Tommy “Tiny” Lister, famous for his role as “Deebo” in the film Friday, has died at the age of 62. He leaves behind a daughter with wife Felicia Forbes.
TMZ reports that the actor was found unconscious in his Marina Del Rey apartment on Thursday, just before 3 PM. He was pronounced dead on the scene. Thus far, the cause of death is unknown.
Aside from “Friday” and the sequel, “Next Friday”, Tommy starred in the sci-fi action film, “The Fifth Element,” and the movie “The Dark Knight”, to name a few. He also voiced the character Finnick in “Zootopia”.
Lister was born in Compton, California, on June 24, 1958. He was born blind in his right eye due to a detached and deformed retina.
Growing up, he was ashamed of his right eye and often wore tinted glasses. Then one day he stopped hiding and took off the shades. “I started doing these movies and God said, ‘You thought it was a curse. It was a blessing,’” he said in an interview in 2014. “[My eye] became my trademark in Hollywood.”
Tommy is survived by his wife, Felicia Forbes, whom he married in 2003, and their daughter Faith Grace,12. The actor is said to also have a son named Thomas Duane Lister III, though that has not been confirmed.
Tommy often posted his daughter on his Instagram page as she was the center of his life.
“I had some bad people in my life — bad managers, real estate people,” he said in 2014. “I should have took a stronger look at it. You live and learn. You get scar tissue and it makes you a better person in the end. I just want to be there for my daughter.”
