| Tom Lister, Jr. | |
|---|---|
Tiny Lister, 2011 |
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| Born | Tom. Lister Jr. June 24, 1958 Pine Bluff, Arkansas, U.S. |
| Other names | Zeus, Z-Gangsta, Tiny, Tommy, DeeBo |
| Occupation | Actor and wrestler |
| Years active | 1984–present |
| Spouse | Felicia Forbes Lister (26 January 2003-Present) |
| Children | 1 Child |
Tommy "Tiny" Lister (born Thomas Lister, Jr.; June 24, 1958) is an American character actor and former wrestler known for his role as the neighborhood bully Deebo in the Friday trilogy series of movies. He also had a short-lived professional wrestling career, wrestling Hulk Hogan in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) after appearing as "Zeus" in Hogan's movie No Holds Barred.[1] Lister is blind in his right eye.
Lister has had numerous guest appearances in TV series, including playing Klaang (the first Klingon ever to make contact with humans) in the pilot episode of Star Trek: Enterprise. He also co-starred in a two-part episode of the courtroom series Matlock as Mr. Matlock's in-prison bodyguard.
Lister performed a cameo as a prisoner in The Dark Knight as well as Austin Powers in Goldmember in the Hard Knock Life spoof. He also appeared as "Sancho" in the music video for Sublime's song "Santeria", and in the video for Michael Jackson's song "Remember the Time".
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Lister is best known as Zeus from "No Holds Barred." He reprised his "Friday" role of "Deebo" for its sequel Next Friday. Deebo was the neighborhood bully and antagonist for Cube's character, Craig Jones, but did not appear in the third film of the series, Friday After Next.
Lister was also featured in The Fifth Element in a bit of a turn from his usual thug characters as the cool-headed Galactic President. The Fifth Element also featured Lister's Friday co-star Chris Tucker, although their characters never interact within the film. He also appears in the Adam Sandler film Little Nicky as Nicky's older brother Cassius.
Lister was the main police officer in Chamillionaire's "Ridin'" video, and also appeared in the Ice Cube videos for "Friday" (from the Friday soundtrack) and "You Can Do It" (from the Next Friday soundtrack). Lister appeared via both original footage and film clips from the movie. He was also in the Young Bleed "How you do dat" video. And is also in the video of 50 Cent's song "Many Men".
Lister also portrayed the character "Sancho" in the Sublime music video "Santeria". In the Quentin Tarantino film Jackie Brown, he played bail agent Winston, who "finds people who don't want to be found". He briefly appears in The Dark Knight as an honorable convict caught in one of the Joker's schemes.
| Tommy "Tiny" Lister | |
|---|---|
| Ring name(s) | Zeus[1] Z-Gangsta[1] Ze Gangsta[1] |
| Height | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) |
| Weight | 300 lb (140 kg) |
| Billed height | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)[1] |
| Billed weight | 300 lb (140 kg)[1] |
| Born | June 24, 1958 [1] Pine Bluff, Arkansas[1] |
| Debut | April 25, 1989[1] |
| Retired | 1996 |
| Website | www.tommytinylister.com |
Lister appeared in the 1989 wrestling movie No Holds Barred, which was financed by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and starred Hulk Hogan. Lister's role was Zeus, a brutal monster heel.
No Holds Barred inspired a feud in the WWF ring during the latter half of 1989. Lister was billed as "Zeus: The Human Wrecking Machine", and used the same "unfazable monster heel" gimmick in his matches – by no selling his opponent's more lethal moves. Zeus also had the notion to yell "Aw Aw" and pound on his chest several times during his interviews and in-ring action.
Eventually, Zeus demanded Hogan face him in the ring. Citing jealousy for being billed under Hogan and anger over losing to Hogan in the movie, Zeus now wanted to beat him in "real life". Zeus would form 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 the 1989 SummerSlam event in a tag team match which saw Hogan and Beefcake prevail as the victors.
Following SummerSlam, Zeus formed an alliance with "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase leading into the Survivor Series. At the event, the team of The Hulkamaniacs (Hulk Hogan, Jake "The Snake" Roberts, and Demolition) faced The Million Dollar Team (Ted DiBiase, Zeus, and the Powers of Pain). Zeus would be eliminated from the match via disqualification after refusing to break a chokehold on Hogan and shoving the referee away twice. The Hulkamaniacs went on to win the match.
After the Survivor Series, the feud between Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake vs. Randy Savage and Zeus ended with a steel cage match on December 27, 1989. Hogan and Beefcake were once again victorious in what would be Zeus's last match in the WWF, and shortly afterwards he made a brief promotional appearance prior to the Royal Rumble, his last appearance with the WWF. Despite his reputation as an unstoppable monster, Zeus left the company having never won a match (Zeus did not have any preliminary matches in his WWF run).
Lister also spent a short time in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as "Ze Gangsta" (or Z-Gangsta) as part of The Alliance to End Hulkamania during the mid-1990s. Lister's WCW career was equally as short-lived as his WWF run.
In a 2009 shoot interview DVD released by Pro Wrestling Diary LLC, Lister discusses the character Zeus in great detail, including the "invincibility" wrecking machine gimmick where he had to no-sell the offense moves of opponents in the ring.
Lister is 6' 5" (196 cm) tall and weighs 300 lbs (136 kg). Lister has appeared on The Trinity Broadcasting Network. He is an evangelical born-again Christian. In 1999, he and Darryl Strawberry appeared on evangelist Benny Hinn's T.V. program giving their testimonies. Afterward, Hinn laid hands on Lister and prophesied over him. Hinn said, "God is calling you to reach out to young people and will bless your acting career to do it." Since then, he's made numerous appearances on faith-based networks and speaks to urban youth and at church functions across the country. Lister has recently become a member of the Christian church, The Light of the World.[2] Lister also attended California State University, Los Angeles where he was the 1982 NCAA Division II National Shot Put Champion, and currently the university athletic department sponsors an annual track meet in his name.