He is probably best remembered for his ongoing role as Dr Tony Garcia in the long running Australian soap opera The Young Doctors.
After leaving The Young Doctors Alvarez starred on the stage in Evita and toured the UK with Ronnie Corbett in Cabaret.
He had a brief guest role in television serial Prisoner in 1983 playing a man, also named Tony, revealed to be a vicious rapist.
During Alvarez' career, he worked alongside Antonio Banderas and subsequently discovered they were born in the same town.
[1] Alvarez was diagnosed with an AIDS related cancer and died in Sydney at age 40 not far from the Mitchell Street studios where he first shot to fame in The Young Doctors.