Tommy Debo "Tiny" Lister (Born Thomas Duane Lister, Jr., June 24, 1958 – December 10, 2020)note was an American actor and professional wrestler.
He was known for his roles as Deebo in Friday and its first sequel, and as President Lindberg in The Fifth Element. He had two short professional wrestling stints, wrestling Hulk Hogan in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) after appearing as Zeus in No Holds Barred and resuming the feud as Z-Gangsta in 1996 for World Championship Wrestling (WCW). He was blind in his right eye.
Lister passed away on December 10, 2020, from cardiovascular disease. He contracted COVID-19 earlier that year, and even after getting over his initial sickness, was experiencing COVID-19 symptoms in his final days; an autopsy revealed his death was caused by the disease. He was 62. He leaves behind his wife, Felicia Forbes.
Selected filmographry:
- Runaway Train (1985) as Jackson
- Beverly Hills Cop II (1987) as Orvis
- Extreme Prejudice (1987) as Monday
- Prison (1988) as Tiny
- No Holds Barred (1988) as Zeus
- Think Big (1990) as 'Z'
- Trespass (1992) as Cletus
- Universal Soldier (1992) as GR55
- Posse (1993) as Obobobo
- The Meteor Man (1993) as Digit
- Men of War (1994) as Blades
- Don Juan De Marco (1994) as Rocco Compton
- Friday (1995) as Deebo
- Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead (1995) as House
- Barb Wire (1996) as Bouncer
- Phat Beach (1996) as Tiny
- The Fifth Element (1997) as President Lindberg
- Jackie Brown (1997) as Winston
- Gang Related (1997) as Cutlass Supreme
- The Players Club (1998) as XL
- Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies (1999) as Tillaver
- Circus (2000) as Moose
- Next Friday (2000) as Deebo
- Little Nicky (2000) as Cassius
- The Wash (2001) as Bear
- Soulkeeper (2001) as Chad
- Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002) as Prisoner #2
- Confidence (2003) as Harlin
- Dracula 3000 (2004) as Humvee
- Never Die Alone (2004) as Rockie
- Santa's Slay (2005) as Gas Station Attendant
- One Night with the King (2006) as Hagai
- The Dark Knight (2008) as Tattooed Prisoner/"Ginty" (the prisoner who throws the detonator overboard)
- Super Capers (2009) as Sarge
- The Human Centipede 3 (Final Sequence) as Inmate #178
- Zootopia (2016) as Finnick (voice)
Tropes related to Tiny Lister and his work:
- The Big Guy: At 6'5" (196 cm) and 300 lbs (140 kg), Lister was this by default in most of his films.
- The Danza: Lister played characters named "Tiny" several times.
- I Have Many Names: Lister was billed as everything from "Thomas "Tiny" Lister, Jr." to just "Tiny Lister" and many combinations in between (e.g. Tom instead of Thomas, with or without the Jr., etc.)
- Ironic Nickname: It hardly needs to be pointed out that at 6'5" (196 cm) and 300 lbs (140 kg), Lister was anything but "tiny".
- Power Stable: The Dungeon of Doom, as Z-Gangsta in WCW in 1996, who made up the majority of the Alliance to End Hulkamania (with "The Taskmaster" Kevin Sullivan, Meng, The Barbarian, Lex Luger and The Ultimate Solution), along with Ric Flair and Arn Anderson of The Four Horsemen. It was a Villain Team-Up with 8 guys against Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage and, of course, Hogan and Savage won.
- Scary Black Man: Tiny was one of the go-to actors for this kind of role.
- Subverted in some movies - especially The Fifth Element and The Dark Knight - where he would display Gentle Giant and Reasonable Authority Figure gravitas.
