Burt Young

Gerald Tommaso DeLouise (April 30, 1940 – October 8, 2023), known professionally as Burt Young, was an American actor. He played Rocky Balboa's brother-in-law and best friend Paulie Pennino in the ''Rocky'' film series, his performance in the first installment of which earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Young also appeared in such films as ''Chinatown'' (1974), '' The Gambler'' (1974), ''The Killer Elite'' (1975), ''Convoy'' (1978), '' Uncle Joe Shannon'' (1978), ''Once Upon a Time in America'' (1984), '' The Pope of Greenwich Village'' (1984), '' A Summer to Remember'' (1985), '' Back to School'' (1986), ''Last Exit to Brooklyn'' (1990), '' Mickey Blue Eyes'' (1999), '' Transamerica'' (2005), '' Win Win'' (2011), and '' Bottom of the 9th'' (2019).

Early life

Young was born on April 30, 1940, in Queens, New York City, and raised in the Queens neighborhood of Corona, the son of Josephine and Michael DeLouise, a high school shop teacher. He was of Italian descent.

Young was trained by Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio.

Career

Military service

Young served a tour of duty in the United States Marine Corps from 1957 to 1959; while in the Marine Corps, he boxed regularly, winning 32 of 34 boxing bouts.

Acting

Young made his name playing rough-edged working class Italian-American 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, 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). Young did not reprise his role in the 2015 film ''Creed''; the character was described as having died in 2012.

Young appeared in such films as ''Chinatown'', ''Convoy'', '' Back to School'', '' The Pope of Greenwich Village'', ''Once Upon a Time in America'', ''Last Exit to Brooklyn'', '' Downtown: A Street Tale'', and '' Amityville II: The Possession''.

Television appearances for Young included ''The Rockford Files'', ''Baretta'', ''Law & Order'', ''Walker, Texas Ranger'', ''All in the Family'', ''M*A*S*H'', and ''Miami Vice''. He made an appearance on ''The Sopranos'' (" Another Toothpick") as Bobby Baccalieri's father, who is dying of cancer and comes out of retirement to execute a hit on his godson, Salvatore "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'', in which 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.

Painting and writing

Young was also a painter; his art has been displayed in galleries throughout the world. As an artist, he 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 was also a published author whose works included two filmed screenplays and a 400-page historical novel called ''Endings''. He wrote 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's wife, Gloria, died in 1974. He had a daughter and a grandson. He resided in Port Washington, New York.

Young owned a restaurant in the Bronx, New York. He participated in the 1984 New York City Marathon.

Death

Young died at Northridge Hospital Medical Center in Los Angeles, on October 8, 2023, at the age of 83. The immediate cause of death was ruled as cardiac arrest with contributing factors listed as myocardial infarction, atrial fibrillation, and atherosclerosis. He was buried at Mount St. Mary Cemetery in Flushing, Queens.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Burt
1940 births
2023 deaths
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
Military personnel from New York City
People from Port Washington, New York
Male actors from Queens, New York
Screenwriters from New York (state)
United States Marines