Henry Edward Garcia (Hank Cheyne) was born on August 13, 1958 in Santa Maria, California. He is of German and Dutch descent on his mothers side and Native American, Spanish and Mexican descent on his fathers side. He was raised in a Roman Catholic household and went to a parochial middle school and high school. After high school he went to Santa Clara University where he played Varsity baseball and graduated with a BSC in Business. After that he attended UCLA Law School where he received his Juris Doctor degree.
While in Law School he was approached by photographer Steven Arnold, who took notice of the handsome young man and asked to photograph him. He agreed. After this a friend of his recommended he get into acting because of his good looks and presence, and recommended him to an acting coach. He began taking acting lessons and the coach, Vincent Chase, told him he should go to an open casting for a big feature editorial in GQ Magazine. Hank went and the photographer doing the casting was Bruce Weber, who cast Hank almost immediately (photo taken can be seen below). Weber took such a liking to him and his striking beauty that he continued working with him, featuring Hank in magazines such as British Vogue, Italian Vogue, in an editorial in Las Vegas with Christie Brinkley, and for a major Gianni Versace campaign. After Weber he went on to shoot with acclaimed photographers Herb Ritts, Mathew Rolston, and Fabrizio Gianni among others.
He juggled being a model while also attending Law School for a few years before graduating and passing the California Bar Exam. He almost immediately was offered a full time offer from a Beverly Hills law firm. Before committing and needing a break from seven straight years of college and grad school, he asked for and received a deferment with an open offer to return to practice law. Following commercial and print work he moved to Europe, traveling extensively, eventually living in Italy and then later Tokyo, Japan, before returning to the U.S. where he committed to pursuing a career as an actor after being discovered by another acting coach while living in Milan.
In 1986 he was cast in Another World as Scott Love/Lasalle in NYC. However, when his two year contract was over he decided against renewing it as he wants to move back to California. After moving back to California he did small parts in B flicks, tv commercials and guest spots on some shows, and continued this for years.
1996 he co-founded a theater company on Hollywood Theater Row and starred in the world premiere of Steve Monroe's 'A Kind Man and A Good Lover' in the role of Frank Mackie, for which he received a Los Angeles Ovation Award Nomination. That same year Aaron Spelling met him and cast him as Detective Ricardo Torres on Sunset Beach, which would premiere in 1997. The soap ran for 3 years but was a cult hit in the UK and big hit in places like Russia and Poland.
In the early 00s he gained a passion for art and began painting, even getting a studio space in LA to do so, and Gallery representation on Melrose Ave.
In 2006 he returned to acting in a show called “Saints & Sinners”, which ran for 62 episodes. In 2009/2010 he had a recurring role as Austin Buttercup in HBO’s Big Love. After that he had big guest starring roles on Sons of Anarchy and Criminal Minds. In 2014 he was cast in a recurring role for Longmire and cast in an episode of The Morning Show in 2019.