Tommy Lister Had Recovered from COVID-19, But Feared He Would Test Positive Again Before His Death
Maria Pasquini
Sat, December 12, 2020, 12:45 PM PST
Actor
Tommy “Tiny” Lister tested positive for COVID-19 nearly four months before his death.
Lister, who died at the age of 62 on Thursday after having
exhibited "COVID symptoms" for a week, was diagnosed with the virus earlier this year, his manager Cindy Cowan tells PEOPLE.
asn’t feeling right,” Cowan says. “He said, ‘I feel like I’m getting COVID again.’ ”
After the weekend went by and Lister was still “having a hard time breathing,” his manager told him that he needed to get tested. “I actually think he was really afraid to get tested again,” she adds, noting that she planned on taking him to the doctor on Thursday, "and then obviously Thursday never happened.”
“It’s remarkable and truly heartbreaking," she says. "All of us are kicking ourselves that we didn’t force him [to get tested] earlier.”
Referencing an
interview Lister did just days before his death, Cowan notes that the actor was hopeful about
receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.
“He wanted to be one of the first ones to get the vaccine because he wanted to be able to get his life back to normal and be able to spend Christmas with his daughter. He was looking forward to that and he thought he’d be one of the first in line because he was in his 60s and had a pre-existing condition,” she says. “It’s so sad that he said that six days prior to passing.”
“He was an amazing man,” she adds. “He will definitely be missed.”
TMZ was first to report the news.
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Lister was found unresponsive at his apartment in California on Thursday and was pronounced dead at the scene,
TMZ previously reported.
The actor kicked off his film career in the 1980s, appearing in movies such as
Runaway Train and
Beverly Hills Cop II. He later broke out as a film actor, playing the part of Deebo in the 1995 film
Friday. He reprised the role for its 2000 sequel,
Next Friday.