Hulk Hogan Movie And TV Roles We Can Never Forget

It may be easy for younger generations to forget, but there was a time when Terry Bollea absolutely ruled pop culture. If you don't recognize that name, it's because he was better known as Hulk Hogan, the biggest wrestling star in the world and a man whose fame was so great that it bled beyond the ring. His popularity gave rise to "Hulkmania," and he even defeated Marvel Comics in a legal battle over his name. Standing at the top of the pro wrestling world and looking for other lands to conquer, he set his sights on Hollywood, where muscled heroes like Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger ruled the box office.

Admittedly, most of the Hulkster's movies were downright awful, but that doesn't mean they were forgettable. Quite the opposite, in fact, as many of Hogan's roles became cult favorites. Famous — or perhaps infamous — for his over-the-top nature, Hogan eventually embraced the absurdity of his persona. There are a number of unforgettable parts on his Hollywood résumé; with his passing, it's time we shine a light on them.

Hulk Hogan's marriage to his wife, Linda, was a tumultuous one, and it took center stage in their reality show, "Hogan Knows Best." That series ended after four seasons, and within two years, the couple — who had married in 1983 — were divorced. Much less known about Hogan, though, is that Linda wasn't his only wife in the '80s; he was also married to country superstar Dolly Parton ... on television, that is.

The nuptials occurred in an episode of Parton's short-lived variety show "Dolly." In the premiere episode, Parton comments on an article in a gossip magazine that predicts she'll fall in love with a 300-pound wrestler. Not one to ignore an opportunity for a gag, Parton created a music video for a new song titled "Headlock on My Heart," which chronicled her whirlwind love affair with a professional wrestler named Starlight Starbright, played by Hulk Hogan.

Full of glorious wrestling puns, the song and its accompanying music video are an absolute delight. Even after 40 years, the song remains catchy, and that's saying something considering it aired only once, though it can thankfully be found on YouTube.

His final live-action movie, the 2009 kids' movie "Little Hercules," isn't a Hulk Hogan film, even if he does have the best part in it. The project is largely based around child celebrity Richard Sandrak, a young bodybuilder who'd gained notoriety for his buff physique as a small child. He'd already been dubbed Little Hercules, and the film was an attempt to make his own leap into the movies just like Hogan had decades earlier. Sandrak plays the titular Hercules, a young boy who wants to live on Earth.

A fairly standard fish-out-of-water story, the film doesn't offer much in terms of excitement, and the low budget keeps it from being the fantasy adventure it could have been. Nevertheless, Hulk Hogan is the real reason to watch, as he plays Hercules' father, Zeus, who is generally unhappy with his son's rebellious antics. The visual of the former WWE superstar awkwardly wielding lightning powers is a genuine treat, even if the movie is among his worst. Sadly, the later revelation that Sandrak was being taken advantage of at a young age and forced into a life of celebrity against his own wishes does make it a tough watch these days.

Following the success of "Baywatch," the series' creators figured that Hulk Hogan was the perfect man to lead another show about a buff hero working at the beach. The result was "Thunder in Paradise," which cast Hogan as a former Navy SEAL and mercenary who teams up with an old friend as gung-ho crusaders battling the forces of evil from their base on the Florida coast.

Hogan is Hurricane Spencer, while Chris Lemmon plays his partner, Martin Brubaker. They have a super-powered boat, nicknamed "Thunder," with a robotic voice and personality — more or less an aquatic version of KITT from "Knight Rider." The pair live and work out of a tropical resort, which means a bevy of buxom babes are always around for them (and the audience) to leer at, making it clear exactly who this show was for.

It's all incredibly cheesy, but that was the point. And while it was canceled after just one season, the role of Hurricane Spencer might be one of Hogan's better characters. He's a straightforward hero aiming to save the day, and he pulls it off at least as well as David Hasselhoff.

Though Hulk Hogan failed to find success with "Thunder in Paradise," he hit the TV circuit again some years later with a guest-starring role in an episode of "Walker: Texas Ranger." The series was one of the '90s most memorable adventure shows, and its star, Chuck Norris, was among the most famous action heroes of the day. So putting him and Hogan together was a recipe for success.

The episode is "Division Street," which aired during the show's ninth season. In it, Hogan guest stars as Boomer Knight, an ex-con who was locked up by Walker and is now looking to put his past behind him. With a lot to make up for, Knight decides the best way to make amends for his previous life as a racist criminal is to open a Christian youth center in the hopes that he can help guide youngsters away from a life of violence. It's not the deepest plot, and there's plenty of stereotyping, but the show has its heart in the right place, and the Hulkster gives a surprisingly heartfelt performance as a man just trying to put good out into the world.

If there's any movie or TV role that would be part of Hulk Hogan's obituary, it would have to be Thunderlips, the mighty macho man who goes up against Rocky Balboa in a wrestling match at the beginning of "Rocky III." It's an iconic moment not just because it features Hogan — who, at the time, was at the height of his wrestling fame — but because of its importance to the movie's story.

In the film, Balboa has been riding a wave of unparalleled success, and the celebrity has not just gotten to his head, it's made him soft. Instead of fighting tough opponents in the boxing ring, he's performing for crowds in charity matches and facing off against foes like Thunderlips for the theatrics. Perhaps appropriately, though, Hogan proved himself a bit too much on set, even leaving Stallone himself injured.

Of course, Hogan is basically playing himself, or rather his wrestling persona, trash-talking and sneering at the boxing legend in between classic wrestling moves. The only downside was that the film damaged Hogan's relationship with the WWF, as they believed the movie would distract him from his wrestling career.

The early '90s saw the release of a flurry of comedic action movies designed for the whole family, but few of them caught on enough to become classics. "Secret Agent Club" was one of the latter, but it's been forgotten for a reason, because like most Hulk Hogan flicks, it's pretty bad. But again, like most Hulk Hogan flicks, the WWF icon is still a reason to watch, even if it's just because there's nothing else on.

Sort of like "True Lies" for kids, "Secret Agent Club" casts Hogan as a family man hiding a secret double life. His name is Ray Chase, and he has two very different identities; by day, he's a mild-mannered dad, and by night, he's a super spy battling the world's most diabolical supervillains — and his family has no idea. Throw in a stolen laser gun, and you've got the makings of a cheesy Saturday afternoon matinee.

Though the movie isn't good, Hogan does a decent job of portraying two very different characters who are secretly the same person. Admittedly, he does a better job as the tough-guy super-spy, as Hogan really isn't well-suited to playing anyone remotely mild-mannered.

Following his falling out with WWF brass over his role in "Rocky III," Hulk Hogan opted to stay away from Hollywood. That all changed in 1989, though, when the pro wrestling league teamed up with Hogan to produce "No Holds Barred," an action movie that they hoped would elevate the sport in the public discourse. The result is a bloody, brutal foray into the world of pro wrestling, with Hogan playing a fictional character named Rip Thomas.

As with his appearance on "Dolly" and in "Rocky III," Hogan plays his character just like he does his real-life in-ring persona. The action follows Rip in and out of the ring amid his bitter feud with a rival wrestler named Zeus, played by Tiny Lister. While the critics bashed the film both for its tired tropes and for being woefully racist and misogynistic, Hogan fans couldn't have asked for anything more. His bombastic personality is on full display, with Rip even sporting a Hulkster-like headband with his character's catchphrase on it.

Sure, the movie won't win awards. But that's not what you're looking for in a Hulk Hogan movie, is it?

You might expect "Suburban Commando" to revolve around a former soldier trying to live a quiet life in a New Jersey neighborhood, but the premise of the film is even weirder. In one of the most bizarre sci-fi movies starring a pro-wrestler, Hogan plays a cosmic warrior from outer space who finds himself accidentally exiled to Earth.

His name is Shep Ramsay, and he's just screwed up his latest assignment to capture a space tyrant. Forced to take a vacation (yes, even mighty space warriors need a mental health break now and then), Ramsay mistakenly destroys the controls of his ship in a fit of rage and winds up crashing on Earth, which probably wasn't the vacation he had in mind.

Presenting a kinder, gentler Hulk Hogan after the nonstop bloodbath of "No Holds Barred," "Suburban Commando" was perhaps a bit of an overcorrection and winds up being a little too goofy. It doesn't matter much to Hogan fans, though, as it's become a bona fide cult favorite thanks to his oddball role that leans with gusto into the lunacy of his persona.

The rare Hulk Hogan character who doesn't sport the wrestler's iconic mustache, Mike McBride is the hero of the "Shadow Warriors" film series, which boasts two bombastic installments: "Shadow Warriors: Assault on Devil's Island" and its sequel, "Shadow Warriors 2: Assault on Death Mountain." Despite titles that feel like they should be the names of fictional movies in a Quentin Tarantino film, these are — believe it or not — legitimate, earnestly made action movies.

A clear attempt to give Hogan his own iconic gun-toting character and turn him into the next Sly Stallone-styled action hero, McBride has guns bigger than his 24-inch pythons and a steely-eyed gaze that would give John Rambo a run for his money. He even gets Carl Weathers as a sidekick, with former Playboy Playmate Shannon Tweed right beside them — so you can probably tell exactly what kind of movies these are.

Definitely not Hogan's worst role or his worst films, the "Shadow Warriors" films are pretty average '80s direct-to-video action fare. If you're looking for a hero firing off countless rounds of ammo on their mission to take down a diabolical terrorist — and you want to see the Hulkster doing it — McBride is the man for the job.

Hulk Hogan's best parts tended to involve him playing an exaggerated version of himself in a supporting role. The best example is his role as Thunderlips in "Rocky III," when he joined a bigger franchise in a minor role, but the same is true of his part as Dave Dragon in "3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain." Despite being a terrible movie, Hogan's presence makes the threequel a little more fun, even if it does have a 0% score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Dave Dragon is, like the Hulkster, more of a persona than a real person. A fictional character in the world of "3 Ninjas," he's the on-stage identity of the host of a children's TV show called "Dave Dragon and the Star Force 5." When the three young heroes of the film take a trip to Six Flags Amusement Park, they meet Dragon during a celebrity signing that goes disastrously wrong. This is due to a supervillain named Medusa, who attempts an armed takeover of Six Flags, leaving it up to the kids, teaming up with their TV hero Dave Dragon, of course, to stop her.

Hulk Hogan never had much success leading his own action movies, but he never let his failure get him down. He kept at it, and in 1998, he was back with "The Ultimate Weapon," playing "Hardball" Cutter, a former US Army Special Forces soldier who left the military to become a consultant for the NSA. The story is a mishmash of terrorist plots that feels like a few different movies rolled into one, but Hogan keeps it all (loosely) tied together.

Cutter is assigned to a mission in Serbia, aiding a group of U.N. peacekeepers sent in to topple a rebel faction. Once they achieve their objective, however, Cutter is betrayed by the leader of the U.N.'s Blue Beret force. He's revealed to be a diabolical terrorist who used the mission as a way of gaining access to military equipment, which he plans to funnel to the Irish Republican Army.

Like just about every movie in Hogan's filmography, "Ultimate Weapon" isn't good, but with a whole lot of action and plenty of Terry Bollea to enjoy, fans of Hulk Hogan will never forget it.

The early '90s saw some of Hollywood's biggest action stars venture into family comedy with films like Arnold Schwarzenegger in "Kindergarten Cop" and Sylvester Stallone in "Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot!" Well, Hulk Hogan, a man eager to be seen on the same level as those Hollywood giants, decided to do the same. The result was "Mr. Nanny," a film that sounds fake, but is actually real, and sees Hogan step into the unlikely role of babysitter.

Once again, Hogan plays a character much like himself — a pro wrestler named Sean Armstrong, who's left the ring to start a new career as a bodyguard. His latest assignment is working for a tech mogul who's developing a revolutionary new technology. However, Armstrong isn't hired as security for the mogul but for his two young children, Alex and Kate. Before long, he's swapped out a sidearm for a tutu and is doing dances and jigs to entertain the little ones, much to his everlasting shame.

Nobody is going to argue that "Mr. Nanny" is a great movie, but Sean Armstrong is one of Hogan's most unforgettable characters. At the very least, Hogan does as good a job as Arnie or Sly in going from action hero to playground avenger. If nothing else, the image of the Hulkster in a pink tutu will never leave the public consciousness.

Though "Mr. Nanny" wasn't a box office hit of any sort, it did demonstrate Hulk Hogan's ability to be silly, so he followed it up with another memorable role. This time, he played Santa Claus but with muscles in the appropriately titled "Santa with Muscles." If there was ever a movie where the title told you all you needed to know, this is it, because that's essentially all it is: a showcase for the brawny Hulk Hogan to play a Christmas hero.

A goofy family comedy, "Santa with Muscles" might legitimately be among Hogan's most memorable movies, with Santa as one of his most memorable roles. His real name in the film is Blake Thorn, an unscrupulous sort who's on the run from police and hides in costume as a mall Santa. During the ensuing chase, Thorn gets bonked on the head, and, because it's a movie, that means he gets amnesia and quickly comes to believe that he's the real jolly ol' Saint Nick. A variety of hijinks occur, and in the end, everyone but the film's villain, Ebner Frost (Ed Begley Jr.), lives happily ever after.

We can talk all day about Hogan's most famous roles and how the better ones are usually when he's playing an exaggerated version of himself, from Thunderlips to Rip Thomas. But the reality is, his most unforgettable character is Hulk Hogan. Because of this, he has a whole slew of TV and movie appearances where he cameoed as himself, with his first coming in a 1985 episode of the soap opera "Search for Tomorrow."

Since it's the role he was born to play, Hulk Hogan playing Hulk Hogan is always a treat. It doesn't matter if it's a walk-on part, like in "The Muppets in Space," or a full-on guest appearance where he plays a bigger role in the story, such as his 2-episode stint on "The A-Team," where he helps Mr. T battle a notorious crime family. While most of his own films weren't hits, Hogan managed to rack up appearances in some of the most popular shows and movie franchises, from the aforementioned Muppets to parts in "Gremlins 2" (one of the weirdest horror movie cameos ever) and TV shows like "Baywatch" and "American Dad."

Hogan's final role as himself was in an episode of "The Goldbergs," which, set in the 1980s, allowed him to play himself in the prime of his career when the kids go to WrestleMania.