Marine Corps Veteran, and Rocky Star Burt Young Dies at 83

You may not recognize the name, but you'll definitely recognize the face. Let's be honest: a Burt Young movie marathon is a day well spent. He appeared in more than 160 roles in 50 years in Hollywood, acting alongside the silver screen's most recognizable names: Jack Nicholson, Robert De Niro, and, of course, Sylvester Stallone. 

His credits include "Chinatown," "The Killer Elite" and "Once Upon a Time in America," along with his turn as Paulie in the 1976 film "Rocky." He continued in the role through all of the "Rocky" sequels, but it was his performance in the first film that earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. 

Unlike many other famous faces in Hollywood, Burt Young (born Gerald Tommaso DeLouise in 1940) never thought about being an actor at a young age. He (and his father) always referred to himself as a king of hoodlum. His parents tried to keep their son from growing up on the streets of Queens, New York, by sending him to an exclusive high school and a private boarding school. But it was no use. He was kicked out of both. 

At age 16, his father marched him down the Marine Corps recruiter's office, where they both lied about his age to enlist. Young joined the Corps and served between 1957 and 1959. While he was in, he discovered boxing and began training and fighting his fellow Marines. It turned out he was a pretty tough boxer In the Corps; his record was 32-2.

After leaving the service, he began boxing professionally, training with Charley Goldman, a boxing legend who also trained the heavyweight champion Rocky Marciano. His manager was Cus D'Amato, whose clients included Floyd Patterson and Mike Tyson. That kind of training and support will take you as far as your natural talent will take you, and it was the same for Burt Young. After 17 wins and zero losses, he decided it was time for something else. 

It wasn't long before the young man was running a carpet business with a few employees. It was an okay living, but he was hardly excited about his life. He started trying to get with a waitress at a local bar when he asked her if she ever thought about being an actress. She lit up, telling Young she wanted to learn from legendary acting teacher Lee Strasberg. 

Young didn't even know who that was, but he was determined to find out and help her get into his class. He wrote a letter to Strasberg and asked to meet with him. When the two men met, the teacher was more interested in Burt Young than his girlfriend. He asked Young to work with him, and Young agreed. 

By 1971, Young was appearing on the big screen next to George Segal and Robert De Niro in "Born to Win." The next year, he was in "Across 110th Street" with Anthony Quinn. "Chinatown" was released in 1974, and the year after that, he appeared in "The Killer Elite." His performance alongside James Caan and Robert Duvall impressed a young writer and actor who was casting a picture about a hard-luck boxer, Sylvester Stallone. 

Stallone asked Young to play the role of "Paulie" in his movie "Rocky." Young loved the script and agreed immediately, calling it "a masterpiece of simplicity." He was the highest-paid actor in the first movie and would reprise his role in six sequels. Young would also appear in a number of television shows, including "M*A*S*H," "The Rockford Files" and "Miami Vice." 

He died at his home in Los Angeles on Oct. 8, 2023. He was 83.