There are certain actors that are hard to forget for certain reasons and to be quite honest, the size and look of Tommy ‘Tiny’ Lister were the two biggest attributes that will keep this guy fresh in our memories for quite a while. Sadly, at the age of 62, Tommy passed away very recently due to natural causes that might have been exacerbated by COVID-19. People are no doubt going to be shouting up and down that the virus is real, that it’s no joke, and so on and so forth, but this really isn’t the time, since remembering Tommy for the things he contributed to the entertainment industry is preferable to hearing any ill-timed “I told you so” speeches from those that are fanatical about the coronavirus. With that in mind, it’s easier to think of what Tommy brought to the table when it came to acting and to shed a little light on his life before then. While it’s a bit presumptuous to think that every person this size is bound to be an athlete of some sort, it’s interesting to find out that Tommy was adept at the shotput, which is something near and dear to this writer’s heart since Track and Field was a big part of life at one time. Hearing that someone tossed the shotput 51 feet in college is impressive since not only does the shot in college weigh around 16 lbs., but the fact that he upped his best throw to well over 60 feet by his senior year. If you’re thinking ‘big deal’ at this point it’s likely that you’ve never hefted 16 lbs. and then attempted the throw, since gaining even a couple of inches is hard enough.
He did try to play for the United States Football League not too long after that, but his size wasn’t enough since he was cut after trying out. Of course, that wasn’t too tragic since it led him to acting and to some of the most memorable roles that people are bound to think of when his name comes up. Looking at Tommy’s filmography it’s easy to see that he played the thug a lot of times, but looking at his biography it’s easy to see that despite being a big and intimidating guy he stayed well away from the gang life and did his best to keep his hands and name clean. The movies portrayed a man that could have been, but off-camera it was stated that he was a pretty decent guy. When he was on though, he was seriously intimidating. The movie No Holds Barred with Hulk Hogan was ridiculous now that a person looks at it, but was the beginning of Tommy’s push towards pro wrestling, which lasted for a little while but thankfully ended at one point. It was pretty hard for Tommy to get away from thuggish roles since the size and look of him kind of made it difficult for people to take him seriously. The unfortunate fact that he’d been blind in his right eye since birth due to a detached retina didn’t make things any easier since it added to his look and gave him the aura of being kind of an unstable individual. But to be quite honest, he was a rather gifted actor.
If you don’t believe it, just watch him a Deebo, another thug role to be certain, but one that’s bound to be remembered for quite a while. Deebo was a perfect villain, someone that was big, mean, and appeared entirely unstoppable until someone simply stood up to him and knocked him to the ground. The fun part is that this role didn’t really pigeonhole Tommy as he went on to play the Galactic President in The Fifth Element, and while it was a comical role for the most part he made it work. He did get stereotyped for a lot of roles, but there were a couple of others that stand out as special in a way, since his time as Deebo came to an end in Next Friday, and there was a very convincing scene in The Dark Knight when the Joker has planted a bomb on two ferry’s and the trigger to each is on the opposite craft. Tommy played the humongous prisoner that told the guards to give him the switch so he can do what they should have done. Then he proceeded to toss the switch out the window and into the bay, effectively condemning himself and his fellow prisoners to death if the people on the other ferry failed to make the same decision, but saving a ferry full of innocent people. If there’s any memory of Tommy that should be treasured this is certainly one of them since as big and brutish as he appeared, he was a talented man that Hollywood is a little dimmer for now that he’s gone. Rest in peace sir, you will be missed.
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