Tim Rossovich, Pro Football Star & ‘Looker’ Actor, Dies @ 72

Tim Rossovich — dubbed the first football star of the Aquarius Generation — died December 6 in Sacramento, THR reports. He was 72.

Rick Rossovich: March 14, 1946-December 6, 2018 (Image via Warner Bros.)

He had reportedly suffered from a long illness of an undisclosed nature.

The strapping (6'4", 245 lbs.) jock was a roommate of look-alike actor Tom Selleck's (b. 1945) in college, where he was an All-American football star at USC (1965-1968). He went on to paly with the Eagles for four seasons, including in the 1969 Pro Bowl. He also played for the Chargers, the Philadelphia Bell and the Oilers, retiring from the sport in 1976.

Rossovich was a different kind of football hero, one who identified as a hippie, was proud to have shaggy hair and a mustache, and who was known for sometimes outrageous behavior — driving a motorbike off a pier, eating lit cigarettes for a reaction, lighting himself on fire for a photo shoot.

The brother of actor Rick Rossovich (b. 1957), he, too, tried his hand at acting, racking up 50 credits that included appearances on episodic TV (with three visits to his old roommate's Magnum, P.I. from 1986-1988) and some movie roles, including The Main Event (1979) and Night Shift (1982).

Perhaps his most prominent role in films was as the evil "Mustache Man" in 1981's visionary sci-fi thriller Looker, in which he wielded a mysterious gun whose powerful flash hypnotized people, causing them to freeze for long periods of time. The cult classic was written and directed by the late Michael Crichton (1942-2008).

Rossovich is survived by his wife, Lauren, his daughter Jaime, his father Frank, his brother Rick and two sisters.

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