Anthony Guidera, a character actor who earned his first screen credit in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather Part III and went on to appear in some of the decade’s biggest Hollywood productions, died on June 6 in a Los Angeles-area hospital. He was 65.
Guidera’s wife, Valarie Anderson, told TMZ that he collapsed in their Southern California home on May 11 after suffering a heart attack and spent three weeks on life support before being taken off. In a Facebook post, Anderson wrote: “It is with heavy hearts that we announce the sudden passing of our beloved Anthony. We are devastated and trying to breathe through the impossible, taking each moment as it comes. Please hold this eternal light in your hearts and our family in your prayers.”
Born October 18, 1960, in San Francisco, Guidera got his start in films by performing in plays in Paris before landing the role of a bodyguard in The Godfather Part III in 1990, where he appeared alongside Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, Andy García, and Joe Mantegna. The role launched a film career that placed him in an impressive run of 1990s studio pictures. His credits included Species (1995), The Rock (1996), The Postman (1997), Armageddon (1998), and The Annihilation of Fish (1999).
His most culturally remembered moment came opposite Natasha Henstridge in Species. For the role of Robbie, the man Henstridge’s alien character seduces and kills, Guidera won the MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Kiss alongside his co-star. The honor landed him in one of the decade’s more unlikely pop-culture footnotes — a sci-fi horror film that became a genuine mainstream hit.
Away from the screen, Guidera and Anderson volunteered at Astara, a spiritual foundation in Palos Verdes Estates, California, where he was known as “Reverend Anthony.” He is survived by Anderson, his wife of 20 years, and their son Nick.
