Tab Thacker

Thacker was on the football, basketball, track, and wrestling teams while at West Forsyth High School in Clemmons, North Carolina. He placed fourth and third at the North Carolina wrestling state championships in 1979 and 1980.^[1][2] Thacker would then go on to win the 1980 Junior Greco-Roman wrestling national championship, before enrolling at NC State.^[3]

As a wrestler at NC State, Thacker was a three-time NCAA Division I All-American and won a national title his senior year. His three All-American trips to the podium consisted of finishing 8th as a sophomore in 1982, 6th as a junior in 1983, and winning the national championship as a senior in 1984. He was also a four-time Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) champion for the Wolfpack. Thacker finished his college career 92-11-1, ranking second in NC State history with an .889 winning percentage and 54 pins. He majored in criminal justice while at NC State.

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, Wildcats, two of the Police Academy films, and Identity Crisis.

After leaving Hollywood, Thacker returned to Raleigh, North Carolina, where he opened a remodeling business and operated several nightclubs. He later became a bail bondsman.

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 and had a foot amputated some years before he died. He is buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.