An image of the professional wrestler Big Van Vader. Date 23 July 2012 (Wikipedia Commons. Author: Xander Hieken)
Veteran WWE star Leon White, whom many wrestling fans knew by the nickname Big Van Vader — or simply Vader — died of heart failure at age 63 on Monday.
His son Jesse White confirmed the news on Twitter on Wednesday. He added a photo of his father sitting beside a heavyweight wrestling champion belt.
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“It is with a heavy heart to inform everyone that my father, Leon White, passed away on Monday night (6/18/18) at approximately 7:25pm,” Jesse White wrote.
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In a subsequent tweet, Jesse White revealed the larger cause behind his father’s death: pneumonia.
According to ESPN, Vader had open-heart surgery in March.
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WWE tweeted its own condolences to Vader following the news.
White competed as a pro wrestler in the mid 1980s and then joined the WWE in 1996. He started his career in wrestling after an injury forced him to retire from the NFL, where he played as a center for the Los Angeles Rams for two seasons. White previously college football at Colorado. He went on to become a three-time World Championship Wrestling World Champion.
Vader also had cameos in several television shows and movies, among them Boy Meets World, on which he had a recurring guest role.
Here are other tributes to White:
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