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This one got away from me, but I learned on May 4, 2018, John Altamura, who was the second actor to play Troma's iconic character The Toxic Avenger, died of a heart attack, according to his sister.
https://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/...ra_passes.html
Altamura was playing the character for 3-4 weeks on the Peekskill, New York set when he was apparently fired from the movie due to a pretty bad attitude, yelling at staff and even complaining about the make-up. He would be replaced for the rest of the shoot by Ron Fazio, who would also provide the voice of the character for the two 1989 sequels with Fazio even going to Japan for the scenes there. It was Fazio who told fans about Altamura's dismissal in a 2001 interview.
This led to what would have been a 4-hour movie but thanks to the advice of his wife, the New York City Film Commissioner, Lloyd Kaufman took all the footage (both Altamura and Fazio's) and made two films out of them.
As for Altamura, he would go on to star in a series of adult comedies with the likes of the late Marilyn Chambers after his stint in Toxie, ending his acting career in 1997.
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0022658/?ref_=tt_rv_t1
https://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/...ra_passes.html
Altamura was playing the character for 3-4 weeks on the Peekskill, New York set when he was apparently fired from the movie due to a pretty bad attitude, yelling at staff and even complaining about the make-up. He would be replaced for the rest of the shoot by Ron Fazio, who would also provide the voice of the character for the two 1989 sequels with Fazio even going to Japan for the scenes there. It was Fazio who told fans about Altamura's dismissal in a 2001 interview.
This led to what would have been a 4-hour movie but thanks to the advice of his wife, the New York City Film Commissioner, Lloyd Kaufman took all the footage (both Altamura and Fazio's) and made two films out of them.
As for Altamura, he would go on to star in a series of adult comedies with the likes of the late Marilyn Chambers after his stint in Toxie, ending his acting career in 1997.
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0022658/?ref_=tt_rv_t1