John Elmo Harris (September 12, 1952 – April 19, 2005) was an American professional wrestler and actor, who became known under his ring name Silo Sam.
Life and career
Professional wrestling
Harris played basketball before his wrestling career. In 1984, he started wrestling professionally and first appeared under the ring name ''"Big John Harris"'' in
Jerry Jarrett's
Memphis-based ''CWA''.
In 1985, he worked as ''"Little John"'' for
Fritz Von Erich's
World Class Championship Wrestling and acted as the bodyguard for
The Fantastics (
Bobby Fulton and
Tommy Rogers). He would guide ''The Fantastics'' to winning the tag team titles in March 1987.
In 1986, he had a short appearance for the
American Wrestling Association
The American Wrestling Association (AWA) was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that ran from 1960 until 1991. It was owned and founded by Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo. The territory was originally part o ...
as Silo Sam. Because of his large size, he primarily wrestled in handicap matches. He was interviewed by AWA's Ken Rensick and replied to his questions with "Yup" every time. At one point in June 1987, he made an appearance in
WWE as ''Trapper John'' and wrestled in a dark match, but was never used again.
He remained under the WWF’s payroll for about a year, unused and never brought into television tapings. He retired from professional wrestling by 1990.
Acting
During the midst of his wrestling career, Harris played minor roles in several films. These films include ''
Tell Me a Riddle
"Tell Me a Riddle" is a short story by Tillie Olsen. It was published in 1961 as the title story of a collection of four Olsen short stories.
Reception
The short story "Tell Me a Riddle" has been called "a powerful study of the politics of vo ...
'', ''
Blood Circus'' and ''
Pee-wee's Big Adventure'', as Andy, a jealous boyfriend who chased Pee Wee.
Personal life
Harris married Rayola Johnson in the mid-'80s, and divorced a few years later in Calvert County, Maryland. On April 19, 2005, Harris died at the age of 52 in Manatee County, Florida of unknown causes possibly related to gigantism.
Filmography
References
External links
Online World of Wrestling entryCagematch.net entrywrestlingdata.com entry
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Silo Sam
1952 births
2005 deaths
American male professional wrestlers