Lister was born in Compton, California, on June 24, 1958. Lister was born blind in his right eye due to a detached and deformed retina. He avoided the local gang life in Compton by developing an interest in films and religion instead.

Lister appeared in the 1989 wrestling movie No Holds Barred, which was financed by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and starred Hulk Hogan. Lister’s role was Zeus, a brutal monster heel.

After the Survivor Series, the feud between Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake versus Randy Savage and Zeus ended with a steel cage match on December 27, 1989 at the No Holds Barred pay-per-view event. Hogan and Beefcake were once again victorious in what would be Zeus’s last match in the WWF. Lister’s final WWF appearance was a promotional spot for the 1990 Royal Rumble.

Lister also spent a short time in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as Z-Gangsta, as part of The Alliance to End Hulkamania in March 1996, culminating at Uncensored. He debuted the previous week with fellow actor/wrestler Robert Swenson, who was billed as The Ultimate Solution.

Lister is an evangelical born-again Christian. In 1999, he and Darryl Strawberry appeared on evangelist Benny Hinn’s TV program on the Trinity Broadcasting Network, in which they gave their testimonials. Afterward, Hinn laid hands on Lister and prophesied over him, “God is calling you to reach out to young people and will bless your acting career to do it.” Lister has continued to make appearances on faith-based networks and speaks to urban youth and at church functions across the country. He became a member of a Christian church named The Light of the World (LLDM).

Lister was the main police officer in Chamillionaire’s “Ridin'” video, and reprised his role as a police officer in Chamillionaire’s 2012 single Show Love. He has also appeared in the Ice Cube videos for “Friday” (from the Friday soundtrack) and “You Can Do It” (from the Next Friday soundtrack). Lister appeared via both original footage and film clips from the movie. He was also in the videos for Young Bleed’s “How You Do Dat”; French Montana’s “I Told ‘Em” and 50 Cent’s “Many Men (Wish Death)”. Lister also portrayed Sancho in the Sublime music video “Santeria”.

On August 31, 2012, Lister agreed to plead guilty to conspiring to commit mortgage fraud, in a scheme that led to $3.8 million in losses. He was charged with fraudulently buying homes in order to withdraw $1.1 million in home equity loans. As of April 2014, he was out on bail and confident of avoiding prison. He stated, “What’s so cool about God and our government is that you can make a mistake and they will forgive you if you are just a good person and doing right.”

In the Quentin Tarantino film Jackie Brown, he played bail agent Winston, who “finds people who don’t want to be found”. In 2015, Lister filmed Busy Day in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The film was produced by Tamás Nádas. Lister had a supporting role in the 2016 Disney animated movie Zootopia as the voice of the diminutive fennec fox, Finnick. He also appeared in a commercial that year for Ball Park-brand beef jerky, advertised as “tough, but tender.”