Carl Weathers

Carl Weathers (January 14, 1948 – February 1, 2024) was an American actor, director and gridiron football player. His prominent roles included boxer Apollo Creed in the first four ''Rocky'' films (1976–1985), Colonel Al Dillon in ''Predator'' (1987), Chubbs Peterson in '' Happy Gilmore'' (1996), and Combat Carl in the ''Toy Story'' franchise. He also portrayed Det. Beaudreaux in the television series '' Street Justice'' (1991–1993) and a fictionalized version of himself in the comedy series '' Arrested Development'' (2004, 2013), and voiced Omnitraxus Prime in '' Star vs. the Forces of Evil'' (2017–2019). He had a recurring role as Greef Karga in the ''Star Wars'' series '' The Mandalorian'' (2019–2023), for which he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series.

Weathers played college football for the San Diego State Aztecs before playing professionally as a linebacker. He joined the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League (NFL) after going undrafted in the 1970 NFL draft. After two seasons with the Raiders, he played three seasons with the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League (CFL).

Early life

Weathers was born on January 14, 1948, in New Orleans, Louisiana. His father was a day laborer. As an eighth-grade student, he earned an athletic scholarship to St. Augustine High School, a private school. He was an all-around athlete, involved in boxing, football, gymnastics, judo, soccer, and wrestling. He played football and graduated from Long Beach Poly High School in 1966.

College football career

Weathers played football as a defensive end in college. He started his college career in 1966 at Long Beach City College, where he did not play in 1966 due to an ankle injury suffered when he tripped over a curb surrounding the running track while warming up for practice with another linebacker. He then transferred and played for San Diego State University, becoming a letterman for the San Diego State Aztecs in 1968 and 1969, helping the Aztecs win the 1969 Pasadena Bowl, finishing with an 11–0 record, and a No. 18 ranking in the Final UPI Poll, playing for head coach Don Coryell. At San Diego State, Weathers—who considered acting his first love and had been performing in plays even back in grade school—received a master in theatre arts.

Professional football career

Weathers signed with the Oakland Raiders of the NFL as an undrafted free agent in 1970. Now playing as a linebacker, Weathers played in seven games for the Raiders in 1970, helping them win the AFC West Division title, on their way to the first-ever AFC Championship Game. Before the 1971 season, Weathers converted to the position of strong safety. He played in one game of the 1971 NFL season before the Raiders released him in September 1971, after head coach John Madden told Weathers, "You're just too sensitive."

Later that month, Weathers signed with the BC Lions of the CFL. He played for the Lions until 1973, playing 13 games in total. During the off-seasons, Weathers attended San Francisco State University and earned a bachelor's degree in drama in 1974.

Weathers retired from football in 1974, and began pursuing an acting career. In his NFL career he appeared in 8 games in two seasons, but did not record any stats. The only stat he recorded in his CFL career was a single fumble recovery. In later years, Weathers narrated NFL Films' season recap of the 1999, 2000 and 2001 seasons. During the 2017 NFL draft, he appeared on NFL Network's pre-draft coverage.

Acting career

Weathers began working as an extra while still playing football. He had his first significant roles in two blaxploitation films directed by his longtime friend Arthur Marks: and . Weathers also appeared in an early 1975 episode of the sitcom '' Good Times'' titled "The Nude", portraying an angry husband who suspected his wife of cheating on him with J.J. He also guest-starred in a 1975 episode of ''Kung Fu'' titled "The Brothers Caine", and in an episode of ''Cannon'' titled "The Hero". In 1976, he appeared as a loan shark in an episode of the crime-drama '' Starsky & Hutch'', and in the '' Barnaby Jones'' episode "The Bounty Hunter" as escaped convict Jack Hopper.

While auditioning for the role of Apollo Creed alongside Sylvester Stallone in '' Rocky'', Weathers criticized Stallone's acting, which led to him getting the role. He reprised the role of Apollo Creed in the next three ''Rocky'' films: '' Rocky II'' (1979), '' Rocky III'' (1982), and '' Rocky IV'' (1985).

Weathers briefly appears as an Army MP in one of the three released versions of '' Close Encounters of the Third Kind'' (originally released in 1977). In 1978, Weathers portrayed Vince Sullivan in a TV movie, ''Not This Time''. In the late 1970s and 1980s, Weathers starred in a number of action films for the small and big screen, including , , , and . Weathers hosted an episode of ''Saturday Night Live'' in 1988 and appeared in a skit on the show in 2003.

Weathers appeared in Michael Jackson's " Liberian Girl" music video and co-starred in the 1996 Adam Sandler comedy '' Happy Gilmore'', as Chubbs, a golf legend teaching Happy how to play golf. He reprised the role nearly four years later in the Sandler comedy '' Little Nicky''. Filming a fall stunt in ''Happy Gilmore'', Weathers fractured two vertebrae and his osteophytes grew out and connected and self-fused badly. He said he was in excruciating pain for three to four years.

Another notable television role was Sgt. Adam Beaudreaux on the cop show '' Street Justice''. Afterwards, during the final two seasons of '' In the Heat of the Night'' (1992–1994), his character, Hampton Forbes, replaced Bill Gillespie as the chief of police. He also played MACV-SOG Colonel Brewster in the CBS series '' Tour of Duty.''

In 2004, Weathers received a career revival as a comedic actor beginning with appearances in three episodes of the comedy series '' Arrested Development'' as a cheapskate caricature of himself, who serves as Tobias Fünke's acting coach. He was then cast in the comedies '' The Sasquatch Gang'' and '' The Comebacks.'' Weathers had a guest role in two episodes of '' The Shield'' as the former training officer of main character Vic Mackey.

Weathers provided the voice for Colonel Samuel Garrett in the Pandemic Studios video game '' Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction.'' In 2005, he was a narrator on ''Conquest! The Price of Victory — Witness the Journey of the Trojans!,'' an 18-part television show about USC athletics. Weathers was a principal of Red Tight Media, a film and video production company that specializes in tactical training films made for the United States armed forces. He also appeared in one episode of '' ER'' in 2008 during its finale season.

For the sixth film in the ''Rocky'' series, '' Rocky Balboa'' (2006), Stallone asked Weathers, Mr. T, and Dolph Lundgren for permission to use footage from their appearances in the earlier ''Rocky'' films. Mr. T and Lundgren agreed, but Weathers wanted an actual part in the movie, even though his character had died in ''Rocky IV''. Stallone refused, and Weathers decided not to allow Stallone to use his image for flashbacks from the previous films. They instead used footage of a fighter who looks similar to Weathers. Weathers and Stallone patched up their differences and Weathers agreed to allow footage of him from previous films to be used throughout ''Creed'' (2015).

Weathers portrayed the father of Michael Strahan and Daryl "Chill" Mitchell's characters on the short-lived 2009 Fox sitcom '' Brothers''. Weathers acted as Brian "Gebo" Fitzgerald in advertising for Old Spice's sponsorship of NASCAR driver Tony Stewart. He also appeared in an ongoing series of web-only advertisements for Credit Union of Washington, dispensing flowers and the advice that "change is beautiful" to puzzled-looking bystanders. He also starred in a series of commercials for Bud Light, in which he introduced plays from the "Bud Light Playbook." At the conclusion of each commercial, Weathers could be seen bursting through the Bud Light Playbook and shouting "Here we go!"

In 2019, Weathers appeared as Greef Karga in several episodes of the first season of the ''Star Wars'' series '' The Mandalorian''. He returned for the second season and also directed the episode " Chapter 12: The Siege". He returned for season 3 and directed the episode " Chapter 20: The Foundling". His performance earned him an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor.

Personal life

Weathers was married three times. He married Mary-Ann Castle in 1973; they had two sons and divorced in 1983. In 1984, Weathers married Rhona Unsell; they divorced in 2006. Weathers was married to Jennifer Peterson from 2007 until 2009. Weathers was with his longtime partner Christine Kludjian from 2014, until his death in 2024.

Death

Weathers died at his home in Los Angeles on February 2, 2024, at age 76, from what some believe to be, atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Weathers's body was cremated. On August 29, 2024, he was honored with a Hollywood Walk of Fame Star Ceremony.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

See also

* 1971 Oakland Raiders season

References

External links

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Carl Weathers obituary

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weathers, Carl
1948 births
2024 deaths
St. Augustine High School (New Orleans) alumni
Long Beach Polytechnic High School alumni
20th-century African-American male actors
20th-century American male actors
21st-century African-American male actors
21st-century American male actors
Male actors from Long Beach, California
American male voice actors
Oakland Raiders players
BC Lions players
Canadian football linebackers
Long Beach City Vikings football players
Male actors from New Orleans
Players of American football from New Orleans
Players of American football from Long Beach, California
Players of Canadian football from New Orleans
Players of Canadian football from Long Beach, California
San Diego State Aztecs football players
San Francisco State University alumni
American male film actors
American male television actors
American television directors
20th-century African-American sportsmen
21st-century African-American people
African-American television directors
Deaths from atherosclerosis