Gerald Tommaso DeLouise (born April 30, 1940), known professionally as Burt Young, is an American actor, author and painter. He played Rocky Balboa's brother-in-law and best friend Paulie Pennino in the '' Rocky'' film series. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his work in the first film. He has also appeared in '' Chinatown'' (1974), '' The Gambler'' (1974), ''

The Killer Elite ''The Killer Elite'' is a 1975 American action thriller film directed by Sam Peckinpah and written by Marc Norman and Stirling Silliphant, adapted from the Robert Syd Hopkins novel ''Monkey in the Middle.'' It stars James Caan and Robert Duvall a ...

'' (1975), ''

Convoy A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used ...

'' (1978), '' Uncle Joe Shannon'' (1978), '' Once Upon a Time in America'' (1984), ''

The Pope of Greenwich Village ''The Pope of Greenwich Village'' is a 1984 American crime black comedy film directed by Stuart Rosenberg and starring Mickey Rourke, Eric Roberts, Daryl Hannah, Geraldine Page, Kenneth McMillan and Burt Young. Page was nominated for the Academy ...

'' (1984), '' A Summer to Remember'' (1985), ''

Back to School ''Back to School'' is a 1986 American comedy film starring Rodney Dangerfield, Keith Gordon, Sally Kellerman, Burt Young, Terry Farrell, William Zabka, Ned Beatty, Sam Kinison, Paxton Whitehead and Robert Downey Jr. It was directed by Alan Met ...

'' (1986), ''

Last Exit to Brooklyn ''Last Exit to Brooklyn'' is a 1964 novel by American author Hubert Selby Jr. The novel takes a harsh, uncompromising look at lower class Brooklyn in the 1950s written in a brusque, everyman style of prose. Critics and fellow writers praised ...

'' (1990), '' Mickey Blue Eyes'' (1999), '' Transamerica'' (2005), '' Win Win'' (2011), '' Bottom of the 9th'' (2019), ''Beckman'' (2020) and the documentary film '' Stallone: Frank, That Is'' (2021) and had a guest appearance on ''

The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American crime drama television series created by David Chase. The story revolves around Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster, portraying his difficulties as he tries to balance ...

'' in 2001.

Early life, family and education

Young was born in

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, New York, the son of Josephine and Michael DeLouise, a high school

shop Shop or shopping refers to: Business and commerce * A casual word for a commercial establishment or for a place of business * Machine shop, a workshop for machining *"In the shop", referring to a car being at an automotive repair shop *A wood ...

teacher. He is of Italian descent. He was trained by

Lee Strasberg Lee Strasberg (born Israel Strassberg; November 17, 1901 – February 17, 1982) was an American theatre director, actor and acting teacher. He co-founded, with theatre directors Harold Clurman and Cheryl Crawford, the Group Theatre in 1931 ...

at the Actors Studio.

Career

In the Marines and in boxing

Young served a tour of duty in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

from 1957 to 1959. While in the Marine Corps, he won 32 of 34 boxing bouts.

In acting

Young made his name playing rough-edged working class

Italian-American Italian Americans ( it, italoamericani or ''italo-americani'', ) are Americans who have full or partial Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeast and industrial Midwestern metropolitan areas, ...

characters, the best-known example being his signature role as Rocky Balboa's friend (and future brother-in-law) Paulie in '' Rocky'' (1976), for which he received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He is one of four actors (the other three being Sylvester Stallone,

Stu Nahan Stu Nahan (June 23, 1926 – December 26, 2007) was an American sportscaster best known for his television broadcasting career in Los Angeles from the 1950s through the 1990s. He is also remembered for his role as a boxing commentator in the firs ...

and Tony Burton) who have appeared in all of the first six ''Rocky'' films (although Talia Shire, who appears in the first five films, makes a flashback appearance in

the sixth ''The Sixth'' (russian: Шестой, translit. ''Shestoy'') is a 1981 Soviet action film directed by Samvel Gasparov at Gorky Film Studio. Plot ''The Sixth'' is a parable about lawlessness and bureaucracy in the aftermath of the Great O ...

). Young did not reprise his role in the 2015 film '' Creed''; the character was described as having died in 2012. He has played similar roles in '' Chinatown'', ''

'', ''

'', '' Once Upon a Time in America'', ''

'', '' Downtown: A Street Tale'', and even a brutal and darker role in '' Amityville II: The Possession''. Young has also appeared in many television programs, including ''

The Rockford Files ''The Rockford Files'' is an American detective drama television series starring James Garner that aired on the NBC network from September 13, 1974 to January 10, 1980, and remains in syndication. Garner portrays Los Angeles private investiga ...

'', ''

Baretta ''Baretta'' is an American detective television series which ran on ABC from 1975 to 1978. The show was a revised and milder version of a 1973–1974 ABC series, '' Toma'', starring Tony Musante as chameleon-like, real-life New Jersey pol ...

'', '' Law & Order'', '' Walker, Texas Ranger'',''

All In The Family ''All in the Family'' is an American television sitcom that aired on CBS for nine seasons, from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979. Afterwards, it was continued with the spin-off series ''Archie Bunker's Place'', which picked up where ''All in ...

'', '' M*A*S*H''. He guest-starred in a ''

Miami Vice ''Miami Vice'' is an American crime drama television series created by Anthony Yerkovich and produced by Michael Mann for NBC. The series stars Don Johnson as James "Sonny" Crockett and Philip Michael Thomas as Ricardo "Rico" Tubbs, two M ...

'' episode, and made an appearance on ''

'' (" Another Toothpick") as Bobby Baccalieri's father, who is dying of cancer and comes out of retirement to execute a hit on his godson, "Mustang Sally" Intile, as punishment for Intile having brutally beaten a family friend simply for chatting with Intile's girlfriend. In a nod to his having served in the U.S. Marine Corps, he played a retired drill instructor in the short-lived 1987 ABC series, '' Roomies'', where his character decides to go to college after his retirement. In 2017, Burt Young returned to the stage as an aged mob boss in ''The Last Vig,'' a play written by Dave Varriale. The show ran from January 14 to February 19, 2017, at The Zephyr Theatre in Los Angeles.

As a painter and a writer

Young is also a painter; his art has been displayed in galleries throughout the world. As an artist, he has collaborated with the writer Gabriele Tinti, for whom he designed the cover for the poetry collection ''All Over'', as well as contributing the illustrations for the art book ''A Man''. Some of Young's actual paintings were shown in a scene in '' Rocky Balboa'' when Paulie gets fired from the meatpacking plant. Young is also a published author whose works include two filmed screenplays and a 400-page historical novel called ''Endings''. He has written two stage plays: ''SOS'' and ''A Letter to Alicia and the New York City Government from a Man With a Bullet in His Head''.

Personal life

Young is a widower. He has a daughter, Anne Morea, and a grandson. He resides in

Port Washington, New York Port Washington is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) on the Cow Neck Peninsula in the Town of North Hempstead, in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York. The hamlet is the anchor community of the Greater Port Wa ...

. He owns a restaurant in the Bronx, New York. He participated in the 1984

New York City Marathon The New York City Marathon (currently branded TCS New York City Marathon after its headline sponsor (commercial), sponsor) is an annual Marathon (sport), marathon () that courses through the five boroughs of New York City. It is the largest mar ...

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Burt 1940 births Living people 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors Actors Studio alumni American male film actors American male screenwriters American male television actors American writers of Italian descent Male actors from New York City Military personnel from New York City People from Port Washington, New York People from Queens, New York Screenwriters from New York (state) United States Marines