Telenovela Star Andrés García Dies at 81 — ‘He Left in Peace’

Andrés García, a Mexican-Dominican telenovela actor who was considered one of the last surviving stars from the Golden Age of Mexican cinema, died Tuesday (April 4) at his home in Acapulco, Mexico, at the age of 81.

“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,” his wife, Margarita Portillo, wrote on her late husband’s Instagram page.

According to Deadline, García’s cause of death was hepatic cirrhosis, which is severe scarring of the liver. “I was by his side taking care of him and loving him until his last breath,” Portillo wrote. “He left in peace and in a manner that I thank God. Andrés abandoned planet Earth at 3:07 p.m.”

Born in the Dominican Republic on May 24, 1941, García emigrated to Mexico and became a naturalized citizen. He got his start in the Mexican film and TV industry in the late 1960s. His first movie was playing the title character in the 1967 action-adventure film Chanoc. Other films he starred in included La noche del halcón, Las tres magnificas, Los destrampados, and Nadie te querrá como yo.

On TV, some of García’s longest-running roles in telenovelas included Las gemelas (186 episodes), Paloma (223 episodes), Con toda el alma (240 episodes), and La mujer prohibida (227 episodes). His last, live-action screen performance listed is one episode of the mystery telenovela Hay alguien ahí in 2010.

On Twitter, former Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto said, “I deeply regret the death of Don Andrés García, my heartfelt condolences to his family. Rest in peace.”