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 an ...

wrestler Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat spor ...

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 (), li ...

Early life

Thacker was on the football, basketball, track, and wrestling teams while at West Forsyth High School in Clemmons, North Carolina. He won the 1980 Junior National Greco-Roman championship before enrolling at

NC State North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The university ...

.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 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 ''City Heat'' is a 1984 American buddy-crime-comedy film starring Clint Eastwood and Burt Reynolds, written by Blake Edwards, and directed by Richard Benjamin. The film was released in North America in December 1984. The pairing of Eastwood and ...

'', ''

Wildcats The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while the ...

'', 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 othe ...

'' films, and ''

Identity Crisis In psychology, identity crisis is a stage theory of identity development where it involves resolution of a conflict over the 8 stages of the lifespan.(Schultz, 216) The term was coined by German psychologist Erik Erikson. The stage of psychosoci ...

''. 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 Southe ...

, 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