Ronald "Tiny Ron" Taylor (November 21, 1947 – November 28, 2019) was an American film actor and former basketball player, known for his work in feature films such as '' The Rocketeer'' ( 1991) and '' Ace Ventura: Pet Detective'' (

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

), and in television series such as '' Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'', '' Star Trek: Voyager'', and as Al, the very tall police detective whose face is always out of frame in the '' Police Squad!'' and '' The Naked Gun'' franchise. His roles tended to exploit his 7 ft (2.13 m) frame.

Early life

Taylor was born in

Torrance, California Torrance is a coastal city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area located in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city is part of what is known as the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay region of the metropolitan ...

. He attended North Torrance High School and graduated from the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

Sports career

Taylor was drafted by the Seattle SuperSonics in the second round of the 1969 NBA draft, but never played in the NBA. Instead, he started playing in the

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major professional basketball league that operated for nine seasons from 1967 to 1976. The upstart ABA operated in direct competition with the more established National Basketball Association thr ...

. He played for four teams from 1969 to 1972: the

New York Nets New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

and Washington Caps (1969–70); the

Virginia Squires The Virginia Squires were a basketball team based in Norfolk, Virginia, and playing in several other Virginia cities. They were members of the American Basketball Association from 1970 to 1976. The team originated in 1967 as the Oakland Oaks, a ...

(1970–71); and the Pittsburgh Condors (1971–72). He played 75 of his 77 career games in his first season, 72 of them for the Nets. He scored 371 total points (4.8 ppg), 294 total rebounds (3.7 rpg), and 68 assists (0.9 apg). He also played some basketball in

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

before deciding to be an actor.

Acting career

When Taylor applied to the

Screen Actors Guild The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to m ...

, he learned that the name "Ron Taylor" was already in use by another actor. His acting teacher suggested he use "Tiny Ron", figuring that in a niche category populated by actors with such screen names as " André the Giant," the name "Tiny Ron" would stand out.

Illness and death

In 2016, Taylor stepped away from acting after being diagnosed with a brain tumor. He died in Santa Clarita on November 28, 2019, a week after his 72nd birthday.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Tiny Ron 1947 births 2019 deaths American expatriate basketball people in Austria American male film actors American male television actors American men's basketball players Basketball players from California Centers (basketball) New York Nets players Oakland Oaks draft picks People from Torrance, California Pittsburgh Condors players Seattle SuperSonics draft picks USC Trojans men's basketball players Virginia Squires players Washington Caps draft picks Washington Caps players