Burt Young, Sylvester Stallone's Rocky co-star, dies at 83

Oct 19, 2023 08:20 AM IST

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Actor Burt Young was best known for his iconic character Paulie from Rocky films. He was Rocky Balboa's friend and brother-in-law.

Actor Burt Young, who is best known for playing Paulie in six of Sylvester Stallone's Rocky films, died recently in Los Angeles. His death was confirmed by his daughter Anne Morea Steingieser to the New York Times. Burt was 83. Also read: Sylvester Stallone vents against 'pathetic' producer and 'his selfish useless children' over new Rocky spin-off Drago

Burt Young

Born and raised in New York's Queens, Burt was in the Marine Corps and later tried his hands on boxing before he entered the film industry. He appeared in Italian-American characters, often as a mob boss, a street-smart detective or a working-class man. He is best remains the iconic role of Rocky Balboa's friend and brother-in-law Paulie in Rocky in 1976. He even bagged an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his performance.

Burt Young's films

Burt was one of the only four actors, after Sylvester Stallone, Stu Nahan and Tony Burton (except Talia Shire), who starred in all six of the films from the Rocky franchise. Sadly for the fans, Burt did not return in Creed of 2015 as his character was described as dead (in 2012).

Besides Rocky, Burt Young also appeared in more than 160 film and television shows. He was seen in films like Chinatown (1974), The Gambler (1974), The Killer Elite (1975), Convoy (1978), Uncle Joe Shannon (1978), Once Upon a Time in America (1984), The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984), A Summer to Remember (1985), Back to School (1986), Last Exit to Brooklyn (1990), Mickey Blue Eyes (1999), Transamerica (2005), Win Win (2011), and Bottom of the 9th (2019). He was also a part of the documentary, Stallone: Frank, That Is.

He appeared on television for The Rockford Files, Baretta, Law & Order, Walker, Texas Ranger, All In The Family, M*A*S*H, Miami Vice, Roomies and many more.