The Antipodean

RIP to Burt Young, best known as Paulie in the Rocky movies, one of the most irritating yet loveable lunkheads ever IMHO. He was 83, but he seemed like he was already in his 60s way back in the first Rocky in 1976 - he was just 36 or so!

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/18/movies/burt-young-dead.html

DJariya

Looks like he actually passed 10 days ago.

RIP

I always knew Young as Paulie. Although the character was annoying AF, he was an important part of the Rocky legacy.

Kurt D

RIP to a great character actor. Loved him best in Amityville 2 - he's scarier than the demon in that role.

JeffTheAlpaca

RIP

His passing got almost no media coverage?

Did not see it covered at Yahoo or on TV.

I remember he did not like the robot he got for Xmas in Rocky IV

The Cow

Yahoo covered it.

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/...010622504.html

I think it's just recently getting known and reported by the media.

DJariya

He died 10 days ago and his family just released the news. I’m sure it will be covered more tomorrow. Stallone just posted his condolences.

Quatermass

Too bad. Looks like he was still working too. One of my favorites was mobster Bedbug Eddie in The Pope of Greenwich Village.

JoeySeven

RIP
I guess he'll always be remembered as Paulie, but I really enjoyed him in

as Pigpen in (Convoy) Good kind of cheesy trucker movie from the '70s

Coral

For some reason I thought he died in the last year or so. I might have been thinking of someone else.

GoldenJCJ

Count me as another who was surprised he was so young in Rocky. Dude was mid-30s and looked like he was in his late 50s.

I think the last thing I saw him in was Rocky Balboa and that was over 10 years ago. At least Paulie wasn’t so annoying in that one.

DJariya

From Apollo Creed himself

X - Formerly Twitter

Paff

Surprised none of you have mentioned Chinatown yet. He was in the opening scene, where Jack Nicholson's Jake Gittes reveals to him that his wife has indeed been cheating on him. Then, later in the film, Gittes visits him in his home needing a favor, and in the background is the wife of Young's character, dutifully making dinner....with two black eyes. I certainly don't mean to make light of domestic violence, but it's one of those bookend scenes that make you fill in the blanks yourself.

Jaymole

I will always remember him as Gimpy from Carnival of Blood

R.I.P.

RocShemp

Although I saw him in plenty of other things, he'll always be Paulie to me (and I like how the character was somewhat redeemed in Rocky Balboa).

Ash Ketchum

Good call. When I saw THE KILLER ELITE (1975), where Burt plays James Caan's sidekick, the one whose wife keeps talking about "Mr. Davis," I already knew him from something and this was a year before ROCKY (1976), so I'm pretty sure that it was CHINATOWN (1974), where he first registered with me since it was the only film of his I saw before KILLER ELITE where he had a notable part.

Josh-da-man

Yeah, I figured he probably died a long time.

Hard to believe he was only in his thirties back in the 1970s when he was most visible. Seemed like he was a good twenty years older! Not only looked old, but came off like a grumpy old bastard.

Crocker Jarmen

Gotta shout-out his role as Rodney Dangerfield's chauffer/body guard in Back to School.

Meathead

Yup! RIP

Artman

I'm sure we've had topics on actors from decades past looking much older then they actually were. I think it just comes down to clothing (sweaters!) and overall demeanor - and in this case going bald easily adds ten years.

I can't add to anything that's already been said, he'll always be Paulie to me...hopefully it was rewarding for him to be so well known for a role and franchise, likely something every actor hopes for!

Runaway

I read a quote of his, where he was proud and happy to go back the role every couple of years and I think his portrayal in Rocky Balboa was fantastic. A man who loved his sister but was deeply ashamed for the way he treated her while she was alive. Just a sad old man.

RocShemp

That's what I mean when I said he was somewhat redeemed in that movie. They didn't undo or forgive his past bad behaviour, but instead had him acknowledge it and show how it was too late for him to make amends to Adrian herself. But at the same time, he stuck by Rocky and helped him out as best he could.

rexinnih

RIP - enjoyed the roles.

northeast11

I thought he died several yeas ago. Perhaps I had confused him with Tony Burton who died in 2016. Burton played Duke Evers, Apollo's (and later) Rocky's trainer.

JeffTheAlpaca

Maybe if you are a diehard fan you can check out Uncle Joe Shannon (1978) on MGM +

It was produced by the same team from Rocky and music by Bill Conti but nowhere near as fun or entertaining as the Rocky movies.

mike7162

And let's not forget his great monologue in Once Upon a Time in America.