Burt Young, actor who played Paulie Pennino in the Rocky films, dies at age 83
Famed actor Burt Young has passed away at 83.
Young received an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor in 1977 for his role as the friend and future brother-in-law of boxer Rocky, played by Sylvester Stallone.
Stallone posted a tribute this morning on social media stating, “To my Dear Friend, BURT YOUNG, you were an incredible man and artist, I and the World will miss you very much…RIP”
View this post on Instagram
Young was born as Gerald Tommaso DeLouise in Queens, New York. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in the 1950s after his father helped him lie about his age. Young went on to study acting and build a career playing tough guys in TV shows and films.
He began boxing in the Marines and continued once he left the service, briefly as a professional under the tutelage of famed trainer and manager Cus D’Amato.
Young appeared in the first Rocky film in 1976 as a friend of Stallone’s character, before becoming Rocky’s brother-in-law in Rocky II when the fighter married his sister.
Young’s role as Paulie helped take his career to the next level. He told “The Sweet Science” in 2009 that he was the only actor who didn’t have to audition.
“I was on the MGM lot when Sly Stallone came over and introduced himself to me, told me he wrote ‘Rocky’ and said ‘you gotta do it,’” Young recalled. “I wanted to do it right away, but wanted to twist their arms a little bit, not look too eager.”
“I thought the script had the cleanest street prose I’d ever read,” he added. “Stallone is not only a workaholic, he’s a genius who is always looking three years ahead. He has a real eyeball for what’s going on in the world.”
