John Matuszak was 6-8 (203 cm) tall. She later promised him that she'd set another wedding date when he finally got a 90-day chip, but the Goonies star always failed. His best known role was as the deformed Sloth in the 1985 movie The Goonies. In fact, the director of The Goonies Richard Donner said one of the hardest parts of making the movie was getting the child actors to not play around too much with their gentle giant co-star. Before the 1976 season, the Chiefs traded him to the Washington Redskins, where he was cut two weeks later. His teammates tried to rouse him, but he was unresponsive. She has been married to LeVar Burton since 3 October 1992. Seriously: The man used to order half a dozen eggs and half a pound of bacon for breakfast, in addition to his steady diet of Cheez Whiz smeared on bagels. On a particularly rowdy night, he was arrested for driving drunk and firing a gun at street signs. How many men get to work under the genius of both John Madden and Steven Spielberg? Survivors include his wife, Louise B. Griffith of Alexandria; a son, E . Following his sophomore season at Mizzou, Matuszak transferred to the University of Tampa, where he became the star of their football team. Stephanie Cozart Burton. As an actor, Matuszak played in both films and television, appearing first as O.W. Help keep John Matuszak profile up to date. The displeased Oilers traded him to the Kansas City Chiefs for Curley Culp, another player who had threatened to jump to the WFL, and a first-round draft choice in 1975 on October 22, 1974. Another Golden Flashes senior, future six-time national championship coach Nick Saban, suffered a season-ending injury in October. photos, Matuszak did not see much playing time at Mizzou because the starting tight end was an excellent blocker. Of course, he played Sloth in the Goonies, but Matuszak was also involved in a number of other acclaimed films. According to the LA Times, he had an excuse for all of them, ranging from swerving to avoid a child to not knowing there was marijuana in the car. The joke at the time was that you didnt have to be a convicted felon to play for the Raiders, but it helped. Maybe because Matuszak fit in with this team full of screw-ups and misfits, he finally buckled down and began to perform up to his potential. The county coroners office found that his death had resulted from an accidental overdose of a narcotic painkiller, aggravated by an enlarged heart and pneumonia. Matuszak never had any children. During his days with the Raiders, the team mostly turned a blind eye to John Matuszak's antics. Two of his little brothers died of it: Christopher after two months of life, and David at the age of two years. Mr. Matuszak also wrote his autobiography, "Cruisin' With The Tooz." That's right: The Tooz got nude. Cohen's reaction is captured forever in the movie. Survivors include two children by his first marriage, Nancy Stetter Graham and Grant Hamilton Stetter, both of Falls Church; two stepsons, Navy Capt. Help us build our profile of John Matuszak! In late 1984, Matuszak met with director Richard Donner, who was deep into casting The Goonies. However, whenever anyone met him, worked with him, or enjoyed life with him, they came away knowing he was a giving person and a gentle giant. 7; past master of the Alexandria Washington Lodge No. Stephanie Cozart Burton was born on 10 November 1953 in Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA. There is no question John Matuszak was the most famous & most loved celebrity of all the time. Known by the nickname The Tooz, the 68, 280 pound athlete was initially a hot prospect and was the first overall draft pick of the year in 1973. John Matuszak (number 27, front row) with his first school football team (@AK7682 Twitter) Born on October 25, 1950 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, John Matuszak knew loss from an early age. But its no secret that at one time he had an excessive lifestyle, and it might have taken its toll physically.. He also appeared in a number of cult classics including Caveman, One Crazy Summer, Ice Pirates, and as mentioned, The Goonies. He is from United States. The Tragic Life Of Goonies Actor John Matuszak Revealed, Man Finds Old Buried Chain, His Gut Then Tells Him To Keep Pulling, Homeless Man Sues Burger King For a Million Dollars, Over 3 Months Spent In Jail Without Proof, She Looked Like She Was Pregnant With 30 Puppies, Then Vet Gives Mom The X-Ray, 10-Year-Old Boys Sentenced To Life In Prison After Child Goes Missing, Daughter Wakes Up To Serial Killer Sitting at The End Of Her Bed, Woman In Coma for 3 Weeks Wakes Up To Learn Her Family Pulled the Plug on Her, Missing Alabama Mother Found In The Woods After Sister Discovers Her Car, NFL Star Murders Girlfriend After Heated Argument Then Pulls Trigger on Himself. But there was more to Matuszak than just a boisterous wild man. On June 17, 1989, John Matuszak died at age 38. Actor: The Goonies. All hell broke loose. He generally played the tough guy in guest spots in film and television. But because of the many injuries hed sustained during his career, his heavy use of painkillers continued. Matuszakdebuted in filmsas O.W. He died in 1989 of an accidental propoxyphene overdose. Standing at 6 feet, 8 inches tall, Matuszak cut a commanding figure on his own, and, in fact, before he was an actor, he was a champion athlete. An enlarged heart and pneumonia were also contributing factors in his demise. He was cut before the season began in 1976. It was like a milestone for him. He then transferred to the University of Missouri for Coach Dan Devine, with whom he had a tough relationship. According to our Database, He has no children. He didn't know what was happening at the time and wanted to avoid confrontation. The Houston Oilers made him the No. At 39 years old, John Matuszak height After his wife forgave him for whatever transgression had been worthy of turning him into a rubber-stained, 280-pound pancake, they had a round of makeup love in the Chiefs' locker room. At a fraternity party, he punched another student in the face for "fondling his date," and then inexplicably tried to make it right again not by apologizing for his conduct but by insisting that he hadn't meant to hit the guy as hard as he did. A full body orgasm at the L.A. Phil? John Matuszak's childhood was full of grief and misfortune. The Raiders had toassign a 22-year-old front office worker to literally move in with him and keep an eye on him fellow player Pat Toomay called the job "Keeper of the Tooz.". Matuszak participated in the 1978 World's Strongest Man competition, where he placed ninth. At 6-foot-9, Mr. Matuszak, who played with the Raiders from 1976 to 1981, was an imposing sight on the field, staring down opponents with a black-bearded scowl before shooting off the defensive line with great speed for his 280 pounds. After his wife forgave him for . His second season in Houston ended before it ever started. With the Raiders, Matuszak played a key role in securing a couple of Super Bowl wins in 1977 and 1981. Matuszak's off-the-field troubles also started in college. He sought help for both his drug and alcohol issues, and though he often relapsed, he got back on the horse multiple times. He is most remembered for His best known role was as the deformed Sloth in . John Matuszak weighed 272 lbs (123 kg) when playing. John Matuszak was just 38 when he died of heart failure a decade ago, and his flamboyance made an explanation mandatory. His football career was often overshadowed by his lifestyle. Matuszak also left the contents of his house in Franklin, Wis., to his sister, the boys mother, Christine Evancy. Unfortunately, he probably took too much of it precisely because it was "mild." According to the LA Times, after the Matuszak family moved from downtown Milwaukee to the village of Oak Creek, Matuszak would often come home from school crying because the other kids were picking on him for being a "gawky beanpole.". if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,600],'biographyhost_com-medrectangle-4','ezslot_2',164,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-biographyhost_com-medrectangle-4-0'); For formal education, his parents enrolled him at Oak Creek High School. videos, John Matuszak's net worth, height, age, weight, affair, relationship, family, movie update, and more are highlighted below. 1 pick in the 1973 National Football League draft. is 2.01m . The rest of his estate, $230,000 in personal property, $217,000 in real property and $10,000 in income from that property, was left to his mother and his sisters, Karen and Dawn Matuszak. ", Some people mellow out with age and outgrow their old, destructive ways. On a single day in the summer of 1976, he engaged in a wine-soaked tryst with a fan, came to practice tipsy, was sent home, went out drinking with teammates, attended an evening team meeting, was sent home again, went to a bar, took two sleeping pills, and blacked out. As a result, as he put it, "painkillers are a way of life in the NFL." He was a graduate of the Powell Business School in his native Scranton, Pa., and Catholic University law school. Later he joined Cocaine Anonymous (CA), and then Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). His best known role was as the deformed Sloth in the 1985 movie "The Goonies". Coach Devine left after that season, and the new coach didn't want Tooz around. One year, while with the Raiders, he played Santa Claus at a children's hospital, and the emotions that came with it changed his mind and outlook. He was also a member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity.[2]. Tooz decided he didn't want to end up like that, and called it quits on May 10, 1983. December 26, 1976. Matuszak, 38, died in June at St. Josephs Medical Center in Burbank. His first major role was in the 1979 movie North Dallas Forty as a football player. Still, it was worth it, according to Tooz. He played a disfigured character Sloth Fratelli in the film. He started to devote a lot of time to working with kids and charities, and spent many hours with his beloved nieces and nephews as well. We won't really ever know because he never got a chance to grow older and wiser. In addition, Matuszak was a pneumonia patient and had an enlarged heart, which also added to the cause of his death. During one of his football training camps, he added Valium to his beer, which nearly killed him. Boredom set in quickly: He was alone and depressed, desperately missing the joy and structure of football. Matuszak's other notable movies are One Crazy Summer (1986), Ghost Writer (1989), The Princess and the Dwarf (1989), and many others.His last movie, Down the Drain, was released in 1990, after his demise. He was born in October 25, 1950, in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, United States. Explore John Matuszak Wiki Age, Height, Biography as Wikipedia, Wife, Family relation. June 19, 1989 12 AM PT. The winning continued, and they got back to the promised land in 1979 for Super Bowl XV in New Orleans. Matuszakdied at the age of 38on 17 June 1989. John Matuszak got into quite a bit of trouble in his life. He represented them for the 1973 season and moved to Houston, Texas, in 1974. After an injury, John Matuszak sat out the 1982 season and then decided to retire from football and pursue an acting career. Matuszak acted professionally in the 1980s, making appearances in feature films and on television, often portraying football players or gentle giants. Mrs. Clark was a native of Washington and a graduate of Washington-Lee High School in Arlington. He said he had no plans to play in that game but requested to play after seeing about 25 men looking for him on the sidelines. if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'biographyhost_com-medrectangle-3','ezslot_1',163,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-biographyhost_com-medrectangle-3-0'); John Matuszak wasbest known for appearingon numerous 1980s TV series likeTrapper John M.D. He was also a member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity. John Matuszaks income source is mostly from being a successful . At 6ft 9 and weighing 20st, John was an imposing presence and a hit with the ladies. In addition to his contract with the Oilers, he joined the Houston Texans of the World Football League (WFL), playing a total of seven plays before a restraining order was served to him during a game, barring Matuszak from playing for two teams at the same time. I dont ever want to go back, he added. Matuszak was the first overall pick in the 1973 NFL Draft and played most of his career with the Oakland Raiders until he retired after winning his second Super Bowl in 1981. His movie credits included "North Dallas Forty," "Caveman" and "Ice Pirates." He had one sister and two brothers. ", "John was really nice to me and it was fun to work with him," said Jeff Cohen, who played Chunk in the iconic film. Matuszak was enormously excited to work with Donner and producer Steven Spielberg, whom he called "the Al Davis of Hollywood.". Matuszak also played for various NFL teams; his longest stint of six years having been spent with the Oakland/Los . He enjoyed the company of kids, but afterwards, they made him feel depressed. View popular celebrities life details, birth signs and real ages. It was a rough and wild time in his life one that cast long shadows. John Matuszak was an American actor and football player. You could argue that portraying an emotionally complex killer biker gang member on Miami Vice and a cop who goes on a vengeful murderous spree in One Man Force somehow resulted in Matuszak backsliding into some of his old, reckless ways, even when he was finally being recognized as a talented, sensitive man, Nevertheless, it seemed as if Matuszak was finally getting his life under control. During World War II, he served with the Army Air Forces in England. He was also a member of Mount Vernon United Methodist Church in Alexandria. She had lived in Annapolis since 1988. He regularly visited his sister in the hospital where she would receive treatment for her cystic fibrosis. He was the first overall pick in the 1973 NFL Draft and played most of his career with the Oakland Raiders until he retired after winning his second Super Bowl in 1981. She was a past president of the Arlington Northwest Lioness Club. He was still struggling with the drug habit hed picked up early in life and from time to time was involved in wild, violent incidents reminiscent of his time on the football field. John Matuszak was in an on-screen matchup with Barbara Bach in Caveman (1981). That's right: As Cohen describes it, the "shock and horror" on Chunk's face in that moment is real. The other way around makes no sense. Survivors include two children by his first marriage, Nancy Stetter Graham and Grant Hamilton Stetter, both of Falls Church; two stepsons, Navy Capt. Who is John Matuszak dating? And just in case there wasn't already enough tragedy in this story, here's an extra helping of it for you football injuries require pain medication, and Matuszak was one human being who should have stayed as far away from pain medication as possible. Ex-fiance Stephanie Cozart once told Matuszak that his undoing was his failure to accept responsibility for pretty much everything that happened in his life. He was trying really hard to keep things under control, Cozart said. He is most remembered for His best known role was as the deformed Sloth in the 1985 movie "The Goonies".. His zodiac sign is Scorpio. Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on October 25, 1950, Matuszak grew up playing football as a defensive end. For one thing, the Oilers were then the worst team in the NFL. They have one child. Sadly, Matuszak died of a drug overdose at the age of 38: His life was fully lived, but way too short. It was a minor separation of his shoulder, but Matuszak played through it, and paid the price in pain for years to come. and "The Fall Guy." The argument escalated, and then Matuszak slapped Robiskie, grabbed him, and shook him. Matuszak and his just-mentioned wife had a not unexpected rocky relationship. Matuszak did not know what was happening at the time and wanted to avoid confrontation. John Matuszak was born on October 25, 1950, in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, United States He grew up there with his Family. Matuszak was born in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. Matuszak's other notable movies areOne Crazy Summer(1986),Ghost Writer(1989),The Princess and the Dwarf(1989), and many others. Kent State's standouts included future Hall of Fame linebacker Jack Lambert and Gary Pinkel, who coached Missouri from 2001-15. Surprisingly he turned out to be a pretty good actor. Turns out, the pummelee was an Air Force cadet who ended up with 18 fractures in his face he needed a whopping 10 hours of surgery to be made whole again. [10] He was only 38 years old. Matuszak also played for various NFL teams; his longest stint of six years having been spent with . He had two brothers, but both died of cystic fibrosis at young ages. Matuszak was devoted to his family and,according to United Press International, spent a lot of time visiting his sister when she was in a Milwaukee hospital struggling with her disease. Matuszak enjoyed "enough parties for twenty people's lives", and especially lived it up during the season onWednesdays, AKA "Tooz Day." His second wife, Patricia Beaumont Stetter, died in 1987. Cystic fibrosis, a genetic disorder that affects the lungs, took two of his siblings and sickened his younger sister, Dawn, who died in 1991, just a couple years after her superstar brother. After Washington showed him the business end of the cleat, John Matuszak was a free agent, and the Oakland Raiders were kind of desperate. Still, it was fun especially since Matuszak was a devoted Beatles fan. He made sports page headlines when he violated team curfew by partying in New Orleans the night before the Raiders beat the Philadelphia Eagles 27-10 in the 1981 Super Bowl. Matuszak knew he had an obsessive personality, and tried to fight it when he could. Matuszak's days of losing were over: One season in, and he was already Super Bowl bound. Ironically, it was Paul Wiggin, the Chief's coach, who saved his life and then traded him to the Washington Redskins just seven days after he was released from the hospital. donated time to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Matuszak was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs. According to his former girlfriend, Stephanie Cozart, Matuszak also turned to drugs to deal with family trauma. Survivors include her husband of 47 years, George O. Clark, of Annapolis; two daughters, Karen Coffman, of Annapolis, and Laurie Richardson, of Richmond; a brother, E. Gordon Hershey, of Ocala, Fla., and three grandsons. With Devine leaving Missouri for the Green Bay Packers that same year, Matuszak no longer had a spot on the team, and his scholarship was revoked by new head coach Al Onofrio. Kansas City was the next stop on the trouble tour, and it didn't exactly turn out to be a KC masterpiece. Hisfirst lead rolecame in the 1985 adventure comedy filmThe Goonies. Kent State's coach was Don James, who went on to win the 1991 national championship at Washington. When John lived in Houston he was playing for the Kansas City Cheifs and I dated him for a few months.He was kind and I cared for him alot.He did do alot of cocaine and that was why I quit dating him.Still I think of him often.I`m sure he is happy in his eternal life. His last movie,Down the Drain, was released in 1990, after his demise. Matuszak, John Football John Matusak signed back of shirt of Jack Kauffman who held his son Jake, 9 months old. Mr. Matuszak also wrote his autobiography, "Cruisin' With The Tooz." He was born John Daniel Matuszak in Oak Creek, Wis. . Alabama guard John Hannah, selected fourth by the New England Patriots, was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1991, his first year of eligibility, following a 13-year career, while quarterback Bert Jones (Baltimore Colts), offensive tackle Jerry Sisemore, tight end Charle Young (Philadelphia Eagles), and defensive tackle Dave Butz (St. Louis Cardinals) were all prominent throughout the rest of the 1970s and into the 1980s. John Matuszak led a life of excesses, regardless of his physical pain. Why was his stint in Washington so short-lived? In it he writes: I abstain from cocaine, and any other foreign substance, entirely now.