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Character Profiles > Benito Alessi George Spartels

Hot-headed and stubborn, Benito Alessi, the son of Italian immigrants, met wife Cathy when the two were at school. They slept together at the age of 16, resulting in Cathy falling pregnant. The couple's parents were so disgusted with the idea of them having a child out of wedlock and at such a young age, that they forced them to give the child - a little girl - up for adoption. Both Benito and Cathy were heartbroken at giving their baby away, and regretted it for the rest of their lives.

The couple later married anyway, and had two sons, Marco and Rick. Having lost out on the chance of a daughter, Benito poured his money into providing his sons with a secure future. When Marco left school to travel the world, Benito put all his efforts into ensuring Rick would succeed academically and was convinced his youngest son would make him proud. However, Rick was never the scholar Benito dreamed he would be, and was kicked out of his elite boarding school and forced to enrol at Erinsborough High School. When Benito's niece, Christina and her husband, Paul Robinson, decided to move to Hawaii, Ben and Cathy agreed to lease their house on Ramsay Street from them, and Paul gave Benito the job of manager of the Robinson Corporation and Lassiter's Hotel. Benito soon made his presence felt in Ramsay Street by clashing with Jim Robinson and Doug Willis, and he liked the idea of having Marco move back home so he could keep an eye on him.

At Lassiter's, Benito became instantly unpopular with his secretaries, Gaby Willis - who he threatened with the sack after she dyed her hair orange - and Julie Martin, Paul's sister. Julie was especially bitter towards Benito because she was convinced that her unemployed bank manager husband Philip was more suited for the manager's position at Lassiter's. So when Benito bought shares in Lou Carpenter's car yard and began to spend more time there, Julie saw her opportunity to have Philip put in his rightful place and reported Benito's 'divided loyalties' to Paul. Paul promptly sacked Benito and gave the manager's job to Philip.

The move suited Benito, however, as he had grown to love his involvement in the car yard, and found it less stressful compared to the high-powered goings-on at the hotel. But Lou was less happy with Benito's full-time commitment to the car yard because he hated Benito's by-the-book attitude to car sales, and easy-going Lou couldn't bear spending every day with the uptight and rigid Benito. As tension mounted between the two, they decided to paint a white line down the middle of the car lot, dividing it between the two of them. But they quickly realised how farcical the situation had become and patched up their differences.

Although Marco had been a disappointment academically to his father, Rick proved to be the more difficult to handle of the Alessi boys. Rick was forever getting up to all sorts of mischief around the neighbourhood and at school, and his relationship with Debbie Martin caused Benito much grief. When Rick and Debbie won a trip to London to see Michael Jackson in concert, Benito forbid his son from going, insisting it would interfere with his schoolwork. But Cathy realised the trip would be a trip of a lifetime for the kids, and hatched a plan with Marco and Debbie's gran, Helen Daniels, whereby they would accompany Rick and Debbie to London without Benito's knowledge. Benito thought Rick and Marco had gone away to visit relatives, and he was seething when he learnt the truth. Benito grounded Rick upon his return from England, and banned him from seeing Debbie, although he eventually had to give in and allow the sweethearts to keep dating.

Benito was shocked when Cathy announced her desire to have another baby, and he tried to talk her out of the idea, claiming they were too old to become parents again. But as Cathy pushed and pushed, Benito was forced to reveal the real reason he was against the idea of having another child was because he had had a vasectomy after Rick was born. Although Cathy was surprised by the revelation, she still wanted a baby and persuaded Benito to have the vasectomy reversed. Despite his initial reluctance, Benito agreed. However, on the same day that Benito was released from hospital after the operation, Cathy was given the news by her doctor that she was unable to have any more children.

The desire for their parents to have more children led Marco and Rick to question Ben and Cathy's motives, and the kids were stunned when their parents revealed that they had a sister. Marco was particularly affected by the news, and - immediately made plans to track Lindsay down. Benito and Cathy were shocked when Marco brought Lindsay to dinner one night, introducing her simply as a new friend, and not telling them that she was, in fact, their daughter. When they found out the truth, Ben and Cathy were furious with Marco but they eventually managed to meet with Lindsay and an emotional heart to heart ensued in which Benito and Cathy explained the circumstances that had led to Lindsay's adoption.

When Benito was offered a top executive's job in Sydney, he and Cathy agreed the move would be good for them, and Benito was especially keen to get Rick away from Debbie so he could concentrate on his studies in his final year at school. However, Rick was determined to stay in Erinsborough, where Debbie and all his friends lived, and arranged for an AusStudy grant and a room at Lassiter's in return for him working there part-time as a kitchen hand. Although Benito and Cathy were upset at their son's refusal to join them in Sydney, there was little they could do to quash his determination to make a go of things for himself in Erinsborough, and they agreed to him staying behind.

Keen to impress his bosses with his first client - some Japanese businessmen - Benito enlisted the help of Gaby, who had spent a year in Japan studying business, to help entertain them. However, Gaby was accompanied to Sydney by her boyfriend, Wayne Duncan, who met up with his larrikin brother, Troy and took the Japanese businessmen out for a night on the town. Benito was horrified by what the Duncan brothers were going to show the businessmen, but his fears proved unfounded when Benito landed the account due to the hospitality they had encountered in Sydney.

Tenure
1732-1925

Biography by Moe

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