Tommy Debo "Tiny"Lister Jr.[3][4] (bornThomas Duane Lister Jr.; June 24, 1958 – December 10, 2020)[5] was an Americancharacter actor and occasionalprofessional wrestler known for his roles as the neighborhood bully Deebo in the 1995 filmFriday and its2000 sequel, and as President Lindberg inThe Fifth Element. He had two short professional wrestling stints, withHulk Hogan in theWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF) after appearing asZeus in the 1989 filmNo Holds Barred and resuming the feud asZ-Gangsta in 1996 forWorld Championship Wrestling (WCW).[1] He was born with a detached and deformed retina and was blind in his right eye, which drooped, a unique look that he turned to his advantage in film.[6] He played in both comedies and dramas, usually cast as 'the heavy/big bully'.
Lister was born on June 24, 1958, inPine Bluff, Arkansas, to Thomas Duane Lister and Mildred (née Edwards) Lister. Since his birth, he had a deformed and detached retina in his right eye, causing permanent blindness.[6]
Lister attendedPalomar Junior College before transferring toLong Beach City College for his sophomore year. While at Long Beach, he recorded a 52 ft (16 m)shot put throw, which helped to earn him a scholarship toCalifornia State University, Los Angeles. In his senior year, he won the national shot put title with a mark of over 61 ft 8 in (18.8 m). Lister was the 1982NCAA Division II National Shot Put Champion.[7][6]
After college, Lister competed for the Converse Track Club, eventually raising his shot put mark to 64 ft 3 in (19.58 m), before trying out with theNew Orleans Breakers of theUnited States Football League.[6] He was cut after two exhibition games and opted to pursue acting instead.[8]
Lister was mostly recognized as theantagonist known as Deebo from 1995'sFriday.[9] Deebo was the neighborhood's dog-eat-dog thug and bruiser to every character, includingIce Cube's main character Craig Jones. He reprised the role in the film's sequel,Next Friday (2000), but did not appear in the third film of the series,Friday After Next (2002). He did, however, appear in Cube's directorial debutThe Players Club. He played the role of Obodo inMario Van Peebles'Posse (1993), along withTone Loc.[8]
Lister had numerous guest appearances on TV series, including playing Klaang, the firstKlingon to make contact with humans, in thepilot episode ofStar Trek: Enterprise.[10] He co-starred in a two-part episode of the courtroom seriesMatlock as Mr. Matlock's in-prison bodyguard. He appeared in season 7 episode 9 ofIn the Heat of the Night,[11] and in season 1 episode 15 ofER. He also starred in the sitcom1st & Ten as Otis.
Cast as an habitual 'bad guy' in films, his career prospered. He was a frequent collaborator withIce Cube. Lister later became the spokesperson forMonster Energy Drink in the 2010s.[33]
Lister appeared in the 1989 wrestlingmovieNo Holds Barred,[9][12] which was financed by theWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF) and starred Hulk Hogan. Lister's role was Zeus, a brutalmonster heel.[7][11]No Holds Barred inspired afeud in the WWF during the latter half of 1989. Lister was billed as "Zeus: The Human Wrecking Machine",[2][9][12][7] and used the same "monster heel"gimmick in his matches byno-selling his opponent's moves. He would yell, "Aw! Aw!" and pound on his chest several times during his interviews and in the ring. Zeus would eventually demand Hogan to face him in the ring.[12]
Citing jealousy for being billed under Hogan and anger over losing to Hogan in the film, Zeus wanted to beat him in "real life". Zeus formed an alliance with fellow Hogan rival "Macho Man"Randy Savage to feud with Hogan and his friend,Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake. The two teams faced off at the1989 SummerSlam event in a tag team match which saw Hogan and Beefcake prevail as the victors, with Hogan pinning Zeus.[7][34] Following SummerSlam, Zeus formed an alliance with "The Million Dollar Man"Ted DiBiase leading into that year'sSurvivor Series.
At the event, the team of The Hulkamaniacs (Hulk Hogan,Jake "The Snake" Roberts, andDemolition) faced The Million Dollar Team (Ted DiBiase, Zeus, andThe Powers of Pain). Zeus was eliminated from the match via disqualification after refusing to break achokehold on Hogan and shoving the referee away.[7][2] The Hulkamaniacs went on to win the match, defeating the other team.[35] After the Survivor Series, the feud between Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake versus Randy Savage and Zeus ended with asteel cage match on December 27, 1989, at theNo Holds Barredpay-per-view event. Hogan and Beefcake were once again victorious in what would be Zeus's last match in the WWF. Lister's final WWF appearance was a promotional spot for the1990 Royal Rumble.[7][36]
U.S. nationalshot put title with a mark of over 61 ft 8 in (18.8 m) and 1982NCAA Division II National Shot Put Champion.[7][6][39]
The athletic department of Lister's alma mater Cal State LA sponsors an annual track meet in his name.[40]
In 2016, he was nominated for the "Best Bad Mu#&a Award" at the All Def Movie Awards. In 2014 at the Orlando Urban Film Festival, he won "Best Star Spotlight" for his performance inNo Weapon Formed Against Us.[41]
On August 31, 2012, Lister agreed to plead guilty to conspiring to commitmortgage fraud, in a scheme that led to $3.8 million in losses.[6] He was charged with fraudulently buying homes in order to withdraw $1.1 million in home equity loans.[44] In April 2014, he was out on bail and was confident of avoiding prison. He stated, "What's so cool about God and our government is that you can make a mistake and they will forgive you if you just a good person and doing right."[6]
Lister was diagnosed withCOVID-19 around August 2020 and overcame the illness.[9] He became ill with symptoms similar to COVID-19 a second time in early December, exhibiting weakness and trouble breathing, which forced him to cancel shooting for a film.[45] His manager Cindy McGowen, who said it was not normal for him to miss filmings, became concerned and sent her assistant to his house to give him vitamins and antibiotics.[46]
On December 10, 2020, police performing a wellness check found Lister dead in his home inMarina del Rey, California; he was 62 years old. The coroner's office investigated his cause of death and the final autopsy report revealed that the cause of death was hypertension andatheroscleroticcardiovascular disease.[47]
In aTwitterencomium, Ice Cube recalled Lister's sense of humor: "RIP Tiny 'Deebo' Lister. America's favorite bully was a born entertainer who would pop into character at the drop of a hat terrifying people on and off camera. Followed by a big smile and laugh ... Thank you for being a good dude at heart. I miss you already."[10]
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