What happened to Tommy Lister’s eye? What is he doing now?

• Thomas ‘Tiny’ Lister Jr. is an American actor and former professional wrestler
• He is best known for his portrayal of Deebo in the comedy drama movie “Friday” in 1995
• He is blind in his right eye since birth
• He is still very active in the film industry, with 7 movies currently in production
• He is currently 62 years old with a net worth estimated at over $100,000



Known for movies



Who is Tommy Lister and what is he doing now?

Thomas ‘Tiny’ Lister Jr. was born in Compton, California USA, on 24 June 1958 – his zodiac sign is Cancer and he holds American nationality. He is an actor and a former professional wrestler, probably still best known for his portrayal of Deebo in the comedy drama movie “Friday” in 1995, starring Ice Cube, Chris Tucker and Nia Long, and which follows two friends who smoke their drug dealer’s weed, and are now trying to figure out how to pay him back $200 – the film won a single award and was nominated for five others.

There are rumors circulating the internet that Tommy has retired from acting, however, he is still very active in the film industry, and is currently shooting for seven movies – it’s recently been announced that he will play Moses in the upcoming horror movie “Room and Board”, and will appear in another horror film “Beautiful Evil”.

What happened to his eye?

Tommy has been blind in his right eye since he was born, as his retina was detached and deformed. He grew up believing he was cursed, and kept covering the eye before he became more confident and accepted his condition.

Childhood and education

Tommy was raised an only child in Compton by his father who was a construction worker, and his mother who was a cleaning lady. He lived in a rough neighborhood, but avoided becoming a gang member by practicing acting at a local theatre, and going to church quite often.

Tommy became interested in shot putting while attending high school, and after matriculation in 1976, he enrolled at Palomar Junior College where he spent a year before moving to Long Beach City College.

He continued shot putting at college and after hitting 52ft (16m), he was awarded a scholarship from California State University at Los Angeles, from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1980. Two years later, Tommy won The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II National Shot Putt Championship.

Roles in movies

Tommy has been credited with appearing in over 210 movies and TV series, and we are about to mention some of his most notable performances in this article.

He gained recognition in 1985, when cast to play the supporting character Jackson in the independent action thriller “Runaway Train”. The following year he starred as Tiny in the action thriller movie “Blue City”, which is how he got his nickname.

He had an opportunity to meet and act alongside Eddie Murphy in the action comedy “Beverly Hills Cop II” in 1987, while a few of his following roles were in the comedy movie “The Night Before” which starred Keanu Reeves in 1988, the 1989 action movie “No Holds Barred” which starred Hulk Hogan,  and the comedy “Talkin’ Dirt After Dark” in 1991. He was praised for his portrayal of GR55 in the critically acclaimed military science fiction movie “Universal Soldier”, which starred Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren and Ally Walker, and which follows two soldiers who died in Vietnam and have been brought back to life in a military experiment.

The year 1994 saw Tommy appear as Rocco Compton in the romantic comedy drama “Don Juan DeMarco” which starred Johnny Depp, and he went on to appear in the crime movie “Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead” in 1995, and the romantic comedy “A Thin Line Between Love and Hate” which starred Martin Lawrence in 1996.

Tommy also had a chance to meet Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman and Milla Jovovich, after appearing in the critically acclaimed 1997 science fiction action movie “The Fifth Element”, which starred them all. He went on to play a prison guard in the slasher movie “Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies”, and then in 2002 he appeared in the critically acclaimed spy comedy movie “Austin Powers in Goldmember”.

The year 2004 saw him portray Humvee in the horror film “Dracula 3000”, and he then appeared in the drama “El Padrino”, the crime thriller “Never Die Alone” and the comedy drama “Who Made the Potatoe Salad?” in 2006. In 2008, Tommy played The Tattooed Prisoner in the superhero movie “The Dark Knight”, which starred the late Heath Ledger with Christian Bale, and in 2012, he was No Shame in the comedy “We the Party”.

Tommy voiced Finnick in the 3D computer-animated buddy cop comedy movie “Zootopia” in 2016, and three of his most recent roles in movies have been in the horror “Slasher Party”, the action crime film “Night Walk” and the comedy “I Got the Hook Up 2”, all released in 2019.

Roles in TV series

One of Tommy’s first notable performances in a TV series was in 1984, when he played Otis in the sitcom “1st & Ten”, and he went on to guest star as Johnny Mack in three episodes of the mystery legal drama “Matlock” in 1986.

He played Leroy in the sitcom “Perfect Strangers” in 1987 and was then invited to guest star as Tiny in the critically acclaimed comedy series “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” in 1990. He appeared in single episodes of many series, such as the sitcom “Step by Step” in 1991, the drama “Renegade” in 1992, and in 1993 the action crime series “Walker, Texas Ranger” which starred Chuck Norris. After his portrayal of Adam in the sitcom “The Jamie Foxx Show” in 1997, Tommy took a 15-year break from appearing in series, before he was invited to guest star as Big Mike in the comedy “Mr. Box Office”.

Three of his most recent notable performances in TV series have been in three episodes of the comedy “On the Court” playing King Cain, an episode of the action comedy “Mr. Hollywood” as Knuckles, and the 2015 episodes “3:10” and “Will the Real Dolla…” of the animated adventure musical “Da Jammies”, in which he voiced Big Horace.

Appearances in music videos

Tommy made his debut music video appearance in 1992, as The Egyptian Guard in Michael Jackson’s “Remember the Time”, and in 1997 he appeared in Sublime’s “Santeria”.

The year 1999 saw him star in Ice Cube’s music video “You Can Do It”, and he made a cameo appearance in 50 Cent’s “Many Men” in 2003. A few of his following appearances were in Chamillionaire and Krayzie Bone’s “Ridin’” in 2006, Down AKA Kilo’s “Put your Locs On” in 2007, and Iggy Azalea’s “My World” in 2011.

In 2012, Tommy appeared in Falling In Reverse’s “Good Girls, Bad Guys”, and two of his latest appearances in music videos have been in Akon’s “So Blue” in 2013, and O. T. Genasis’ “Touchdown (Remix)” in 2014.

Wrestling career

Tommy’s wrestling career was launched in 1989 – after he starred in the movie “No Holds Barred”, he was invited to compete in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), and was nicknamed ‘Zeus: The Human Wrecking Machine’. Tommy fought in WWF until the beginning of the 1990s, when he began competing in World Wrestling Council in Puerto Rico, while he also in World Championship Wrestling before retiring from wrestling in the late ‘90s.

Love life and wife

Tommy prefers to keep his personal matters to himself, and he didn’t comment on his love life until he was noticed walking with a mysterious woman in the streets of Los Angeles. On 26 January 2003, he married that woman, Felicia Forbes who is working in South Africa as a missionary and minister, but they split several years later although haven’t officially divorced – the two have a daughter together.

In 2009, Tommy’s mysterious new girlfriend filmed him while the two were driving in his car, and she called the police after he tried to remove her phone from her hands – Tommy wasn’t arrested, as it was obvious that he wasn’t violent towards his girlfriend.

He hasn’t talked about any other women he might have been with, and as of September 2020, he is still married to Felicia Forbes although they aren’t living together, and he has one daughter.

Hobbies and other interests

Tommy is a born-again Christian and a highly religious person who goes to church at least once a week. He has appeared in several Christian TV shows, and after he tried to commit mortgage fraud and was released on bail, he stated ‘What’s so cool about God and our government is that you can make a mistake and they will forgive you if you are just a good person and doing right’.

That Sam I am, that Sam I am. I will defeat him at SummerSlam, #ZEUS, #TINYLISTER, #DRSEUSS, #CATINTHEHAT, #BATTLEKAT, #ALICIAFOX, #FOXINSOX, #WWF, #WWE, #ZGANGSTA, #CHILDRENSBOOKS, #2020 pic.twitter.com/kP1YGDUaIc

— RoBeast Rollie (@RAWisROLLIE) May 8, 2020

Tommy is still physically very active, as he has four to five training sessions at the gym each week, thus his muscular body, and even today, he occasionally plays basketball with his friends. Because he is a very big man, he eats a lot of food every day. Two of his favorite things to do in his spare time are to go fishing, or travelling to a country he hasn’t yet been to.

Tommy has his own favorite actor and actress who are Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts, and a few of his favorite movies are “The Terminal”, “The Green Mile” and “Notting Hill”.

Age, height and net worth

Tommy’s age is 62. He is bald and his eyes are blue, his height is 6ft 5ins (1.96m) and he weighs around 300lbs (136kgs).

As of September 2020, his net worth has been estimated at over $100,000.

Source: IMDb, Wikipedia