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Robin Christensen-Roussimoff
ROCK 'N' WRESTLING:
The Goonies 'R' Good Enough
By Robin Christensen-Roussimoff as told to Curtis Newart
On the set of The Goonies 'R' Good Enough music video by Cyndi Lauper. Pictured: Cyndi Lauper and André the Giant (center).
I was six years old and living in Washington state with my mother when The Goonies came out. Even though I'd been to a few wrestling shows at that young age, it was only when I saw my father in the music video for "The Goonies 'R' Good Enough" on MTV that I realized he was famous.
When I saw Cyndi Lauper dressed in her bright clothes with her wild hair it piqued my interest in her. My inner fashion-plate was about to emerge and I knew it.
It wasn't until years later that I met some of the others involved with the movie and music videos. I remember thinking that "Rowdy" Roddy Piper really wasn't such a bad guy outside of the ring. He was always kind to my mother Jean and I. Of course, I can't go into the details due to the code of silence around specifics that wrestlers, and those who are allowed inside, are expected to follow.
What I can say though is that after my father passed, and since I hadn't spent much time with him growing up, I did make an effort to ask some of his old wrestling alumni to tell me what they remembered about working with him.
On more than one occasion, I actually had to present my birth certificate to be believed that I, in fact, a small-town girl who lived relatively secluded from the squared circle, was the daughter of the Eighth Wonder of the World, André the Giant.
When I laughed to myself afterward, I always thought: Of all the people in the world whose daughter I could pretend to be, why would I choose him?
I met Sean Astin, who played Mikey in The Goonies, at an Emerald City Comicon in Seattle in 2015 or 2016. He signed my 20th Anniversary poster. While we were talking, Astin noticed my Morticia Addams tattoo, and commented that I looked a little like Carolyn Jones, the actress who portrayed her in the 60s TV series. This was a bit of a six degrees of separation moment, since his father, John Astin, played Morticia's husband Gomez on the series.
Given that my father was in the music video for "The Goonies 'R' Good Enough", it may seem odd that it isn't my favorite song by Lauper. As a matter of fact, my favorite is "I Drove All Night" because the longing she put in her voice is almost palpable.
The Goonies music video will always hold fond memories though, because of the way I felt when I first saw it. The realization that the man I knew as "Dad" was on a video on MTV.
And because my dad saved the day.
Robin Christensen-Roussimoff is the daughter of the late, great wrestling legend André the Giant
