American actor Carl Weathers, star of the original Rocky films, has died at the age of 76. Writes the deadline.
Born in New Orleans in 1948, Withers appeared in more than 75 films and television shows during a film career that spanned 50 years. In the previously mentioned Rocky films, Apollo Creed played the heavyweight boxing champion. He was in all four of the old Rocky movies, and in the last one his character died during a boxing match against Russian boxer Ivan Drago, played by Dolph Lundgren.
Recent roles include Greef Karga, head of the bounty hunters guild, in the Disney+ Star Wars series The Mandalorian. Weathers was nominated for an Emmy in 2021 for the role and directed two episodes in seasons two and three. As a television director, he has also worked on quite a few projects, directing episodes in the series Chicago Med, FBI, Law & Order, The Last OG, and others.
Photograph: Valerie Macon/AFP or licensors
Weathers also voiced Combat Carl in the 2019 Academy Award-winning film Toy Story 4, but is also remembered for his performance in the 1988 film Action Jackson, for which he received an NAACP Image Award nomination. He also co-starred with Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1987 movie Predator.
Weather “passed away peacefully in his sleep” on Thursday, the family said in a statement. “Carl was an extraordinary man who lived an extraordinary life. He left an indelible mark with his contributions to film, television, the arts and sports,” they wrote.
