CNN – Burt Young, a former boxer who found fame playing tough guys in Hollywood, died earlier this month, his daughter Anne Morea Steingieser told the New York Times.
He was 83.
CNN has reached out to Young’s manager for comment.
Young was best known for his role as Rocky Balboa’s brother-in-law Paulie in the “Rocky” movie franchise. He earned a best supporting actor Academy Award nomination for his performance.
Sylvester Stallone, who starred as Rocky, paid tribute to Young on Wednesday.
Young’s role as Paulie in the hit 1976 film “Rocky” helped take his career to the next level.
“To my Dear Friend, BURT YOUNG, you were an incredible man and artist, I and the World will miss you very much…RIP,” Stallone wrote with a photo of him and Young in a scene from one of their films together.
Born in the New York City borough of Queens, Young grew up in the working class neighborhood of Corona before entering the Marines at the age of 16 after his father helped him lie about his age, according to the Times.
He began boxing in the Marines and continued once he left the service, briefly as a professional under the tutelage of famed trainer and manager Cus D’Amato.
Young explained in a 2006 interview with Bright Lights that he got into acting in his twenties because a young woman he was interested in “said she’d always wanted to study with Lee Strasberg, but couldn’t get in … ”
