Tony Ganios

Tony Ganios (October 21, 1959 – February 18, 2024) was an American actor. He played the tough guy Perry in the 1979 film The Wanderers, and Anthony 'Meat' Tuperello in the 1981 comedy Porky's and its sequels.

Tony Ganios made his debut appearance as tough guy Perry in The Wanderers. In 1981, he played a former football player turned mountain man in the John Belushi film Continental Divide.

Soon after, Ganios starred in the 1981 cult teen-sex comedy Porky's and its two sequels.

Ganios appeared in five episodes of the 1980s TV series Wiseguy as Mike "Mooch" Cacciatore, and he made a guest appearance in an episode of Scarecrow and Mrs. King. In 1990, Ganios appeared as a mercenary in Die Hard 2, casually murdering a church caretaker and memorably meeting his death when Bruce Willis stabs him in the eye with an icicle.

After brief appearances in three films between 1991 and 1993, Ganios semi-retired from acting. One of those films was Rising Sun, where he revisited his matchstick-chewing The Wanderers hero as an adversary for Sean Connery. He is also known for his recurring comedic role as a muscular mob lawyer on the Emmy Award winning series Wiseguy (1987).

Ganios died of heart failure on February 18, 2024, at the age of 64, after being hospitalized for a spinal cord infection.

"Tony Ganios:The gentle giant who was a renaissance man" Neo Magazine. April 2, 2024. Retrieved April 2, 2024.