Have YOU got a story? Email tips@dailymail.com See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred SourceBy SAMEER SURI, US SENIOR SHOWBUSINESS REPORTER Published: 16:10 BST, 9 June 2026 | Updated: 16:30 BST, 9 June 2026
The Godfather Part III actor Anthony Guidera has died at the age of 65, three weeks after his heart stopped for reasons that remain unknown.Guidera made his movie debut in the third Godfather picture, playing a bodyguard amid a cast that included Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, Andy Garcia and Sofia Coppola.His shattered widow Valarie revealed Tuesday that on May 11, his heartbeat halted and he collapsed in the living room of their Southern California residence.Valarie explained that her husband was hospitalized and placed on life support, where he remained for three weeks, via TMZ.In keeping with his prior directive, Guidera was then taken off life support and permitted to be taken home so that he could die naturally.The San Francisco-born actor died on Saturday, and according to Valarie, the doctors have been unable to determine why his heart gave out. The Godfather Part III actor Anthony Guidera has died at the age of 65, three weeks after his heart stopped for reasons that remain unknown Guidera made his movie debut in the third Godfather picture, playing a bodyguard amid a cast that included Al Pacino , Diane Keaton, Andy Garcia and Sofia Coppola In 1995, he featured in the horror movie Species, which starred such names as Ben Kinglsey, Michael Madsen, Forest Whitaker and Alfred MolinaBorn in 1961, he broke into Hollywood before the age of 30 with his bodyguard role in Francis Ford Coppola's 1990 picture The Godfather Part III.His character is charged with the protection of rising mobster Vincent Mancini (Andy Garcia), who conducts an affair with his first cousin Mary Corleone (Sofia Coppola), the daughter of Michael (Al Pacino) and Kay Corleone (Diane Keaton).Five years later, he featured in the horror movie Species, which starred such names as Ben Kingsley, Michael Madsen, Forest Whitaker and Alfred Molina.Guidera's lip-lock in that movie with his co-star Natasha Henstridge earned the pair of them the MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss in 1996.They beat out such contenders as Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek for Desperado and Winona Ryder and Dermot Mulroney for How to Make an American Quilt.In 1996 he could be seen in the cast of Michael Bay's action thriller The Rock, which was fronted by Sean Connery, Nicolas Cage and Ed Harris.Two years later Guidera in the cast of Armageddon, featured among such names as Steve Buscemi, Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck, Billy Bob Thornton and Owen Wilson. Over the course of his acting career, he also guest-starred on TV shows ranging from Baywatch and Nash Bridges to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Angel to ER. Guidera's lip-lock in that movie with his co-star Natasha Henstridge earned the pair of them the MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss in 1996 Guidera and Henstridge are pictured at the 1996 MTV Movie Awards, where they beat out Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek's onscreen kiss in DesperadoHe held a role as the dashing Etienne on Cafe Americain, a short-lived 1990s sitcom starring Valerie Bertinelli as an American waitress in Paris. The final credit on his IMDb is the 2005 crime comedy LA Dicks, in which he led the cast alongside the film's writer and director Dean Alioto.
