Tommy “Tony” Lister, who appeared in “Friday” and “The Fifth Element” and was also a professional wrestler, died on Thursday, confirmed his manager Cindy Cowan.
Cowan said he was found unresponsive in his apartment apartment in Marina del Rey, Calif. Kovan said he was working on a film and had to cancel the shooting after falling ill.
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“He was a wonderful person with a golden heart. Everyone loved him. A real gentle giant,” she said, “we were all ruined.”
Lister wrestled with Hulk Hogan at the World Wrestling Federation after appearing in the role of Zeus in the 1989 “No Holds Barred”. He later spent time at World Championship Wrestling, where he was billed as a Z-Gangsta.
The actor, who was blind in his right eye, played the neighborhood villain Debo in 1995’s “Friday” and appeared in the sequel to “Next Friday”.
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His other appearances include a prisoner role in “The Dark Knight” and a bail agent in “Jackie Brown” as well as roles in “The Players Club”, his directorial debut in Ice Cube and Mario Van Peeble’s “Pose”. He played the supporting role in “Zootopia” as the voice of a fox fox, Adam Sandler’s “Little Nicky” as Nicky’s brother Cassius, and “Goldman in Stin Powers”. In “Fifth Element”, he played the role of President of the Milky Way.
In the pilot of “Star Trek: Enterprise”, he played the first Klingon Klang to make contact with humans. Also on television, he appeared in “Matlock” and “In the Heat of the Night” as Mr. Matlock’s bodyguard.
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Lister appeared in music videos for French Montana, 50 cents, Sublime, Ice Cube, Camiliner and Young Blade.
Lister Compton, 6 feet 5 inches, grew up in California and won the national shot put title at College Ledge, playing football briefly before deciding to become an actor.
He is survived by a daughter.
– Dave McNary contributed to this report.
