Biography for
John Matuszak More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

25 October 1950, Oak Creek, Wisconsin, USA

Date of Death

17 June 1989, Hollywood, California, USA (heart failure)

Birth Name

John Daniel Matuszak

Nickname

Tooz

Height

6' 8" (2.03 m)

Trivia

Ex-football player turned actor.

Autobiography: "Cruisin' With The Tooz."

Former defensive end for the Oakland Raiders.

Competed in the 1978 World's Strongest Man Competition weighing 308 lbs.

Hard-driving athlete who lived life in the fast lane.

Attended the University of Tampa where he was the star of their football team and a brother of the Theta Chi fraternity (Incidentally, the football program at the University of Tampa ended after the 1974 season). Also attended the University of Missouri and Iowa Central Community College before going to Tampa.

He died of heart failure allegedly due to his long term use of steroid drugs. He was buried in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

As Sloth in The Goonies (1985), his make-up took five hours to complete. One of the eyes (which was out of place on the face) was mechanically operated off-screen by remote control. He had to time his blinking to match the blinks of the robotic eye. A crew-member would countdown from three, two, one and tell him to blink. The cast was told not to get him wet in scenes outside of the pirate ship, but the kids inadvertently did so, holding up filming for an entire day. In the scene where Chunk and Sloth head down through the grate to follow the gang and the Fratelli's, you can see that Sloth is wearing an Oakland Raiders T-Shirt. Matuszak was a former Oakland Raiders football player.

Was originally drafted by the Houston Oilers in 1973

Was the boyfriend of Stephanie Cozart Burton in the 1980s.

Son of Audrey and Marvin Matuszak.

He attended the University of Missouri-Columbia (Mizzou) on football scholarship and was a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity. However, he was kicked out when he completely beat up a guy on one of his fraternity brother's 21st birthdays.

Where Are They Now

(1987) Release of his autobiography, "Cruisin' with the Tooz" by John with Steve Delsohn.

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