According to this blog post, longtime movie producer, sometime actor and pal of Coleman Francis, Anthony “Tony” Cardoza, died in early December as the result of a stroke. He was 85.MSTies know he starred as Harry Rowe in the movie in episode 609- THE SKYDIVERS, as Landis in the movie in episode 619- RED ZONE CUBA and as the KGB driver in the movie in episode 621- THE BEAST OF YUCCA FLATS. He also appeared in episode 209- THE HELLCATS, and he was the producer of all four of those films, and of many others.
There’s an extensive bio here.
When we have more specifics on his passing, we will update this post.
Thanks to Paul for the heads up!
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I bet that Fidel Castro just thought “Boy, to think that he made a misconceived movie about an invasion of my island!”
RIP Tony…Hope you and Coleman are having a big ol cup of coffee…
“I’m gung-ho about that”
The Francis Coleman episodes have always been among my favorites, RIP Mr. Cardoza.
Tony must be in 2nd banana with TV’s Frank, looking down on the MST3K universe and smiling.
A major factor in providing some the most memorable films for the show. Rest in peace…
Cardoza was cast in his first ever movie […] as a dead body under a blanket
Considering his other acting performances, that was probably his finest role.
All kidding aside, he came across as a likable guy. RIP.
A Coleman Francis movie just wouldn’t have been a Coleman Francis movie without Tony Cardoza. RIP.
I could watch The Skydivers ep 500 times and never get tired of it.
“Ted Kennedy’s PT 109”
Tony? I like Tony!
Somewhere Tor Johnson is telling Tony “time to go to bed”.
Not to nit-pick, but it is “Time for go to bed”. That is my favorite Tor Johnson line. I use it at least once a day.
Hmm, very interesting guy. RIP
RIP. He must have had a hell of a time trying to make heads or tales of what Coleman Francis wanted to do. Wasn’t he also a producer on The Incredibly Strange Creatures that Stopped Living and Became Mixed-up Zombies?
George Herman Ruth on guitar!
He finally took the Night Train to Mundo Fine.
RIP, good sir.
No, but he was a producer/actor for Ed Wood’s “Night of the Ghouls”.
Sad to hear it, but happy he lived a long life. Red Zone Cuba and Skydivers are favorites. RIP
Many talk about wanting to be in film, only a few actually get to do it. Live your dream no matter how bad. RIP Tony. Save a cup of coffee for me one day.
Nice interview about “Yucca Flats”
http://www.bmonster.com/scifi37.html
Very interesting. Seems like a good guy and, just as I thought, he did a lot of the work on those Coleman Francis movies.
Somewhere, another flag has been put onto the Moon. How did it get there?
May it guide him gently into the worlds beyond.
I just realized I transposed Mr Francis’ name above, must have been too much pre-Christmas egg nog when I was commenting!