BIG ACTOR KNOWN AS TINY, A FAMILIAR FACE IN FILMS, TV

Tommy Lister, a 6foot-5-inch actor nicknamed Tiny who played the hulking neighborhood bully Deebo in the “Friday” f ilms, has died at his home in Marina del Rey. He was 62.

Los Angeles County sheriff 's deputies visited Lister 's home Thursday to do a welfare check, urged by friends and business associates who had grown concerned after not hearing from him. Lister was found dead inside the home, the Sheriff 's Department said.

The depar tment said Lister's death was being investigated and that a cause would be determined by the county medical examiner-coroner 's off ice, but added that the actor 's death “appears to be of natural causes.”

Cindy Cowan, Lister 's friend and manager, said in an interview Friday that by Wednesday night, none of his friends had heard from him for several days. After one of them knocked on his door and got no answer, the person contacted the authorities. “I think we are all shocked,” she said.

Cowan said Lister had struggled with his health after testing positive for the coronavirus several months ago, and that more than a week ago he was unable to keep a meeting at her home because he felt sick and weak. He later told her he was having trouble breathing and was unable to show up to work on a new project last Sunday, Cowan said.

Lister 's acting career star ted in the 1980s, with roles i n movies including “Runaway Train,” “Blue City” and “Beverly Hills Cop II,” according to his IMDb prof ile, which lists more than 250 film and television titles.

Tributes to the actor from co-stars were shared on social media.

Ice Cube, a writer and star of “Friday,” the 1995 comedy that gave Lister perhaps the signature role of his acting career, praised Lister as “a born entertainer who would pop into character at the drop of a hat terrifying people on and off camera” before following up with “a big smile and laugh.”

Lister was also cast as President Lindberg in “The Fifth Element” in 1997, and would joke that he was the “f irst Black president,” Cowan said.

He also gathered a following in the world of wrestling, where he was known as Zeus or the Human Wrecking Machine. He appeared with Hulk Hogan in the f ilm “No Holds Barred” in 1989.

Thomas G. Lister Jr. was born on June 24, 1958, in Los Angeles County, according to California bir th records.

Keith Lister, a brother of Lister's, said the actor was married to Felicia Forbes and had a daughter, Faith, 12. Other sur vivors include Lister 's mother, Mildred Edwards Lister, and siblings Anthony and Jill.

During public appearances Lister would often oblige requests from fans to act out a few lines as Deebo, jokingly “scaring ” them, Cowan said.

“Then his teddy bear would come out, and he would break into these great, goofy smiles,” she said.