George Steele William James Myers ( April 16 , 1937 – February 17 , 2017 ) , better known by his ring name George " The Animal " Steele was an American professional wrestler and actor . Steele ' s career lasted from 1967 until 1989 , though he made occasional wrestling appearances into the 1990 s and 2000 s . He also portrayed Swedish wrestler / actor Tor Johnson in " Ed Wood " , directed by Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp . Early life . Myers was raised in Madison Heights , Michigan . During high school , he found success in track running , baseball , basketball and football . In 1956 , Myers entered Michigan State University as a football player for the Michigan State Spartans , but his career as a football player was immediately cut short as a result of knee problems . After gaining a bachelor of science degree from Michigan State University and a master ' s degree from Central Michigan University , Myers became a teacher , amateur wrestling coach , and football coach at Madison High School in Madison Heights , Michigan . There he would eventually become a member of the Michigan Coaches Hall of Fame . Professional wrestling career . Looking to supplement his income , he got into the world of Detroit - area professional wrestling , but in order to protect his privacy , he wrestled using a mask and the name The Student . Scouted by World Wide Wrestling Federation champion Bruno Sammartino , he began working in Pittsburgh in 1967 on the popular Studio Wrestling TV show broadcast on WIIC - TV ( later WPXI - TV ) Channel 11 . There he dropped the mask , but still looking to hide his real name , adopted the name " George Steele " . Some say the name was taken from Michigan High School Hall of Fame Coach George Steele of Warren , against whom Myers coached . Steele states in an interview available on YouTube that he was in Pittsburgh when he was looking for a stage name . Someone suggested Jim Steele since he was in the " Steel City " . He didn ' t like the first name Jim and he suggested George which is what he eventually went with . Working well with Sammartino , he was invited for a full run in the WWF . He told WWF TV commentator Ray Morgan that he was the nephew of Ray Steele ( kayfabe ) and had an extensive amateur background . He sold the story by using an array of armlocks on opponents , weakening them for his finisher , the Flying Hammerlock ( Steele would lift his opponents off the mat by a hammerlocked arm ) . He also revealed his teaching background to interviewers that made his in - ring Neanderthal image all the more incongruous . He wrestled Sammartino to an hour - long draw at Madison Square Garden but lost the rematch . In Boston , being set up to face Sammartino for a long series in that city , he got one of the few clean wins over Victor Rivera , a top babyface , with the flying hammerlock submission , at a huge Fenway Park outdoor show . He was then relegated to a feud with Chief Jay Strongbow , and lost to Edouard Carpentier at the Garden before taking a brief hiatus to reinvent his wildman character . Now his gimmick was fully established . A true crazy heel , he acted like a wild man in the ring , tearing up the turnbuckle with his teeth and using the stuffing as a weapon as well as sticking out his green tongue ( an effect accomplished by eating green Clorets breath mints ) . The Animal had a stooped posture and a hairless head , but a thick mat of fur on his back ; wrestling broadcasters often speculated that The Animal was indeed " the missing link . " At best , The Animal could occasionally manage to utter a word or two during interviews with one of them usually being " Duh - da - dahh " or " YOU ! YOU go ! " . As Steele recalled in a later shoot interview , his infamous " Duh - dahh " interview style happened by accident . Throughout his career , Steele prided himself on being able to cut eloquent and effective promos , and ranked his mic skills with the best in the business . At a WWF TV taping in the early 1980s , he was cutting one of these promos when Vince McMahon cut him off , and reminded Steele that his gimmick was the " Animal " , and for an animal he was " making too much sense " . Incensed , Steele did a second take of nothing but garbled and incoherent syllables ( " Duhh - dahh " ) . Steele did this deliberately , and out of pure frustration , thinking that McMahon would acquiesce and allow Steele to cut his normal , eloquent promos . Much to Steele ' s shock , McMahon replied , " That ' s exactly what I want ! " , and this would remain Steele ' s interview style for the rest of his WWF run . Steele started to fully cultivate his gimmick of a menacing imbecile . Steele eventually became one of the more beloved wrestlers of the early " WrestleMania " era of the mid - 1980s . He turned face during " Saturday Night ' s Main Event " when his partners in a six - man match , Nikolai Volkoff and the Iron Sheik , abandoned him to their opponents , Ricky Steamboat and the U . S . Express ( Barry Windham and Mike Rotunda ) , leading to Steele being taken under the wing of the Express ' manager , Capt . Lou Albano . His most famous feud was in 1986 against " Macho Man " Randy Savage , after Steele developed a crush on Savage ' s valet , Miss Elizabeth . The feud was meant to last only a couple of months ( and end with Steele being disappointed ) , but it proved so popular with fans that it continued well into 1987 . In 1988 , Steele began carrying a stuffed animal named " Mine " to the ring , He participated in the Wrestlemania IV Battle Royal , but was outside the ring the whole time . Late in 1988 Steele retired due to Crohn ' s disease . Though he left the WWF without any WWF championships behind him , he left a fan favorite . A decade later , Steele came out of his retirement briefly . In 1998 , during the WWF ' s " Attitude Era " , George Steele returned as part of The Oddities . Then on January 10 , 2000 , George Steele appeared on an episode of " WCW Monday Nitro " as one of three legends Jeff Jarrett had to face that night . Eight years later , Steele made an appearance at TNA Slammiversary as a groomsman in the wedding for " Black Machismo " Jay Lethal and So Cal Val , along with Koko B . Ware , Kamala , and Jake " The Snake " Roberts . Steele has made several appearances for Tony Vellano ' s Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in Amsterdam , NY . At its first event in 2003 , Steele was interviewed by journalist " Handsome " Randall Burton for the Rochester , NY television show " Wrestlevision . " Steele became frustrated while a nervous Burton stammered through several odd questions during this controversial interview . Rather than answering questions , Steele became agitated and abruptly walked away from the interviewers . The clip circulated on YouTube , as many have questioned whether Steele ' s frustration was legit or if he was in kayfabe mode . Opponents have cited that it would make little sense for Steele to kayfabe the interview as a heel , as he had been a fan favorite throughout the majority of his career . George Steele appeared on " Monday Night Raw " on November 15 , 2010 . He made a guest appearance during the Kofi Kingston vs . David Otunga match . Books . Animal Triumph Books Personal life . Myers has dyslexia and was also diagnosed with Crohn ' s Disease in 1988 , an inflammatory bowel disease which currently has no cure but can be brought into remission . In 1998 , doctors told Myers that his Crohn ' s Disease had gone into remission and that he no longer suffered from any of the disease ' s symptoms . In 2002 , to prevent the symptoms from returning , Myers had his colon removed . Myers is a religious man . He attends the First Baptist Church Merritt Island , and currently lives in Cocoa Beach , Florida with his wife Pat , whom he married before he entered Michigan State in 1956 . Together , Pat and Jim have two sons , Dennis and Randy , and a daughter , Felicia . Acting career . In 1994 , Steele made his professional acting debut as Swedish wrestler - turned - actor Tor Johnson in Tim Burton ' s " Ed Wood " . The casting was particularly appropriate because for many years Steele was often mistaken for Johnson . He tells a story about a New York novelty store , which once sold the popular Tor Johnson mask as a George Steele mask to increase sales due to his popular run in wrestling at the time . Steele also did a Minolta Office Products commercial with actor Tony Randall . On February 17 , 2017 , Myers died in hospice care due to kidney failure . He was 79 years old . Other media . Steele appeared in the video game " WWE SmackDown ! Here Comes the Pain " as a legend character . A song about George " The Animal " Steele titled " George Steele " appears on the album " Charmed Life " by Half Japanese , a punk rock band formed by brothers Jad Fair and David Fair in their Uniontown , Maryland bedroom around 1975 . The lyrics contain the line " There ' s a man who I admire , a man who set his hair on fire . " Steele is referenced in the Seinfeld episode , The Bizarro Jerry . Repulsed by the " man hands " of his current girlfriend , Jerry complains , " I feel like I ' m dating George ' the Animal ' Steele . "