Tony Ganios

Brooklyn born Tony Ganios was literally forced into the film business at the tender age of 18 when his even larger and more powerful uncle Pete made him cut short a powerlifting workout at the Sheridan Square Gym in Manhattan to audition for director Philip Kaufman. As a result, Tony made his film debut as the teen paladin "Perry" in Kaufman's cult classic The Wanderers (1979). His initial performance was well liked by audiences and soon he was dancing with Sally Field in Back Roads (1981) in a role he landed by hurling the film's script into the chest of its director. Next, he played a former NFL defensive end turned mountain man in the Lawrence Kasdan scripted John Belushi romantic comedy Continental Divide (1981) before being cast by writer/director Bob Clark as the well hung high school senior "Meat" in the raunchy, but highly successful comedy Porky's (1981). One of Tony's most unforgettable roles was as that ill-fated member of the terrorist team in the hit action film Die Hard 2