Tony Ganios, who played Anthony “Meat” Tuperello in thePorky’ssex comedy franchise, has died. He was 64.
Ganios’ fiancée, Amanda Serrano-Ganios, announced his death onX, formerly known as Twitter. He died on Sunday morning after a long surgery for a spinal infection.
“The last words we said to each other were ‘I love you,'” Serrano-Ganioswrote. “Love is an understatement. You are everything to me. My heart, my soul and my best friend. #I love you #tonyganios.”
Dan Monahan, Mark Herrier, Tony Ganios in Wyatt Knight in ‘Porky’s Revenge’.20th Century Fox/Getty
20th Century Fox/Getty
“It’s just unreal to me right now. It was so fast,” Serrano-Ganios wrote onXTuesday. “He hadn’t felt well and hid it from me for days. When he finally told me, and was taken to the hospital, his spinal cord was severely infected. They did surgery, next morning, his heart stopped. I’m crushed.”
“I’m just completely empty inside now. He was my best friend, my soul mate. I just love him so much,” Serrano-Ganios told PEOPLE.
Ganios made his film debut in Philip Kaufman’s 1979 coming-of-age movieThe Wanderers, playing tough guy Perry LaGuardia. The movie also starred Ken Wahl, who worked with Ganios again in the 1991 movieThe Taking of Beverly Hillsand the 1987-1990 crime seriesWiseguy.
“Rest In Peace, Buddy ….. I love you,” Wahl wrote onXMonday.
In 1981, Ganios starred in three films, the most popular beingPorky’s. He became a centerpiece of the teen sex comedy franchise, appearing as Anthony “Meat” Tuperello in the 1983 sequelPorky’s II: The Next DayandPorky’s Revengein 1985.
His television credits include five episodes ofWiseguy, an episode ofScarecrow and Mrs. Kingin 1987 and an episode ofThe Equalizerin 1988.
Gianos was scheduled to appear at theCult Classics Conventionin Bastrop, Texas, alongside fellowPorky’sstars Roger Wilson, Dan Monahan, Cyril O’Reilly and Mark Herrier in March.
In a 2015 interview withCult Faction, Gianos described the group as a “big, dysfunctional family” that has been together through the ups and downs of life.
“We’re like a big, dysfunctional family that for over thirty years has seen each other through marriages, childbirth, divorces, lawsuits, and the tragic loss of one of our own,” the Brooklyn-born actor said. “Sometimes we feel like strangling one another, but when the chips are down we have always rallied for our mutual aid and defense.”
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source: people.com
