UPDATED 5/13/2024
Who doesn’t love a good, old-fashioned teen movie? For anyone in the mood for one, Porky’s is a classic, perhaps even the definitive classic. It follows the misadventures and escapades of a group of teenagers in the 1950s. The film was highly influential and inspired other writers to create their own spin on teen flicks, which may explain the genre’s strong presence today, from Porky’s to Revenge of the Nerds to American Pie. Writer and director Bob Clark (also the creative vision behind the film version of holiday classic A Christmas Story) took years of personal experience and loads of stories from friends to give viewers a raucous good time, and the fifth highest-grossing film of 1982. But none of this would have worked out without the final ingredient: a strong lineup of talented actors who made up the Porky’s cast.
So, today we’re heading back to Angel Beach High School to check back in on the cast of Porky’s to see what this great, incredibly believable ensemble got into after filming. Did the actors enjoy as much enduring appreciation as this quirky comedy? Let’s rock and roll and find out!
Dan Monahan (Edward “Pee Wee” Morris)
Edward “Pee Wee” Morris is one of the boys looking to have his sexual desires fulfilled by going to Porky’s. Becoming a man will surely halt all the jokes at his expense!
His actor, Dan Monahan, began acting in the late ‘70s starting with a few episodes of the hit show Eight is Enough. In 1981, he was a part of the Oscar-nominated film Only When I Laugh, somehow finding the time to become Pee Wee for Porky’s that same year. Of course, he’d team up again with Bob Clark for Porky’s 2 in 1983, then for the Bob Clark-less third installment, Porky’s Revenge.
His career was short and sweet, enjoying some major ’80s teen flicks before slowly backing away from Hollywood. His last prominent film role was in 1997 in the horror flick Night Flier, based on the work of Stephen King.
Monahan married a teacher, Sharon Killius, in September of 1982 – fresh off that Porky’s wave – and the couple has one daughter together. Today he’s 68 years old and spends his time enjoying photography and golf. He is hitting all the best courses in the world, having checked off the Old Course in Scotland — but still awaiting that precious invitation to play Augusta.
Mark Herrier (Billy)
Billy is another member of the gang on a quest to lose his virginity. Mark stated in a 2022 interview that they originally shot a more graphic version of the shower scene, where Tommy actually puts his penis through the wall and the girls start freaking out because it looks like a snake – It was cut to avoid an X rating. Actor Mark Herrier shared, “It was actually this pathetic little thing! I think it would have brought the house down: It was hysterical, and not pornographic at all.” What are your thoughts on this edit? Let us know in the comments.
Herrier began acting on the stage, and when Porky’s came out, he had the number one movie in America to his name, while starring in the number one Broadway show, part of the original cast of Sister Mary Ignatius, but joining the Porky’s cast marked his first screen gig. He’d go on to guest star in a number of shows like an episode of the final season of M*A*S*H and Murder, She Wrote. He’d play Dr. Walter Matthews on two episodes of The Practice in 1998. But that’d be it.
That changed when he made a comeback in 2019, appearing in seasons five through seven of the Amazon show Bosch. Today, Mark is 69, married with two kids, and lives in California.
Wyatt Knight (Tommy)
Now here’s Tommy! Of course it’s him, Pee Wee, and Billy who get caught peeping in the girls’ locker room. We’ll never forget that scene, even if it was apparently the more PG-13 version.
Wyatt Knight got his start on an episode of The Waltons in 1979. He held a number of roles on various shows, like one-offs on TJ Hooker and Family Ties and Star Trek: The Next Generation. But his career tapered off by the 2000s. At the same time, he had to undergo a bone marrow transplant for stage-4 non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Sadly, the intense cancer treatments left him in an abundance of emotional and physical pain.
In 2011 and at the age of 56, Wyatt went off to a remote area of Maui, where he lived and where the former Porky’s star died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. We hope he found peace.
Roger Wilson (Mickey)
Mickey returns to Porky’s for revenge after he embarrassed his friends, but he’s beaten so badly he ends up in the hospital – that’s when the rest of the guys become hellbent on getting their own revenge.
Roger Wilson held his first role in 1965 and jumped back much later in 1981 for Porky’s. We then saw him regularly on the show Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, playing a McFadden alongside his MacGuyver brother Richard Dean Anderson.
While he had a generally short-lived acting career, he also had musical skills, being the lead singer for the band Num in the ’90s, and a member of the band Born Again Baldwins in the 2000s. He’s had a lot of different jobs, including a bartender, a bar owner, and even a wellness coach.
Today, Roger is 67, and most recently founded the club 7908 in Aspen, which he has been running since 2018. Cheers, Roger.
Cyril O’Reilly (Tim)
Tim has a nice character arc going on, which is cool and refreshing to see in a teen movie; he’s got anger issues from his father, and even though he’s been picking on Brian Schwartz, Brian still defends Tim against his father and they do become good friends!
Cyril O’Reilly got his start in 1980, and while he surely became a commercial success thanks to being in the Porky’s cast, he is also known for playing the role of a vampire in the film Dance of the Damned in the late ‘80s. In 1981, he costarred in the television movie Splendor in the Grass with Little House on the Prairie’s Melissa Gilbert. Then, in 2007, the two reunited for the TV movie Sacrifices of the Heart.
Today Cyril is 65 and is making a comeback to acting, appearing in the 2023 film Pig Killer.
Tony Ganios (Meat)
Meat or Meathead? He’s the largest of the group – the guy could lift cars. His large size certainly made him lovable to women.
Tony Ganios began acting in 1979, first playing the role of Perry in the 1979 film The Wanderers before he landed his Porky’s role.
Interestingly enough, Tony was actually forced into acting by his uncle Pete at the age of 18. You see, Tony was into powerlifting at the Lifting Session in Manhattan’s Sheridan Square Gym and he had been dragged out of it to audition for director Phillip Kaufman, which then led to his Wanderers role. We later saw him in the 1981 John Belushi film Continental Divide. He also appeared in five episodes of the ‘80s series Wiseguy and appeared in the second Bruce Willis-led Die Hard film.
After starring in the film Rising Sun, he entered a semi-retirement to become an insurance agent in New York City. He was due to reunite in 2012 with some of his Porky’s co-stars for a comedy called Daddies’ Girls but since then, nothing has actually come from it.
Sadly, Tony died on February 18, 2024 at the age of 64 from heart failure.
Kaki Hunter (Wendy Williams)
Wendy Williams is who Pee Wee finally gets his time with by the end of the film, giving Porky’s that classic teen movie ending.
Kaki Hunter began making her mark in Hollywood in 1977. We later saw her in the leading female role in the 1980 film Roadie. She also had roles in 1980’s Willie & Phil and 1984’s Just The Way You Are.
Her last role was in an episode of the series Tropical Heat until she fully retired from acting. And since retiring, she became a teacher of white water rafting in Utah. She also wrote the how-to book Earthbag Building.
She’s 68 years old and has been involved in community theatre in Utah. She also has a YouTube channel that she occasionally posts on, sometimes even showcasing some of her singing talents.
Kim Cattrall Miss Lynn “Lassie” Honeywell
Let’s just say at a certain point, the boys find out why Miss Honeywell is called Lassie.
As for Kim Cattrall, she began acting in 1975 but rose to fame in the ‘80s when she began making appearances in films such as Ticket to Heaven and Masquerade, amongst many others – and of course, Porky’s makes that list as well.
However, even though she’s featured in a Porky’s cast deep dive, it’s worth noting that Kim is likely best known for her role in Sex and the City from 1998 to 2004. She continued reprising that role in the films Sex and the City in 2008 and Sex and the City 2 in 2010. In the last decade, she’s held a lot of recurring roles in various shows such as the series Sensitive Skin and most recently in How I Met Your Father.
Today, Kim is 67 and we last saw her in the show Queer as Folk. She currently has a role in the film About My Father alongside Robert De Niro, and makes a cameo appearance in the second season finale of the sequel series to Sex and the City, And Just Like That.
Chuck Mitchell (Porky Wallace)
Well we couldn’t leave off Porky, right? A 6’3″ titan of a man with a booming voice, Mitchell was often cast as a villain, making him perfect as the sleazy brothel owner Porky.
He’s also really great as the sloppy restaurant owner Rocko in the great comedy Better Off Dead from 1985. This actor could also sing, and did a set or two of stand-up comedy in his days. But sadly this multi-talented giant passed away in 1992 at the age of 64.
It’s interesting how much of the cast never eclipsed the success of Porky’s, but together as an ensemble in 1981, they made a fabulous film, one of the best coming-of-age, teen-sex comedies ever. So tell us, who on this list was your favorite character and actor from the Porky’s cast? Was there anyone else you loved that we may have missed? Leave us a note in the comments, we read them all.
