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Neighbourhood > Guest Character Profiles > Alex Kinski Andrew Clarke

Alexander 'Alex' Isiovich Kinski 2005
Lived: 28 Ramsay Street
Marital Status: Francesca Sangmu (died), Susan Smith (2005)
Children: Katya, Rachel and Zeke
Family Tree: Kinski
Occupation: Economics Lecturer
Died: 2005

Following the death of his wife, Francesca, university professor Alex Kinski took over the home schooling duties of their children, Rachel and Zeke. As the two children became teenagers, however, Alex decided that it might help their social skills to start attending high school, and he enrolled them at Erinsborough High. Within weeks, Alex was shocked to learn that one of the teachers, Paul Robinson, had spent time in prison and still had some rather dodgy business links, so he confronted teacher Susan Smith about his fears. Susan managed to talk him ‘round and the pair even enjoyed a drink together, until Paul was arrested in the middle of the bar, regarding the disappearance of local woman Izzy Hoyland. Alex decided that he would transfer Rachel and Zeke to Eden Hills Grammar, but, after a few choice words from Susan and Paul, not to mention some begging from Rachel, he decided that they could stay put.

Despite the poor start, Alex had also developed something of a crush on Susan and asked her out on a date. As Alex reluctantly left his children in the care of Stingray and Dylan Timmins at number 26, he and Susan spent a few pleasant hours together at the Scarlet Bar, before Rachel ran in and told her dad that Zeke had gone missing. It then emerged that Stingray had sent Zeke out on a bike – which he couldn’t ride – to do a delivery for the Timmins family’s courier business. Zeke found himself in hospital and a furious Alex dismissed Susan’s idea of a lift home at the end of the evening. A few days later, Alex called into the school and apologised to Susan, who suggested that she cook dinner for them that evening. The evening got off to a bad start when Alex arrived to find the kitchen stove on fire, as Susan had accidentally spilt oil all over the flames. Alex quickly put the fire out, and the couple shared a pizza, before Susan moved in for a kiss. A reluctant Alex decided to leave, but accidentally hit Susan as he got up, leaving her with a black eye and a bleeding nose. Desperate to prove his feelings towards her, Alex burst into the school one afternoon and whisked her away in his arms, in front of his delighted kids.

During a picnic in the park that afternoon, Susan and Alex shared their first kiss. Their date wasn’t without drama though, when they went to a local science lab to pick up Rachel and Zeke, who’d been studying there, and found the building had been evacuated due to a gas leak. Local cop Stuart Parker ran in and rescued the two children, with Alex close behind. After a few hours of observation at the hospital, Rachel and Zeke were discharged, and Susan took the three of them back to her place. On the pretext of not wanting to disrupt the children too much, Susan then suggested that Alex spend the night with her. With their relationship finally starting to settle down, Alex had to go away to Canberra for a few days on business. Before leaving, he showed Susan a photo of Francesca, explaining that she was still an important part of his life and he would never forget her.

Upon his return, Alex went to the hospital and was informed that abnormalities had been found in some tests, following his exposure to the gas. He was informed by Karl Kennedy – Susan’s ex, though neither party realised their connection to the other – that he was suffering from Angioimmunoblastic T-Cell Lymphoma, an aggressive form of leukaemia, giving him only months to live. Alex decided to keep the news to himself, but when Rachel spotted her dad in the garden, looking at an engagement ring, word quickly got back to Susan that he was about to propose. As they sat down for lunch at Lassiter’s restaurant, she was therefore shocked when he decided to end the relationship. In a desperate bid to cut Susan out of his life, rather than tell her the truth, he announced that he’d met someone else. Later that night, Rachel snuck out of the house and went to see her friend Bree Timmins to tell her the news, before calling her dad to collect her from Susan’s place. Once alone with Susan, Alex admitted that he’d simply been scared and that there was no other woman. He then proposed and left with the kids to go camping for a few days, giving Susan a chance to think.

Upon his return, Alex got down on one knee and asked Susan again, presenting her with ring, and she happily accepted. However, Alex was concerned when his health took a sudden decline and he collapsed in the kitchen one night. He decided that he would have to fight the illness and went to see Graham Harlin, a healer, who was actually a con artist named Jonathan Verne. During another appointment with Karl, Alex mentioned that he hadn’t told his family about his illness as he was determined to beat it and, later that day, the two men ran into each other at number 28 and Alex realised that he’d been confiding in Susan’s ex. Alex warned Karl not to break confidentiality and tried to find the right time to tell Susan himself, but Karl got there first and broke the news. Before Susan could tell Alex what she knew, he got in there first and told her about the cancer. She understood his reasons for not telling her, but was horrified when he admitted that part of the reason for his proposal had been to ensure that his children had someone to look after them. Susan called the relationship off and Alex and the kids moved their stuff back home.

As Karl encouraged Susan not to throw away her chance of happiness with Alex, and his kids tried to understand what went wrong, the couple agreed to be friends, before deciding to give the relationship another go. There was more good news when Alex was informed by a specialist that he may have longer than a few months to live, given the way his body was responding to the illness. Their reunion came just in time for a joy flight to Tasmania, celebrating Lassiter’s hotel’s 20th anniversary and the pair happily boarded the plane. Sadly, their happiness didn’t last long, as an explosion sent the plane crashing into Bass Strait. Alex was quickly recovered from the water with few injuries and sent back to Erinsborough to be with his kids, where they, and Karl, waited anxiously for news of Susan. After a few days, Susan was finally found and brought back to Erinsborough hospital, where she and Alex realised that they’d now been given two second chances and they weren’t going to waste them, agreeing to get married and not let anything stop them this time.

However, Alex still had another shock in store for Susan. As Rachel’s behaviour became more and more rebellious and she started seeing older boy Jake Rinter, Susan was surprised one day when Rachel assured her dad that she wasn’t going to turn out like Katya. Alex was forced to explain that Katya was his eldest daughter, who, five years ago, at the age of sixteen, he’d thrown out of home. He explained that her behaviour, in the wake of her mother’s death, had become so destructive that he’d feared for Rachel and Zeke’s safety. Although Susan found it hard to deal with yet another secret coming out, and almost called off the wedding, she agreed to support Alex as he hired a private detective to search for Katya. Meanwhile, Alex’s symptoms were beginning to return and, after he struggled to breath during his bucks’ night, Karl broke the news that Alex had only weeks left to live. After telling Susan, they realised that they would finally have to tell Rachel and Zeke about the illness. Although Zeke remained calm, Rachel disappeared, coming to the conclusion that she could no longer trust any of the adults around her.

With Christmas only a couple of days away, and Alex weakening with each hour that passed, the decision was made to bring the wedding forward. Rachel, meanwhile, had taken a call from someone who’d spotted one of the ads placed, looking for Katya. With Zeke, she tracked down Katya to a clinic where she worked as a nurse, in the hope that she would look after them. Katya refused, but, unsettled by the news of her father’s terminal illness, she arrived in Ramsay Street just before the wedding and spoke to Alex. Although he was hoping that they would make peace, she refused to forgive him for throwing her out of home, but agreed to stay for the wedding. With Karl and Katya as witnesses, Susan and Alex were married. That night, Susan sat by Alex’s side as he slept on the couch, before waking up and asking her to go on the honeymoon to Belarus, with the children. He then passed away.

Magic Moments
Episode 4872: Susan and Alex's Wedding

Biography by Steve

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