Burt Young, the actor who played Sylvester Stallone’s foul-mouthed, mumbling best friend, cornerman and brother-in-law Paulie in the Rocky franchise, died Oct. 8 in Los Angeles. He was 83 years old. It was his daughter, Anne Morea Steingieser, who announced it to the New York Times on Wednesday October 18, without giving further details.
Burt Young has starred in hit films and television series including Chinatown, Once Upon a Time in America and The Sopranos. But he was best known for playing Paulie Pennino in six Rocky films. Short and bald, he always seemed to play a middle-aged man, regardless of his age. The first Rocky, released in 1976, became a phenomenon, topping the box office of the year and making a star of the lead actor, Sylvester Stallone, who paid tribute to his friend on Instagram on Wednesday evening. Showing a photo 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 ten Academy Awards, including Best Supporting Actor for Burt Young. It won three, including best film.
Born and raised in Queens, New York, Burt Young served in the Marines, was a professional boxer, and worked as a carpet layer before venturing into acting and studying with legendary teacher Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio. On stage, film and television, he generally played tough guys or down-on-his-luck working-class men. In a short but memorable scene from 1974’s Chinatown, he plays a fisherman who throws a tantrum when private detective Jake Gittes, played by Jack Nicholson, shows him photos proving his wife is cheating on him.
Painting, a lifelong quest
Burt Young also appeared in director Sergio Leone’s 1984 gangster epic Once Upon a Time in America, alongside Robert De Niro, as well as in the 1986 comedy Back to School, with Rodney Dangerfield, and in the gritty 1989 drama Last Exit to Brooklyn, starring Jennifer Jason Leigh.
In a notable appearance in the third season of The Sopranos, in 2001, he played Bobby Baccalieri Sr, an elderly mobster with lung cancer who pulls off one last hit before dying in a car accident due to a a coughing fit. He has starred in many other television series, including MASH, Miami Vice, and The Equalizer.
Later, he devoted himself particularly to theater, but also to painting, a lifelong quest. His works have been the subject of exhibitions and gallery sales. He lost his wife in 1974, with whom he had lived for thirteen years.