his wife by his side
García’s wife Margarita Portillo made the announcement of her husband’s passing in an Instagram post on Tuesday.
“With a pain that I did not know I could feel in my soul, I want to inform the public that always followed and loved my husband, family, and friends, as well as the media, that my husband, Andrés García, the love of my loves, is resting beside our Lord Jesus,” she said in a statement translated from Spanish.
She went on to say that her husband received a transfusion on Sunday, and on Monday, he received Extreme Unction, a Catholic sacrament given to those who are seriously ill.
“I was by his side taking care of him and loving him until his last breath,” she added in her statement. “He left in peace and in a manner that I thank God. Andrés abandoned planet Earth at 3:07 p.m.”
How Andrés García got his start
García was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic on May 24, 1941, to Spanish parents who left Spain during the Spanish Civil War. They were among the almost 4,000 Spanish exiles who arrived in the island nation during the regime of Rafael Trujillo.
His father was famed Republican combat aviator Andrés García Calle.
Because of Trujillo’s increasingly volatile regime, the family then immigrated to Mexico, obtaining Mexican nationality, and settling in Acapulco.
In his 20s, García worked on boats, until he was discovered by movie producers, going on to star in the 1967 movie ‘Chanoc’. He then appeared in ‘La noche del halcón’, ‘Las tres magnificas’, ‘Minifaldas con espuelas’, and ‘El cinico’.
He became a sex symbol in Mexico in the 1970s, as well as one of the most coveted leading men in telenovelas, earning him the title “galán de la telenovela.”