(UPI) — Rocky and The Sopranos actor Burt Young has died, his family said. He was 83 years old.
His daughter Anne Morea Steingieser confirmed the news to The New York Times Wednesday.
The New York native was an ex-Marine and former professional boxer and became a popular TV guest star who also appeared in the films Chinatown, Once Upon a Time in America, The Pope of Greenwich Village, The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight, Cinderella Liberty, Back to School and Last Exit to Brooklyn.
Members of the cast of “Table One” (l. to r.) Burt Young, Stephen Baldwin, David Herman and Ezra Knight get together outside Wilson’s Restaurant, W. 79th St. and Amsterdam Ave., where the movie is being filmed. (Andrew Savulich/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)
“To my Dear Friend, BURT YOUNG, you were an incredible man and artist, I and the World will miss you very much…RIP,” Sylvester Stallone, who wrote and starred with Young in the Best Picture Oscar winner Rocky, said on Instagram Wednesday.
Their co-star Carl Weathers posted on X: “RIP, Burt Young! A beautiful and talented soul. He was such an integral part of the Rocky family. ‘You want the bird? Go get the bird.’ Paulie will be with us forever! #BePeace.”
Young earned a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his performance.
Stallone and Young also shared the screen in several Rocky sequels, playing the titular champ and his brother-in-law Paulie.