British origin Indian actor, Gavin Packard, died on May 18 following respiratory disorder.
Packard was admitted to a nursing center in Vasai, Maharashtra, at 4 a.m. where he breathed his last. His funeral service was held on May 19 at St. Andrews Burial Grounds in Bandra, Mumbai. Over 200 people attended the funeral to pay tribute to the actor but sadly none from the film industry, which was close to his heart, were present.
Packard was a fitness trainer by profession and his first Bollywood film was "Ilaaka" (1989) and his last film was "Yeh Hai Jalwa" (2001) directed by David Dhavan.
The 48-year-old had worked in Hindi, Malayalam and Telugu films. He played the roles of superbad villain in many blockbuster films of the 1990s like "Sadak," "Tridev," "Karan Arjun," "Chamatkar" and "Mohra."
When a tabloid Mumbai Mirror contacted some Bollywood actors, who were familiar with Packard and has worked with the national award winning body builder, they expressed their grief over his sad demise.
"It makes me very sad to learn about Gavin's death. He was a part of all my initial films. In fact, he was the one who got Sanju (Sanjay Dutt) into body building. Then at the end of the day, it becomes a hand to mouth existence. We used to train together a lot and when it came to bodybuilding, he was a pioneer. He exactly knew about every muscle, food intake. Any action film you say, he was there," actor Sunil Shetty told the tabloid.
"He was like a brother to me. He introduced me to body building. I am a Godfather to his daughters also. I'll pray for his peace. I am there for his family always. Gold bless his soul," Sanjay Dutt said.
