Tony Ganios Dies: ‘Porky’s’, ‘The Wanderers’ Actor Was 64
He was not on the list.
Tony Ganios, the actor who made his film debut in Philip Kaufman’s 1979 coming-of-age comedy-drama The Wanderers and played audience favorite Anthony “Meat” Tuperello in the 1980s Porky’s sex comedy franchise, died Sunday following surgery at a hospital in New York. He was 64.
His death was announced on social media by his fiancée, Amanda Serrano-Ganios, who said that the actor fell ill last week, was hospitalized Saturday with a spinal cord infection, and passed away Sunday of heart failure.
Cast as one of the Bronx Italian-American street toughs in the 1963-set The Wanderers, based on the novel by Richard Price, Ganios became, for much of the ’80s, a go-to actor for directors looking for a touch of East Coast flavor. Ganios re-teamed with his Wanderers co-star Ken Wahl for a recurring role as a mob lawyer on Wahl’s 1987-90 crime series Wiseguy.
Ganios’ other credits include Continental Divide (1981) starring John Belushi, and episodes of ’80s series Scarecrow and Mrs. King and The Equalizer.
In 1990’s Die Hard 2, Ganios played a killer who meets a memorably gruesome end when Bruce Willis’ John McClane stabs him in the eye with an icicle.
Ganios found his signature role when he was cast by director Bob Clark in what would become a surprise hit in 1981, the teen sex comedy Porky’s, about a group of high school boys looking to lose their virginity in 1950s-era Florida. Though savaged by critics, the film would go on to be the fifth highest-grossing movie of 1982, spawning two sequels.
Ganios would re-team with his friend Wahl in 1991’s The Taking of Beverly Hills, and, in what would be his final credit before largely retiring from acting, with The Wanderers‘ director Kaufman for 1993’s Rising Sun starring Sean Connery and Wesley Snipes.
Filmography
List of acting credits in film
Year Title Role Notes
1979 The Wanderers Perry LaGuardia Tony Ganios's first debut as an
actor and his first collaboration with director Philip Kaufman and actor Ken
Wahl.
1981 Back Roads Bartini
1981 Continental
Divide Max Bernbaum
1981 Porky's Anthony 'Meat' Tuperello
1983 Porky's II: The
Next Day Anthony 'Meat' Tuperello
1984 Body Rock 'Big Mac' Mac
1985 Porky's
Revenge! Anthony 'Meat'
Tuperello
1987 (TV Series) Scarecrow
and Mrs. King Simons Episode "Any Number Can
Play"
1988 (TV Series) The
Equalizer Sergio 'Serge' Episode "Video Games"
1989-1990 (TV Series) Wiseguy Mike 'Mooch' Cacciatore Five episodes as 'Mike
"Mooch" Cacciatore'. Second collaboration with Ken Wahl.
1990 Die Hard 2 Baker
1991 The Taking of
Beverly Hills EPA Man Third collaboration with Ken Wahl.
1992 (TV Movie) Ring of
the Musketeers [de] Tony
1993 Rising Sun Doorman guard (Perry) Tony Ganios's last appearance as an actor and his second collaboration with director Philip Kaufman
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