Current:Home > StocksBurt Young, best known as Rocky's handler in the "Rocky" movies, dead at 83 -SummitInvest
Burt Young, best known as Rocky's handler in the "Rocky" movies, dead at 83
View
Date:2025-04-17 14:17:15
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! (13264)
Related
- Spooky or not? Some Choa Chu Kang residents say community garden resembles cemetery
- Martin Luther King Jr’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech turns 60 as fresh civil rights battles emerge
- Nantucket billionaire sues clam shack 18 inches from residence
- Man who disappeared during the 2021 Texas freeze found buried in his backyard
- Charges tied to China weigh on GM in Q4, but profit and revenue top expectations
- These 12 Sites With Fast Shipping Are Perfect for Last-Minute Shopping
- Driver of minivan facing charge in Ohio school bus crash that killed 1 student, hurt 23
- 'Always fight': Sha'Carri Richardson is fiery, blunt and one of the best things in sports
- Could your smelly farts help science?
- Where is rent going up? New York may be obvious, but the Midwest and South are close behind
Ranking
- Newly elected West Virginia lawmaker arrested and accused of making terroristic threats
- Tensions high in San Francisco as city seeks reversal of ban on clearing homeless encampments
- New York golfer charged with animal cruelty after goose killed with golf club
- South Carolina’s new all-male highest court reverses course on abortion, upholding strict 6-week ban
- Person accused of accosting Rep. Nancy Mace at Capitol pleads not guilty to assault charge
- They fired on us like rain: Saudi border guards killed hundreds of Ethiopian migrants, Human Rights Watch says
- Sacheu Beauty Sale: Save Up to 30% On Gua Sha Tools, Serums & More
- Vermont prosecutor facing impeachment investigation for harassment allegations says he will resign
Recommendation
Most popular books of the week: See what topped USA TODAY's bestselling books list
How fed up farmers started the only government-run bank in the US
Cape Cod strands more dolphins than anywhere else. Now they’re getting their own hospital
60 years after ‘I have a dream,’ where do MLK’s hopes for Black homeownership stand?
San Francisco names street for Associated Press photographer who captured the iconic Iwo Jima photo
CBS News poll analysis: At the first Republican debate what policy goals do voters want to hear? Stopping abortions isn't a top one
The painful pandemic lessons Mandy Cohen carries to the CDC
Russia’s ‘General Armageddon’ reportedly dismissed after vanishing in wake of Wagner uprising