Bio
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow. Almeida obtained Bachelor's degrees in Computer Science and Engineering from the San Diego State University and his Master of Science in Computer Science from Stanford. He served in the United States Marine Corps, attaining the rank of First Lieutenant and attended the 3rd Marine Division's Scout-Sniper School as well as the 1st Marine Division's Surveillance and Target Acquisition Platoon School. He is a certified instructor of the Krav Maga self defence system.
Just before joining CTU, he worked for the Transmeta Corporation as a Systems Validation Analyst.
It is revealed for perhaps the first time in Season 4 episode 23 (5 a.m. - 6 a.m.) that Tony's full name is Anthony Almeida. This is proven while Tony's hostage taker Mandy is researching Tony's background on her computer and there is a captioned photo which refers to him as Anthony Almeida.
Season 1
In the first season, Almeida was third-in-command of the Los Angeles Counter Terrorist Unit (behind Jack Bauer and Nina Myers). During the season Tony aids Nina in anyway possible including the interrogation of Jamie Farrel. In addition when Nina asks Tony whether he is in fact doing everything he can to help Jack, he consequently guns down Myovic and saves Terri Bauer. Unfortunately his duty amounted to nothing as a result of Terri's death at the hand of Nina.
During the first season it is assumed that he is romantically involved with Nina Myers, hence the animosity between him and Jack. After the end of the season, Jack left CTU due to personal difficulties after his wife was murdered, and Nina was sent to prison for crimes including treason and murder. Tony became second-in-command behind George Mason.
Season 2
Towards the beginning of the second season, Mason was exposed to plutonium and lethal radiation. In a noble effort to remove an armed nuclear bomb from a populated area, he crashed a plane carrying the bomb into the Nevada desert, sacrificing his own life in the ensuing nuclear blast. This left the position of Special Agent in Charge open for Tony. During his time as head of CTU he is stereotyped as another by the books CTU director. However, his support for Jack temporarily lost him his position. Moreover he was responsible for knocking out Ryan Chapelle to prevent CTU from interrupting Jack and his obtaining of the people behind the Cyprus recordings.
Tony started developing a romantic interest with Michelle Dessler. At first, Tony kept his distance because he felt hesitant after his last relationship was revealed to be with a traitor, Nina Myers.
Season 3
Saunders giving information to TonyTony still maintains his title as Agent-In-Charge, who was receiving promotion offers from other CTU divisions, particularly in Langley, Virginia. During the third season, he, Jack and Gael Ortega work on a sting operation to take the Cordilla virus off the "market". However when doing so he is shot in the neck and is comatose for only a few hours, before returning to his post at CTU. Later in the season, Tony is arrested for treason when it is found out he has been helping the terrorist Stephen Saunders who was holding his wife, Michelle Dessler, hostage. his likely sentence determined to be at least 20 years imprisonment or at most execution. (The least possible without a partially suspended sentence or presidential commutation is five years in federal prison.)
Over the course of the show, arguably the most tension between Jack and Tony is in this season, when Tony said he would not sacrifice his wife for his job as Jack had. This scenario occurred when Jack ordered Michelle to be recaptured by the main antagonist Stephen Saunders in order to bring Saunders into custody.
Even though Tony had many Hispanic co-stars in Season 3, he has only been seen speaking Spanish once on the show. In Day 1 when he is speaking to Jamey Farrell while interrogating her he says "Eres una verguenza" which roughly translates to "You are an embarrasment". It is spoken in a low voice which may be why many fans have seemed to have missed it. However, he is seen watching a television channel with Spanish commentary in Season 4.
Post-CTU
Season 4
Almeida's wife, Michelle Dessler, left him after he was released from prison due to his drinking habits and bitterness and because he pushed her away. He moved in with a woman named Jen Slater, where he resided until about Day 4, when Jack required assistance at a security building. Tony saved Jack and Audrey Raines' life, and they laid low at his house for roughly half an hour. During this time, Jack told Tony he was "the only person he could trust". But Tony considers the rescue a repayment of the debt he owed Jack for getting him out of prison and initially does not wish to be involved in the case any further. Jack respected Tony's wishes not to be dragged further into the day's events, but when setting out to apprehend a suspect on his own, Tony reasoned that it would be pretty stupid to let his friend go back out alone after just saving his life and offered his help.
As Tony and Jack went through the investigation, Jack saw his friend "come back to life," showing some of his old nobility, courage and resourcefulness as he became increasingly involved in the case. Eventually, Jack was able to convince Tony to return to CTU on a provisional basis, where he would work Tactical for Jack. Tensions rose when the Associate Special Agent in Charge of Division Bill Buchanan and Almeida's former wife, Michelle Dessler, took active command of CTU Los Angeles when incumbent Special Agent in Charge Erin Driscoll left for personal reasons.
Tony and Michelle clashed at first, but gradually, the two began to warm up to each other again, and near the end of the day, they had agreed to leave CTU together and start a new life. However, when Bill Buchanan called Tony into the field, Tony was captured by an assassin. The assassin, a woman named Mandy who had made an attempt on President David Palmer's life in season two, threatened to kill Tony if Michelle did not move LAPD units out of the area and clearan escape route. Michelle was going to comply but told Bill instead. When a car bomb went off with two people thought to be Tony and Mandy inside, Michelle was ordered to go home. However, due to the swift actions of Jack Bauer and his tactical teams, Tony was rescued and returned to Michelle.
At the end of Day 4, when an overzealous member of the new Logan Administration decided that Jack Bauer needed to die, due to his part in an illegal raid on the Chinese Consulate in Los Angeles, Tony played an intricate part in faking Jack's death. After smuggling him out of CTU, Tony allowed himself to have an emotional good-bye to his best friend, a man whom he might never see again.
Season 5
By Day 5, Tony and Michelle are no longer working for CTU and seem to have built a happy life together. After receiving news that President David Palmer has been assassinated, Tony attempts to dissuade Michelle from going to CTU to assist in the investigation. He hesitates, but as he decides to follow Michelle outside, Michelle's car explodes violently. Rushing to get to her, he finds her unconscious, and presumably dead. As he holds her, the fuel tank in the car ignites causing a second explosion, critically injuring him. It is later revealed through CTU conversations that Michelle is, in fact, dead.
Tony was transported to CTU Medical. Agent Curtis Manning requested he speak with Tony upon arrival, but pressure to Tony's brain left him unable to speak before going into surgery. At the White House, an assassin is sent into CTU by Walt Cummings to kill Jack Bauer, murdering and then posing as the doctor. Jack was informed that Tony had awoken and wanted to speak to him. With Tony unresponsive, Jack caught the oncoming attack in a reflection, and killed his would-be assassin.
Upon waking a few hours later, Tony is told by CTU Director Bill Buchannan that Michelle's condition is still unknown in order to keep him out of shock. However, Tony suspects otherwise and escapes CTU Medical to access a computer, where he learns of his wife's fate.
Tony was sealed inside CTU Medical, with Christopher Henderson, when the terrorists released the Sentox nerve gas in the building, killing approximately 40% of the staff. Enraged and feeling he has nothing left to live for, Tony decides to kill Henderson. At 7:59 on day 5, whilst Tony has second thoughts about killing Christopher Henderson for killing his beloved Michelle, Henderson awakes from his comatose state and stabs Tony with a "supposed" overdose of hyoscine-pentothal (Agent Rick Burke had been using the drug to try to get Henderson to talk). Henderson then escapes the building. Jack rushes in and holds Tony in his arms. His last words before 8pm were, "She's gone, Jack."
The Bauer-Almeida Connection
Tony Almeida and Jack Bauer had a rocky start to their friendship. During Season 1, Almeida was suspicious of his lover, Nina Myers, because she had been Bauer's lover at one point. During the day, Almeida often impeded Bauer's investigation, frustrated that he was being kept out of the loop. (At this early point in the series, viewers were sometimes left to wonder if Tony might himself be a mole working against CTU.) When Myers was revealed to be a mole, however, an undeclared but formidable bond was forged between the two characters, both feeling betrayed by the same woman.
During Season 2, Almeida was trusted by Bauer to find his daughter, Kim. When Almeida took command of CTU Los Angeles, after Special Agent in Charge George Mason died, Almeida and Bauer shared a moment in which Bauer congratulated Tony on his promotion. However, after Bauer learned that the Cyprus audio recording which was being used to support a war with three (unnamed) Middle Eastern countries, Bauer and Almeida were pitted against each other, as Almeida was, once again, being kept in the dark. When Almeida learned the full story, he was behind Jack completely, going as far as to incapacitate Division Director Ryan Chappelle to support Jack's investigation.
During Season 3, Almeida, Bauer, and a CTU agent named Gael Ortega were the masterminds behind an elaborate collaboration between CTU and the US Army's Delta Force to recover a virus from drug lords Ramon and Hector Salazar. The operation failed, and the virus fell into the hands of former MI-6 agent Stephen Saunders. Later in the season, CTU took Saunders's daughter into custody. Saunders then took Almeida's wife Michelle hostage, forcing Almeida to commit treason and allow Saunders's daughter to escape. Jack Bauer finally confronted Almeida and went against him, risking Michelle's life to stop Saunders from releasing the virus. Almeida, having given into Saunders' demands, was sent to prison for roughly seven months, despite Bauer's plea on Almeida's behalf. "You should be slapping a medal on him," Bauer told Division Director Brad Hammond, "not handcuffs."
During Season 4, Bauer was cornered by a group of mercenaries and called Almeida for help. During the ensuing hours, Almeida and Bauer worked together to stop hundreds of nuclear power plants from melting down. As Bauer later commented, "I've seen my friend come back to life." It was mentioned several times throughout the course of the season that Bauer was the only true friend that Tony had left. By the end of the 4th season, Tony, along with Chloe O'Brian and Michelle Dessler, helped Jack Bauer stage his own death to avoid being killed by a secret service agent.
During Season 5, Tony Almeida is killed by Christopher Henderson and Jack, whilst crying, holds Tony in his arms as he dies; this is some what similar to Jack cradling Teri in his arms at the end of Day 1, including the fact that he was the only other one that he ever cried over. However, his breakdown at the end of Day 3 may also have been heavily influenced by the death of Ryan Chappelle.
Despite their conflicts and differences, Tony and Jack shared a mutual respect and worked together on several of their most important missions and, over the ensuing days and years, went from being enemies to best friends.
Rumours and Speculation
There is some speculation amongst 24 fans regarding if Tony Almeida is truly dead. An interview of Carlos Bernard at the 24 Season 6 Promo asks Carlos the question: "Is Tony really dead?" Carlos response is that he can't comment on dead or non-dead characters as well as not being able to comment on what he was working on even though he confirmed he did not have a new pilot. [2] Furthermore an interview in November regarding Season 6 of 24 featured him as well as Jon Cassar talking about how everything is done behind the scenes. Tony's death is referred to as "alleged"[3]by the interviewer as well as Carlos and Jon. However, Tony's Season 5 character profile on Fox's 24 website shows him labeled as "Deceased;" such a label has not been proven false (other than when Jack's heart stopped after the broadcast of Day 2: 2:00a.m.-3:00a.am.) thus far and therefore it is extremely unlikely that Tony somehow survived.
*Bio courtesy of Wikipedia