Current:Home > reviewsBurt Young, best known as Rocky's handler in the "Rocky" movies, dead at 83 -WealthFlow Academy
Burt Young, best known as Rocky's handler in the "Rocky" movies, dead at 83
View
Date:2025-04-17 20:04:58
Burt Young, the Oscar-nominated actor who played Paulie, the rough-hewn, mumbling-and-grumbling best friend, corner-man and brother-in-law of Sylvester Stallone in the "Rocky" franchise, has died.
Young died Oct. 8 in Los Angeles, his daughter, Anne Morea Steingieser, told The New York Times on Wednesday. No cause of death was given. He was 83.
Young had roles in acclaimed films and television shows including "Chinatown," "Once Upon a Time in America" and "The Sopranos."
But he was always best known for playing Paulie Pennino in six "Rocky" movies. The short, paunchy, balding Young was the sort of actor who always seemed to play middle-aged no matter his age.
Evolution of "Paulie"
When Paulie first appears in 1976's "Rocky," he's an angry, foul-mouthed meat packer who is abusive to his sister Adrian (Talia Shire), with whom he shares a small apartment in Philadelphia. He berates the shy, meek Adrian for refusing at first to go on a Thanksgiving-night date with his buddy and co-worker Rocky Balboa, and destroys a turkey she has in the oven.
The film became a phenomenon, topping the box office for the year and making a star of lead actor and writer Stallone, who paid tribute to Young on Instagram on Wednesday night.
Along with a photo of the two of them on the set of the first film, Stallone wrote "you were an incredible man and artist, I and the World will miss you very much."
"Rocky" was nominated for 10 Oscars, including best supporting actor for Young. It won three, including best picture. Young and co-star Burgess Meredith, who was also nominated, lost to Jason Robards in "All the President's Men."
As the movies went on, Young's Paulie softened, as the sequels themselves did, and he became their comic relief. In 1985's "Rocky IV," he reprograms a robot Rocky gives him into a sexy-voiced servant who dotes on him.
Paulie was also an eternal pessimist who was constantly convinced that Rocky was going to get clobbered by his increasingly daunting opponents. His surprise at Rocky's resilience brought big laughs.
"It was a great ride, and it brought me to the audience in a great way," Young said in a 2020 interview with Celebrity Parents magazine. "I made him a rough guy with a sensitivity. He's really a marshmallow even though he yells a lot."
Diverse career
Born and raised in Queens, New York, Young served in the Marine Corps, fought as a professional boxer and worked as a carpet layer before taking up acting, studying with legendary teacher Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio.
On stage, in films and on television, he typically played small-time tough guys or down-on-their luck working class men.
In a short-but-memorable scene in 1974's "Chinatown," he plays a fisherman who throws a fit when Jack Nicholson's private detective Jake Gittes shows him pictures proving his wife is cheating on him.
Young also appeared in director Sergio Leone's 1984 gangster epic "Once Upon a Time in America" with Robert De Niro, the 1986 comedy "Back to School" with Rodney Dangerfield, and the 1989 gritty drama "Last Exit to Brooklyn" with Jennifer Jason Leigh.
In a striking appearance in season three of "The Sopranos" in 2001, he plays Bobby Baccalieri Sr., an elderly mafioso with lung cancer who pulls off one last hit before a coughing fit leads to him dying in a car accident.
He guest-starred in many other TV series including "M*A*S*H," "Miami Vice" and "The Equalizer."
Later in life he focused on roles in theater and on painting, a lifelong pursuit that led to gallery shows and sales.
His wife of 13 years, Gloria, died in 1974.
Along with his daughter, Young is survived by one grandchild and a brother, Robert.
- In:
- Sylvester Stallone
veryGood! (8493)
Related
- The Louvre will be renovated and the 'Mona Lisa' will have her own room
- Man charged in 1977 strangulations of three Southern California women after DNA investigation
- Consumers—and the Environment—Are Going to Pay for Problems With the Nation’s Largest Grid Region
- Florida sheriff’s deputy rescues missing 5-year-old autistic boy from pond
- Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie return for an 'Encore,' reminisce about 'The Simple Life'
- Inter Miami vs. Toronto live updates: Leagues Cup tournament scores, highlights
- Iranian brothers charged in alleged smuggling operation that led to deaths of 2 Navy SEALs
- Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat abruptly retires after disqualification at Olympics
- A Mississippi company is sentenced for mislabeling cheap seafood as premium local fish
- Missouri voters pass constitutional amendment requiring increased Kansas City police funding
Ranking
- Trump wants to turn the clock on daylight saving time
- US government will loan $1.45 billion to help a South Korean firm build a solar plant in Georgia
- USA Olympic Diver Alison Gibson Reacts to Being Labeled Embarrassing Failure After Dive Earns 0.0 Score
- NYC driver charged with throwing a lit firework into a utility truck and injuring 2 workers
- North Carolina justices rule for restaurants in COVID
- Sighting of alligator swimming off shore of Lake Erie prompts Pennsylvania search
- Andrew Young returns to south Georgia city where he first became pastor for exhibit on his life
- Serbian athlete dies in Texas CrossFit competition, reports say
Recommendation
The city of Chicago is ordered to pay nearly $80M for a police chase that killed a 10
DNA on weapons implicates ex-U.S. Green Beret in attempted Venezuelan coup, federal officials say
Katie Ledecky, Nick Mead to lead US team at closing ceremony in Paris
Fire destroys landmark paper company factory in southwestern Ohio
Buckingham Palace staff under investigation for 'bar brawl'
2024 Olympics: Jordan Chiles Speaks Out About Winning Bronze Medal After Appeal
Paris Olympics live updates: Noah Lyles takes 200m bronze; USA men's hoops rally for win
2024 Olympics: Canadian Pole Vaulter Alysha Newman Twerks After Winning Medal