Oscar-nominated “Rocky” actor Bert Young dies at the age of 83

With his background as a Marine and professional boxer, Young brought depth to the characters he played. Playing Paulie Pennino — Rocky the Butcher’s boyfriend and brother of Adrian (Talia Shire), the star’s future wife — Young became a staple of the franchise. He reprized the role throughout the series from the first film to the first film Balboa is rocky In 2006.

“I was at MGM when Sly Stallone came up and introduced himself to me and told me he had written it rocky “You have to do it,” he said. Tell The Sweet Science website in 2009. “I wanted to do it right away, but I wanted to twist their arms a little bit, and not seem too enthusiastic.

Bert Young, whose name was adopted as an actor ( times (Sources note differences on his birth name) in Queens on April 30, 1940. His father was a sheet metal mechanic who later became a high school shop teacher and foreman, and his mother was a seamstress.

With his father’s help, Young joined the US Marine Corps before he was sixteen, lying about his age. While in the service, Young said he boxed and won 32 of 34 fights during his two years in Okinawa. When he got out, he took jobs as a carpet cleaner, salesman and installer. When Young began studying at the Actors Studio, Lee Strasberg served as his mentor.

“What happened was I was chasing a girl and she… [said she] He wanted to study with Lee Strasberg. I thought it was [Strasberg] “It was a girl.” Tell New York Newsday In 1985. “Anyway, I met him and he said, ‘You’re so nervous. You have a lot of tension about you. I feel like you are an emotional library.

Over the course of his career, Young has earned more than… 160 Film and TV credits. The actor was known for playing tough guys on screen with film roles by Roman Polanski Chinatown And Sergio Leone Once upon a time in America. His television features included mash*, Walker, Texas Ranger, And Law and order.