Hulk Hogan, Wrestling Legend And Reality-TV Star, Dead At 71
Hulk Hogan has died at the age of 71, TVLine has confirmed.
According to TMZ, which first reported the news, the wrestling legend went into cardiac arrest at his home in Clearwater, Fla., Thursday morning.
Hogan, whose given name was Terry Gene Bollea, began his professional wrestling career in 1977. He gained worldwide recognition after he joined the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1983. He headlined eight of the first nine WrestleManias, and initially exited the WWF in 1993 to pursue a career in film and TV.
Shortly thereafter, the Hulkster headlined the short-lived series Thunder in Paradise, which ran for one season in first-run syndication and ended in 1994. That same year, he was lured back into the ring by World Championship Wrestling (WCW).
Two years after that, he saw a career resurgence with the formation of New World Order (NWO) and the adoption of a new, villainous persona: "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan.
Hogan returned to the WWF in 2002 — the same year it rebranded as the WWE. He was initially inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005, but was removed in 2015 after a recording of him emerged using a racist slur and his WWE contract was terminated. He was inducted a second time in 2020, now as a member of NWO.
In the mid-aughts, Hogan starred in the VH1 reality show Hogan Knows Best, opposite his wife, Linda, and their two children, Brooke and Nick. The series premiered in 2005 and ran for four seasons, ending in 2007. (A spinoff, Brooke Knows Best, ran for two seasons and ended in 2009.)
From 2011 to 2015, he voiced The Dean in the Adult Swim animated comedy China, IL.
Additional TV credits included episodes of The A-Team, American Dad!, Baywatch, The Goldbergs, The Inbetweeners, The Love Boat, Robot Chicken, Saturday Night Live (co-hosting a March 1985 episode opposite Mr. T), Search for Tomorrow, Suddenly Susan, and Walker, Texas Ranger.
Film credits included Mr. Nanny, Rocky III, Santa With Muscles, Spy Hard and Suburban Commando.