Mathew Karedas (born Mathew J. Hannon) is an American actor, best known for his role as Joe Marshall in the 1991 cult film ''
Samurai Cop
''Samurai Cop'' is a 1991 American direct-to-video action film written, coproduced and directed by Amir Shervan and starring Robert Z'Dar, Matt Hannon and Mark Frazer. It has attained a cult following.
Plot
When a renegade Japanese gang known as ...
''.
Career
Mathew Karedas was one of
Sylvester Stallone
Sylvester Enzio Stallone (; born Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone, ) is an American actor and filmmaker. After his beginnings as a struggling actor for a number of years upon arriving to New York City in 1969 and later Hollywood in 1974, h ...
's bodyguards during the late 1980s. This subsequently inspired him to pursue acting. "In Sly's world, it's a very rarefied air for the very wealthy – it's intoxicating. At that time, he'd just finished ''
Rambo III
''Rambo III'' is a 1988 American action film directed by Peter MacDonald and co-written by Sylvester Stallone, who also reprises his role as Vietnam War veteran John Rambo. A sequel to '' Rambo: First Blood Part II'' (1985), it is the third in ...
'' and ''
Tango & Cash
''Tango & Cash'' is a 1989 American buddy cop action comedy film starring Sylvester Stallone, Kurt Russell, Jack Palance and Teri Hatcher. Stallone and Russell star as Raymond Tango and Gabriel Cash respectively, two rival LAPD narcotics detective ...
'' and spending all that time hanging out with all these celebrities, I decided I wanted to have at least 1% of what he had!"
Karedas was unable to get any substantial roles after ''Samurai Cop'' and withdrew from the entertainment industry for two decades. In 1992 he took part in an armed robbery stealing a
Rembrandt
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally consid ...
painting from televangelist
Gene Scott
William Eugene Scott (August 14, 1929 – February 21, 2005) was an American minister and teacher who served for almost 50 years as a pastor and broadcaster in Los Angeles, California. He pastored the Faith Center and Wescott Christian Center ...
's
University Cathedral in Los Angeles. The painting was found in the home of Kourosh Jadali, a stunt coordinator who worked on the set of ''Samurai Cop''. Karedas was later arrested and sent to prison. He was largely unaware of the
cult status
A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...
that ''Samurai Cop'' had attained over the proceeding years.
Karedas has stated that he would check his IMDb page and noticed that many people assumed that he was dead, although this may have been due to him legally changing his surname to Karedas in the early-1990s. Karedas stated in an interview with
RedLetterMedia
Red Letter Media, LLC is an American film and video production company operated by independent filmmakers Mike Stoklasa (formerly of GMP Pictures) and Jay Bauman (formerly of Blanc Screen Cinema). It was formed by Stoklasa in 2004 while he was li ...
that he was satisfied with the public thinking he was dead. He would regain attention when his daughter uploaded a video to
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
of him saying that he was indeed alive. He has since returned to acting, reprising his role as Joe Marshall in the 2015 film ''
Samurai Cop 2: Deadly Vengeance''. He is connected to
Len Kabasinski's 2022 action film ''
Pact of Vengeance'' which also stars
Leo Fong
Leo Fong (; 23 November 1928 – 18 February 2022) was a Chinese-American martial artist, actor, Boxer (boxing), boxer, and Methodism, Methodist minister (Protestantism), minister who had been making films, acting, and directing since the early 1 ...
.
Personal life
He resides in
Calabasas, California, with his wife and daughter.
Filmography
Film
Television
References
External links
*
Living people
American male film actors
Year of birth missing (living people)
{{US-film-actor-1960s-stub