Director John Carpenter has paid tribute to “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, the wrestling legend and actor who died on Thursday night at the age of 61.
“I’m devastated by the passing of my friend Roddy Piper,” wrote the Halloween and Big Trouble in Little China filmmaker. “Great wrestler, underrated actor, dear friend. Rest in peace, Rod.”
Carpenter cast Piper in his 1988 sci-fi movie and political allegory They Live. Piper plays a construction worker who discovers that America is in fact ruled by aliens. After learning the truth, a shotgun-wielding Piper marches into a bank and announces what has over time become of the most famous and beloved lines in genre cinema: “I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass—and I’m all out of bubblegum.”
“What to say? Rest in Peace, Roddy,” Carpenter wrote in a subsequent tweet. “I’ll miss you, my friend.”
I’m devastated by the passing of my friend Roddy Piper. Great wrestler, underrated actor, dear friend. Rest in peace, Rod.
— John Carpenter (@TheHorrorMaster) July 31, 2015
What to say? Rest in Peace, Roddy. I’ll miss you, my friend.
— John Carpenter (@TheHorrorMaster) July 31, 2015
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•Wrestler ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper dies at 61
