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Actor and pro-wrestler Howard "Pepper" Martin died at the age of 85. He passed away on March 18 following a long battle with cancer. He was surrounded by family when he died.

After some time with the Navy, which he joined by lying about his age when he was 16, Martin began a career as a wrestler and went on to win a number of titles, beginning with the Pacific Northwest heavyweight title, which he won five times between 1964 and 1966. Not too longer after, an injury pushed him to set his sights elsewhere, and Howard began a film career with Angels From Hell, directed by Bruce Kessler and went on  to appear in major titles including Superman II.

In the 1980 film, Martin played Rocky, a truck driver Clark Kent and Lois Lane encounter at a diner they stop at on the way back to Metropolis from the Fortress of Solitude. This came at a time when Superman had lost his powers. Howard shared a brief fight scene with actor Christopher Reeve. He defeats the depowered superhero and appears again later on after Clark regains his powers and evens the score. But Superman II was not the only comic book project Martin was involved in. The wrestler and actor also appeared in a number of television shows, including the 1978 series, The Incredible Hulk, in the episode "Killer Instinct."

Source: Slam Wrestling