Burt Young, Oscar-Nominated ‘Rocky’ Actor, Dead at 83

Burt Young, a former boxer who played the role of Paulie in six Rocky films alongside Sylvester Stallone and received an Oscar nomination for supporting actor for his performance in the 1976 original, has died at the age of 83.

He died on Oct. 8 in Los Angeles, his daughter, Anne Morea Steingieser, confirmed to The New York Times on Wednesday. Stallone shared a tribute to Young on Instagram following news of his death, and wrote: “To my Dear Friend, BURT YOUNG, you were an incredible man’s and artist, I and the World will miss you very much.”

With a background as both a Marine and a professional boxer, Young brought depth to the characters he played. Playing Paulie Pennino — Rocky’s butcher friend and the brother of Adrian (Talia Shire), Rocky’s future wife — Young became a staple within the franchise. He reprised the role throughout the series from the first film to Rocky Balboa in 2006.

“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,’” he told the website The Sweet Science in 2009. “I wanted to do it right away, but I wanted to twist their arms a little bit, not look too eager.”

Burt Young, whose name he adopted as an actor (the Times notes sources differ on his name at birth), was born in Queens on April 30, 1940. His father was a sheet metal mechanic who later became a high school shop teacher and dean, and his mother was a dressmaker.

With the help of his father, Young joined the U.S. Marines before he turned 16, lying about his age. While in the service, Young said he boxed and won 32 of 34 fights during his two-year stint in Okinawa. When he got out, he took on jobs as a carpet cleaner, salesman and installer. When Young began studying at the Actors Studio, Lee Strasberg would serve as his mentor. 

“What happened is that I was chasing a girl and she [said she] wanted to study with Lee Strasberg. I thought he [Strasberg] was a girl,” he told New York’s Newsday in 1985. “Anyway, I met him and he told me, ‘You’re very tense. You have huge tension about you. I feel you’re an emotional library.’”

Over the span of his career, Young garnered more than 160 film and television credits. The actor was known for playing tough guys on screen with roles in Roman Polanski’s Chinatown and Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in America. His television features included M*A*S*H*, Walker, Texas Ranger, and Law & Order.