Talmadge Layne "Tab" Thacker (March 10, 1962 – December 28, 2007) was a former

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...

wrestler and

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), l ...

Early life

Thacker was on the football, basketball, track, and wrestling teams while at West Forsyth High School in

Clemmons, North Carolina Clemmons is a village in Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States and a suburb of Winston-Salem. The population was 21,177 at the 2020 census, with an estimated population of 21,517 in 2021. Geography Clemmons is located in southwestern For ...

. He won the 1980 Junior National

Greco-Roman The Greco-Roman civilization (; also Greco-Roman culture; spelled Graeco-Roman in the Commonwealth), as understood by modern scholars and writers, includes the geographical regions and countries that culturally—and so historically—were dir ...

championship before enrolling at NC State.Former National Champion Tab Thacker Passes Away
''gopack.com'' Retrieved January 30, 2022.

College

In college, Thacker won the NCAA wrestling heavyweight championship in 1984. Before that he finished 6th in 1983, and 8th in 1982, making him in total a 3-time All-American. He also won four Atlantic Coast Conference titles with the Wolfpack. He finished his college career 92-11-1, ranking second in NC State history with an .889 winning percentage and 54 pins. Thacker majored in criminal justice while at NC State.

Professional career

He began his film career after

Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western TV series '' Rawhide'', he rose to international fame with his role as the " Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's "'' D ...

noticed him in ''Time'' magazine and noted the 6-foot-4 and 450-pound (1.93 m, 204 kg) Thacker's size. Thacker went on to appear in several films including '' City Heat'', '' Wildcats'', two of the ''

Police Academy A police academy, also known as a law enforcement training center, police college, or police university, is a training school for police cadets, designed to prepare them for the law enforcement agency they will be joining upon graduation, or ot ...

'' films, and '' Identity Crisis''. After leaving Hollywood, Thacker returned to

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the South ...

, where he opened a remodeling business and operated several nightclubs. He later became a

bail bondsman Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required. In some countries ...

Filmography

Death

A North Carolina native, Thacker died in Raleigh, North Carolina on December 27, 2007, at the age of 45 after years of failing health. He developed

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level (hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ...

and had a foot amputated some years before he died. He was buried in Evergreen Cemetery in

Winston-Salem, North Carolina Winston-Salem is a city and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. In the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the second-largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region, the 5th most populous city in ...

References

External links

*
"NCAA wrestling champ, "Police Academy" actor from N.C. dies"
''The Charlotte Observer'', 27 December 2007
''Tab Thacker, 45; NCAA wrestler cast in films''. The Los Angeles Times, 30 December 2007
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thacker, Tab American male sport wrestlers 1962 births 2007 deaths Deaths from diabetes American male film actors Sportspeople from Raleigh, North Carolina NC State Wolfpack wrestlers 20th-century American male actors