(TheConservativeTimes.org) – Award nominee Burt Young, died on October 8, 2023, at 83 years old. He died in Los Angeles, California. There was no public announcement of the cause of his death.
Young was born on April 3, 1940, in Queens, New York. Born Gerald Tommaso DeLouise; he would later settle on and become known by his stage name Burt Young.
Before becoming an actor, when he was training to be a Marine, Young was introduced to boxing. Cus D’Amato, a boxing legend in his own right with a 17-1 winning streak, trained him. After D’Amato, Young was instructed by the well-known acting teacher Lee Strasberg. They met by coincidence when Young arranged a meeting between a woman and the teacher. For two years, Young was a pupil under Strasberg. The two became good friends.
Soon after, Young began to be involved in the acting world and was a part of over 160 movies and TV shows. Perhaps drawing on his Marine and professional boxing past, Young usually played the “tough guy” roles.
Young’s first acting role was the part of John Harris in the film Carnival of Blood. He vacillated between being peculiar and goofy to then becoming menacing. He would also induce the audience feel empathy for him. Some movies Young starred in include Cinderella Liberty, Chinatown, Back to School, The Pope of Greenwich Village, plus many more. He also played a role in the TV series M*A*S*H and The Sopranos.
The star was best known for his acting in the Rocky movies. He played a butcher named Paulie Pennino and was a friend to Rocky. During one of their discussions, Paulie encouraged Sylvester Stallone’s character Rocky to use hanging meat as punching bags instead of the usual boxing equipment. In the film, Paulie is also the brother of Rocky’s girlfriend, Adrian.
After his breakout role in the first film, Young co-starred in six total Rocky movies with Sylvester Stallone. After learning of Young’s death, Stallone eulogized him on his public social media account. Stallone wrote that Burt was a wonderful person and that he “and the world will miss [him] very much.”
Young was preceded in death by his wife Gloria. She died in the mid-70s.
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