Tony Adams

Anthony Sawley Adams (11 December 1940 – 25 October 2025) was a Welsh actor, known for his performances in two British television soap operas.

Adams trained as an actor at the Italia Conti Stage School. As a child he appeared on the London stage, notably alongside the young Kenneth Williams in a production of Peter Pan at the Scala Theatre. He also appeared with the Royal Shakespeare Company, and in pantomime with David Essex.

Career Adams made his name as Dr Neville Bywaters in the 1970s soap General Hospital. He also appeared in the Doctor Who serial The Green Death (1973) as Elgin; however, he became ill with peritonitis during filming and could not complete the serial. It is for this role that he is best known. In September 1987, Adams decided to leave the programme. The announcement was made that the series would end in April 1988, and Adams stayed to the end. He was one of the cast members who returned in the 2001 revival of the series, though his character was later killed off in a fire. He also appeared in a one-off DVD made in 2014.

In late 2004, Adams appeared in the stage version of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the London Palladium theatre where he played Grandpa Potts.

In 2023, Adams appeared in a cameo role in the ITVX miniseries Nolly, which dramatised the life of his former Crossroads colleague Noele Gordon, and in which Adams himself was portrayed by Augustus Prew.

Personal life and death In 2013, aged 72, Adams began suffering from osteoarthritis, which he speculated might have resulted from eating an excess of seafood, especially prawns.

Adams died at Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton, England, on 25 October 2025, at the age of 84. Filmography Film Television Year Title RoleNotes 1966 Crossroads Mr. Perkins 2 episodes1972 The Two Ronnies Brutus Episode: Series 2, Episode 5 Crown Court Brian Parker Episode: Conspiracy: Part Three 1972–1979 General Hospital Dr. Neville Bywaters Series regular; 304 episodes1973 Doctor Who Elgin Episodes: The Green Death Play of the Week Prince Damian Episode: Queen of Hearts 1978–2002 Crossroads Adam Chance Series regular; 260 episodes 1986 Hale and Pace Prince Charming Episode: Christmas Extravaganza 1992 The Upper Hand Donald Crenshaw Episode: You Shall Go to the Ball 2001 The Grimleys Doctor Episode: The Big Sleep 2003 The Afternoon Play Agency Supremo Episode: Turkish Delight 2006 Doctors Edgar Price Episode: Ghost in the Machine