Actor Anthony Guidera, who appeared in The Godfather III, has died at age 65.
He died on Saturday after spending three weeks on life support following a May 11 medical emergency in which he suffered a sudden cardiac arrest and collapsed at home, his wife, Valarie Anderson, told TMZ.
Anderson, who was married to Guidera for 20 years, told the outlet that doctors took Guidera off life support according to his prior wishes so he could go home for a natural death. His exact cause of death is still unclear.
“It is with heavy hearts that we announce the sudden passing of our beloved Anthony,” Anderson wrote in a Facebook post shared Saturday. “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.”
Guidera was best known for playing a bodyguard, also named Anthony, in the 1990 installment of Francis Ford Coppola’s Godfather trilogy.
Originally based in San Francisco, Guidera launched his career in the entertainment industry by becoming a model after he graduated college in California in 1983, according to his self-written IMDb mini biography.
He moved to Paris, where he traveled around the world for modeling campaigns and commercials until 1992. While abroad, he began to study theater and perform plays, which led to him to move back to New York — which is where he landed his role in the iconic mafia movie franchise.
After The Godfather III, Guidera then starred opposite Natasha Henstridge in the 1995 sci-fi horror Species, directed by Roger Donaldson. His onscreen kiss with Henstridge — who plays an alien human hybrid in the film — went on to earn them the 1996 MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss.
Over the next few years, he took on smaller roles in movies including The Rock in 1996, The Postman in 1997 and Armageddon in 1998.
He made episodic guest appearances in a wide range of TV shows including ER, Renegade, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Hope & Gloria, Baywatch Nights and Valley of the Dolls.
Guidera’s last onscreen film performance was in the 2005 direct-to-DVD comedy L.A. Dicks, according to his IMDb page. Before that, he played a gun seller in the Annihilation of Fish in 1999.
In between his film and television appearances, he was also known to teach meditation and breathing at his office in Los Angeles.
Guidera is survived by his wife and their son together, Nick.
