In news that pains me to report, Roddy Piper passed away from cardiac arrest Thursday night. He was discovered Friday morning. The actor and former pro wrestler was 61. Piper was born Roderick George Toombs.
Piper will no doubt be familiar to horror fans for his iconic turn as Nada in John Carpenter’s They Live. Piper wrestled as recently as 2008 but did numerous appearances for the WWE in various other capacities even more recently than that. Piper had a cancer scare a few years back but had been declared completely cancer free and was thought to be in good health. As such, this news comes as an especially devastating blow.
TMZ broke the news. Piper’s rep offered the following to the outlet: Roddy’s rep tells us, “I am devastated at this news. Rod was a good friend as well as a client and one of the most generous, sincere and authentic people I have ever known. This is a true loss to us all.”
