GLOW Star Passes Away At 73

Deanna Booher, best known for her stint on GLOW as Matilda The Hun and Queen Kong, has passed away at 73, according to PWInsider. There is no known cause of death for Booher at this time.

Born on August 8, 1948  in Torrance, California, Deanna Booher competed in amateur wrestling in junior college before finding work doing wrestling fetish videos or working as a masseuse and phone sex operator. She eventually became a part of the pro wrestling world after going to Gene LeBell's gym to train in judo and meeting Olympic Auditorium booker Tom Renesto. Her initial wrestling experience involved wrestling a bear.

Deanna Booher would juggle pro wrestling and her regular jobs for a few years, turning down opportunities to tour with Fabulous Moolah's troupe and promoting mud wrestling shows under her Queen Kong name. She would eventually come across auditions for GLOW and following an interview with director Matt Cimber became part of the development of the show. Booher suggested creative ideas to differentiate GLOW from other promotions, and even wrote the show's theme song.

When Cimber and David McLane eventually turned GLOW into a reality, Deanna Booher was brought in a Maltida The Hun, a character who ate raw meat, scared kids who attended the shows, and became known for her Big Splash finisher. Booher would later say she was inspired to use the move from UK wrestler Big Daddy. She would serve as a top heel through all five of GLOW's seasons. In addition to GLOW, she also appeared for McLane's Powerful Women Of Wrestling.

Before and after GLOW and Powerful Women of Wrestling ended, Deanna Booher also pursued an acting career, appearing on TV shows such as Married...With Children and Night Court. Her most memorable role was in Mel Brooks' cult sci-fi comedy classic Spaceballs, where she made a quick appearance as The Bearded Lady.

Booher's life changed after being involved in a five-car accident which gave her whiplash and left her with bulging discs in her neck and back. Her feet would go numb in 2001, with no cause ever determined, and Booher was forced to live in an electric wheelchair for the rest of her life. Nevertheless, she remained active, starting the website QueenKong.com, appearing in the 2012 documentary GLOW: The Gorgeous Ladies Of Wrestling and self-publishing her autobiography Glamazon Queen Kong – My Life of Glitter, Guts & Glory in 2013.

Wrestling Inc. would like to offer its sincerest condolences to Deanna Booher, her friends, and her family at this difficult time.