WWE legend “Rowdy” Roddy Piper died after suffering a heart attack in his Hollywood home. He was 61.
Born Roderick George Toombs, Piper joined the WWE in 1984 after getting his start with the NWA in the late 1970s. He and Hulk Hogan met in landmark matchups including MTV’s “The War to Settle the Score” and the first WrestleMania, where Piper and “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff took on Hogan and Mr. T.
Piper’s agent Jay Schacter confirmed the news, first reported by TMZ, to Variety.
I’m maybe just a little bit creeped out to discover that a day after I published my article on the 1988 movie They Live, its lead actor, Roddy Piper, passed away. It’s even creepier given that my google search history from last week is full of “Is Roddy Piper dead?” searches, because I half-remembered hearing the news of his cancer diagnosis from 2006 and wanted to check if he was still alive. I never came right out and said it in the article, but, for what it’s worth, he was really quite good as an actor in that movie.
Anyway, rest in peace, Mr. Piper. I’m sure you’re kicking ass and chewing bubblegum with the angels now.
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