If you were a kid in the 80's you probably loved The Goonies. The 1985 movie about a group of kids searching for a hidden pirate treasure to save their homes from foreclosure while also trying to evade the bad guys became a cult classic, partly because it had such memorable characters.
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None of those characters was more iconic than Sloth, the hulking, deformed, and mistreated little brother of the bad guys. But the story behind the actor who played Sloth is almost as unbelievable as the plot of The Goonies.
First Pick
Before he made his way to the silver screen as Sloth, John Matuszak was a professional football player. Known by the nickname "The Tooz," the 6'8, 280 pound athlete was initially a hot prospect and was the first overall draft pick of the year in 1973. But along with his Herculean proportions came a similarly epic drug and alcohol problem.
The Astronaut
Fresh out of college, Matuszak's drug use was so outrageous that his teammates called him "John Glenn," like the famous astronaut because he was often "flying high." So despite his massive frame and incredible talent on the field, his football career was extremely rocky…
Nomad
In the first four years of his professional career, Matuszak played for four different teams. He was booted from the Houston Oilers after he tried to sign a contract to also play for the World Football League's Houston Texans at the same time.
Living Dangerously
Matuszak was then picked up by the Kansas City Chiefs, only to be dropped after head coach Paul Wiggin found him unconscious and not breathing one day. He was in the middle of an overdose of whiskey and pills. After Wiggin personally pounded on Matuszak's chest until he started breathing again, he booted him as quickly as possible…
Breakfast of Champions
Next, Matuszak was picked up by the Washington Redskins. Matuszak apparently hadn't learned his lesson about drugs and alcohol because he was dropped from that team as well when coach George Allen expressed concerns over is diet of "Vodka and Valium, the breakfast of champions."
Team of Misfits
Finally, Matuszak ended up playing for the Oakland Raiders under the famous coach John Madden. The joke at the time was that "you didn't have to be a convicted felon to play for the Raiders, but it helped." Maybe because Matuszak fit in with this team full of screw-ups and misfits, he finally buckled down and began to perform up to his potential…
Finding Success
With the Raiders, Matuszak played a key role in securing a couple of Super Bowl wins in 1977 and 1981. But just because he was performing well on the field, it didn't mean that he'd given up shenanigans all together.
Wild Man
Matuszak was notorious for sneaking women into his room at training camp and even somehow onto the team plane. On a particularly rowdy night, he was arrested for driving drunk and firing a gun at street signs. When his roommate came to pick him up from jail, he was wearing handcuffs, his Super Bowl Ring, a pair of powder blue cowboy boots and not a single shred of fabric…
Another Side
But there was more to Matuszak than just a boisterous wild man. He regularly visited his sister in the hospital where she would receive treatment for her cystic fibrosis. He coached football at a Christian summer camp and spent the evenings reading Bible verses with them. He even liked to dress up as Santa Claus and entertain children around Christmas time.
Lingering Pain
Still, what people mostly paid attention to were his wild antics and his being a maniac on the football field. After he retired, most of the wild antics came to an end. But because of the many injuries he'd sustained during his career, his heavy use of painkillers continued…
A New Path
Once he retired, Matuszak tried to start a new chapter of his life, this time as an actor. Without any training in acting, you'd probably expect him to be a bit of a novelty in one or two bad productions before people realized he had no talent. Surprisingly he turned out to be a pretty good actor.
Cult Classics
Of course, he played Sloth in the Goonies, but Matuszak was also involved in a number of other acclaimed films. He starred in North Dallas Forty, which is regarded by many as one of the best football movies ever made. He also appeared in a number of cult classics including Caveman, One Crazy Summer, Ice Pirates, and as mentioned, The Goonies…
Gentle Giant
One thing most of the actors who worked with Matuszak had to say about him was that he was a genuine pleasure to work with. In fact, the director of The Goonies Richard Donner said one of the hardest parts of making the movie was getting the child actors to not play around too much with their "gentle giant" co-star. They loved playing with Matuszak so much that they would sometimes mess up his makeup, which took hours to re-apply.
Still Struggling
But even with the success Matuszak found in this new chapter of his life, some aspects of his troubled past remained. He was still struggling with the drug habit he'd picked up early in life and from time to time was involved in wild, violent incidents reminiscent of his time on the football field…
Man of Violence
One such incident happened when he got into a fender bender in 1987. Matuszak got into an argument with the driver of the other car, then knocked him out cold before fleeing the scene. At the time, Manuszak had just appeared on an episode of Miami Vice and was filming an action movie called One Man Force.
Backsliding
You could argue that portraying an emotionally complex killer biker gang member on Miami Vice and a cop who goes on a vengeful murderous spree in One Man Force somehow resulted in Matuszak backsliding into some of his old, reckless ways, even when he was finally being recognized as a talented, sensitive man…
Just Say No
Nevertheless, it seemed as if Matuszak was finally getting his life under control. He even seemed to have kicked his drug habit, according to his 1987 autobiography Cruisin' With the Tooz. In it he writes: "I abstain from cocaine, and any other foreign substance, entirely now. I take nothing, not even sleeping pills."
Redemption
"I've hit damn near bottom. I don't ever want to go back," he added. It sounded like Matuszak had finally gotten the stability in his life and the redemption he needed. Unfortunately, the story didn't end there…
Rock Bottom
In June of 1989, it appeared that John Matuszak did "go back." He died as a result of "acute propoxyphene intoxication," a painkiller known by the trade name of Darvon, at the untimely age of 38. There was also cocaine in his system but the amount was so small it was "not considered to have contributed to his death."
Larger Than Life
One other complication that was a factor in his death was that he had an enlarged heart, too big even for his massive frame. Just as in life, Matuszak was defined by potential only barely realized, his struggle with addiction and, something you couldn't see at first glance: a big heart.