R.I.P. Carl Weathers, star of Rocky, The Mandalorian and Happy Gilmore
Carl Weathers, best known as Apollo Creed in the Rocky franchise, dies at age 76
Aux News Carl Weathers
Carl Weathers, best known for his role as Apollo Creed in the Rocky franchise, has died, according to Deadline. No cause of death has yet been reported. He was 76 years old.
“We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of Carl Weathers,” his family said in a statement. “He died peacefully in his sleep on Thursday, February 1st, 2024. … Carl was an exceptional human being who lived an extraordinary life. Through his contributions to film, television, the arts and sports, he has left an indelible mark and is recognized worldwide and across generations. He was a beloved brother, father, grandfather, partner, and friend.”
Weathers began his Hollywood career in the 1970s and worked steadily in television (appearing on series such as Good Times, The Six Million Dollar Man, Starsky & Hutch, and more) before landing his breakout role in Rocky as the titular boxer’s rival, Apollo Creed. He would go on to appear in the next three films before his character was killed off in Rocky IV. He also had notable roles in Predator and Action Jackson, among others.
The actor, known primarily for his dramatic roles, was able to show off his comedic chops in Adam Sandler’s Happy Gilmore as former professional golfer Chubbs Peterson. (Weathers would go on to reprise the role in Sandler’s Little Nicky and play a part in Eight Crazy Nights.) He also made a memorable guest appearance on Arrested Development as a comically stingy version of himself, a character Weathers himself pitched to creator Mitch Hurwitz, he told The A.V. Club in 2014. Hurwitz “just took that and ran with it and made it as funny as anything could be. So it was a tremendous joy to try and get a stew going all the time,” Weathers laughed. “At someone else’s expense, of course!”
In recent years, Weathers dipped into voiceover work with roles in Mortal Kombat X, Toy Story 4, and Star Vs. The Forces Of Evil. In 2021, he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for his role as Greef Karga in the Star Wars spin-off The Mandalorian on Disney+.
“Even though I played football in college—that was on scholarship to San Diego State—I was a theater major. I always wanted to be an actor even from when I was a young kid. I loved movies—grew up watching movies. So making the transition was, in a way, truly out of ignorance,” he recalled of starting his career in conversation with The A.V. Club. “I never really had a clue of the challenges of ‘making it in Hollywood,’ so to speak. I came here expecting to make it, not thinking it was going to be a very tough transition at all. And I was just very fortunate that, within six months of arriving, I was working.”
Of the shift in his career from serious dramas to wacky comedies to big franchises, “I’ve done some strange, off-center stuff,” the actor said with a laugh. “It’s been a varied road I’ve walked on.”
64 Comments
Star of Happy Gilmore? Man, that’s not even in the top 5 of roles he was in. I’d change the headline to Predator or Mandalorian (since that’s the most recent big hit). He was such a great actor; loved him as the ultimate badass Dillon, and Greef, and in Action Jackson just to name some of his roles.At least he died in his sleep. RIP Carl Weathers 🙁
I know people like Rocky for some reason, but he’ll always be “Carl Weathers of Predator” to me.
Same! Such a standout role for him.
Yeah but his character was kind of a weasel, which was a big departure for him.
RIP
FUCK !Fuck..FUCK YOU 2024!!!!
What an absolute legend, and by all accounts, seems to have been a terrific human being. What a big loss.
Sometimes I forget what a genuinely great voice he had.
Baby, the stew is no longer going 🙁
He’s brewin up a stew in heaven now
But at least he got his hand back.
Where he’ll be able to get an employee shift meal AND half price on select menu items…
I don’t know what that means, but it sounds disgusting.
*goodbye* Carl Weathers. 🙁
Does the afterlife give an employee discount, or a free shift meal?
“I’m going to go get a drink refill. You know you can get unlimited refills on any drink you want… and it’s free?” God bless frugal Carl Weathers.
Think how much stew you could make with Carl Weathers. He was still pretty buff.(I don’t think he would mind this joke)
Oh my gosh, this is so sad, what a legend. From Rocky to Predator, to his recent turns in The Mandalorian. Baby, let’s all toss a bone in a pot with some broth and a potato and get a stew goin’ in his honor.
Even in the Mandolarian, he had a real vibrancy that made you think he was 10-15 years younger. He really sold Greef as a man who has lived by his wits and his actions and could still be counted in a fight with people half his age. Its a real loss to the acting community….he was a hell of a guy.
Oh absolutely- if you had told me he was 50 when he played Greef, I would have believed you.
Other than hair color, he doesn’t look appreciably older than when he played Creed. Definitely not 40-50 years older.
I mean, I’m still upset that he copied my trademark handshake, but still, a great loss.
We had a Predator drinking game, where you had to take a gulp every time someone did something macho. That and Billy Duke breaking a plastic razor shaving with nothing more than his sweat were the two “FINISH YOUR BEERS!” moments. We seldom made it more than halfway through the movie.
What’s the matter, Mac? Army got you pushing too many pencils? RIP, King.
I’m sure it’s out there but I wonder if there is video of someone actually making that stew.
Keep punchin
Loved this moment in Rocky 3
Does anyone have eyes on Dolph Lundgren? But seriously, I’ve never seen a performance of his I didn’t love. Goodnight Apollo.
If he dies, he dies.
God damn it, man…
GOD DAMN IT ALL TO HELL AND DAMNATION AND FUCK!
This pretty much ruined my Friday. Dude was awesome.I went to YouTube to pull up his turn as “Combat Carl” in the Toy Story of Terror TV special (because he’s hilarious in it) and found this gem:
Oh, he was so damn good. Loved his comedy parts, and for some reason just the morning (before I heard he’d died) I decided to rewatch Rocky for the first time in years. I know the script was good, and Stallone was great but without Carl Weathers’ Apollo Creed the movie wouldn’t have worked at all. He trod the fine line between an Ali pastiche and a real person. The look on his face when he sees the news footage of Rocky working out on a side of beef is perfect.
I always liked Tony Burton’s (his trainer) better. “Champ you might want to take this a little more seriously…”
The heavy sigh and drooping shoulders, when he realized Rocky is coming out for the last round and he’s not going to be able to knock him out no matter what, is just perfect.
So true. It’s a beautiful moment. And Weathers communicates the emotion so perfectly. I’m glad someone noted this bit of cinema greatness.
Felt like all his bombast and bluster throughout the rest of the movie was just setting that moment up.
One of the best decisions they made in that film was not to make Apollo a villain, and they cast an actor charasmatic enough to play the character as a generally likeable opponent.
The two most criminally under-praised performances of all time are Tom Wilson as Biff (and all Biff Variants) in Back to the Future and Carl Weathers as Apollo Creed in Rocky.
In both cases they were so good in those roles that no producer, or director, or even casual movie goer, could ever see them as anyone else. It wasn’t just type-casting, they were literally too good at their job in their breakout roles.
We never really got to see Wilson in anything else, but thankfully we did see Weathers here and there over the years. He killed everything he was ever in, and it’s a shame he never got a chance to do something really great beyond Apollo Creed. He had range and commanded the screen, even playing goofy characters like Chubbs in Happy Gilmore. He should have been a huge movie star. He was just too damn good as Apollo Creed.
oh god that guy who commented “why are we losing so many black actors??” when we lost Andre Braugher is going to be inconsolable.
Been a rough few years for sure. Braugher. Reddeck. Williams. Poitier. Boseman.
RIP. So sad, he looked a very young and healthy 76. What an amazing career and legacy.
Now what is Gronk gonna do without his kick of destiny trainer?
The worst part is all the idiots who are about to act like the Mandalorian crew should have known he was going to die and given him a better ending, just like they did for Chadwick Boseman, Ray Stevenson, and Kevin Conroy.
Where are you finding those idiots?
His head?
I guess he’s extrapolating from the names he mentioned. I remember people complaining about how lackluster Boseman’s final appearance in What If…? was, at this very site. Though honestly, the memory is vague and it might very well have just been Barsanti. I know people complained about where Stevenson’s character was left at the end of Ahsoka too, although that seemed to be more a criticism of the writing itself.
There’s a pretty huge chasm between “it’s too bad this actor died when their character’s arc was unfinished” (reasonable) and “they should have known when this actor was going to die and written that into the show in advance” (fucking stupid). I don’t remember seeing any of that here or any other place I ever go; feels like you have to actively seek out that kind of inanity.
TBF a lot of people seem pretty pissed off at what happens to Arkham Batman in the new Suicide Squad game. Though that said, in total fairness that seems to be more of a “well that’s an underwhelming / shitty way to deal with a beloved version of an iconic character” rather than “the developers should have known he was going to die!”
Yeah, that’s really not the same at all.
Touche.
Carl Weathers gets the absolute highest compliment I can give a performer: His work was my favorite part of every single thing he was in. What a legend.Rest well sir, and thank you for all the fantastic performances.
I was rewatching Action Jackson yesterday and thinking: why the hell has this charismatic, buff leaind action guy, not had an action career like Arnold? Such a great actor, insanely watchable!
Whereabouts currently unknown:(I don’t envy the grief Lundgren’s going to get right now)
Whereabouts currently unknownStill my favourite Onion headline:
Doesn’t he have terminal cancer? Might not be around that long.
He’ll be pushing pencils in Heaven now.
He directed more TV than I realized. The Mandalorian episodes he directed were great. I am glad he got opportunities to work both sides of the camera.
Rest in power, sir. You will be missed.
Carl Weathers was a true larger-than-life movie star. He loomed large in all the productions I saw him in – nowhere near the full sum of it all. He had the mark of true greatness about him.I give my thanks for the fantastic roles I got to watch, both in my youth and now as an adult. RIP… 🙁