He was far from the first professional wrestler to be featured in movies. Primo Carnera, “Swedish Angel” Tor Johnson, Mike Mazurki, “Gorgeous George” Wagner, and of course Mexico’s El Santo all preceded him on the silver screen. And since his ’90s cinematic heyday such grappling greats as John Cena and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson have surpassed him in box office appeal. There’s no denying, though, that Hulk Hogan–who passed away earlier this week at 71–was a major pop culture presence both in the squared circle and in films and TV.
Born Terry Gene Bollea in 1953 in Georgia, he became interested in wrestling as a teenager. While playing guitar in a Florida rock band and frequenting local gyms, Bollea was talked into giving pro wrestling a shot, taking his look and persona from grappler “Superstar” Billy Graham. Working for local promotions in the Southeast, he was signed by World Wrestling Federation head Vince McMahon, Sr., who gave Bollea the Irish-flavored ring moniker “The Incredible Hulk” Hogan (a reference to the then-popular The Incredible Hulk TV show).
Hogan was well-known in the U.S. and Japan when he made his motion picture debut in 1982. Rocky III perfectly cast him as Thunderlips,”the Ultimate Male,” an arrogant heel wrestler who takes on Rocky Balboa in a charity bout. McMahon, however, didn’t approve of the role and dropped Hulk from the company’s roster.
By the time of Hogan’s next film, things were a little different. Not only was he back in the WWF, he was the promotion’s heavyweight champion and leading babyface. New boss Vince McMahon, Jr. pushed his 6’7″ drawing card with appearances on The A-Team, Saturday Night Live and other shows; the Saturday morning cartoon series Hulk Hogan’s Rock ‘n’ Wrestling (actor Brad Garrett supplied the Hulkster’s voice); and scores of toy and merchandising deals.
1989’s No Holds Barred, a New Line/WWF co-production, was a clichéd ring drama starring Hogan as champion wrestler “Rip” Thomas. When he spurns a contract offer from a crooked cable TV mogul (any resemblance to Ted Turner was purely coincidental), the magnate uses kidnapping and coercion to get Rip into a showdown with a ruthless fighter named Zeus (“Tiny” Lister). The film was heavily promoted by the WWF, including a reality-blurring pay-per-view bout where Hogan and buddy Brutus Beefcake faced off against Lister (as Zeus) and “Macho Man” Randy Savage.
In a decade bookended by memorable cameo as himself in Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990) and Muppets from Space (1999), the Hulkster would play against type in a string of ’90s family-friendly action/comedies: Suburban Commando, Mr. Nanny, The Secret Agent Club, and Santa with Muscles. He was a TV star who teams with a trio of young martial artists to stop criminals who have taken over an amusement park in 1998’s 3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain. And Hogan co-starred alongside Carol Alt and Chris Lemmon in Thunder in Paradise, a Baywatch-like syndicated action series which ran for one season in 1994.
The 2000s saw Hogan take a page from Ozzy Osbourne’s book as he and his family brought their everyday lives to TV in the 2005-07 VH1 reality series Hogan Knows Best. He would lend his voice to various animated series (American Dad!, Robot Chicken), and even played Zeus–the Greek god, not the wrestler–in the off-the-wall 2009 family fantasy Little Hercules. His final film role came as a voice in 2011’s Gnomeo & Juliet. After various health concerns over the past few years, Hogan passed away from cardiac arrest in his Florida home on July 24.
He was never the most technically proficient wrestler, and his acting was not on a par with Olivier or DeNiro. Nonetheless, Terry Bollea made the most of his five-decade performance as Hulk Hogan, and his ability to rise up and draw strength from the cheers in the crowd was emblematic of the way he carried himself in and out of the ring. So long, Thunderlips. You will be missed.