Burt Young

American actorTemplate:SHORTDESC:American actor[[Category:**Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Pagetype/config' not found.**s with short description]]

**Richard Morea** (born April 30, 1940), better known by his stage name **Burt Young**, is an American actor, author and painter. He is best known for his role as Rocky Balboa's brother-in-law and best friend Paulie Pennino in the *Rocky* film series, being nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the first film.

He has also appeared in *Chinatown* (1974), *The Gambler* (1974), *Convoy* (1978), *Uncle Joe Shannon* (1978), *Once Upon a Time in America* (1984), *The Pope of Greenwich Village* (1984), *Back to School* (1986), *Last Exit to Brooklyn* (1990), *Transamerica* (2005), and *Win Win* (2011).

## Personal life

Young was born in Queens, New York, the son of Josephine and Michael, a high school shop teacher. He is of Italian descent. Young is a widower and has one daughter, Anne Morea, and one grandson. He lives in Port Washington, New York.

He was trained by Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio. Young participated in the 1984 New York City Marathon.

## Career

### In the Marines and in boxing

Young served a tour of duty in the United States Marine Corps from 1957 to 1959. While in the Marine Corps, he won 32 of 34 boxing bouts. There is a rumour he later turned pro and compiled a 17–0 record under three different aliases however there is no evidence to support these rumours. It has also been alleged his manager was Cus D'Amato.

### In 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*, with the character described as having died in 2012.

He has played similar roles in *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 even a brutal and darker role in *Amityville II: The Possession*. Young has also appeared in many television programs, including *The Rockford Files*, *Baretta*, *Law & Order*, *Walker, Texas Ranger*, *M\*A\*S\*H*. He guest-starred in a *Miami Vice* episode, and 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.

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.

### As a painter and a writer

Young is also a painter; his art has been displayed in galleries throughout the world. As an artist, he has 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*.

Young is also a published author whose works include two filmed screenplays and a 400-page historical novel called *Endings*. He has written two stage plays: *SOS* and *A Letter to Alicia and the New York City Government from a Man With a Bullet in His Head*.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Template:Cite book
2. ↑ Burt Young Biography – Yahoo! Movies Template:Webarchive
3. ↑ Template:Cite magazine
4. ↑ Genn, Adina (February 13, 2015). "On Display: Artwork of Actor Burt Young", *Patch Media*.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Gurley, George (July 1, 2002). "Is Burt Young Alive?", *The New York Observer*.
6. ↑ Bock, Hal (October 26, 1984). "Marathon Week can be hazardous to health", Associated Press, p. 17. Retrieved on January 11, 2011.
7. ↑ Gergen, Joe (February 17, 1985). "Rocky's Brother-in-Law Knows the Ropes: Burt Young Tries Boxing in Real Life as Co-Manager of a Challenger", *Los Angeles Times*.
8. ↑ Mladinich, Robert (November 12, 2009). "PAULIE'S PREDICTION: Oscar-Nominated Burt Young Likes Pacman", *The Sweet Science*.
9. ↑ Gerbasi, Thomas (April 13, 2018). "Burt Young Reflects on 'Rocky' Series, Career, 'Paulie' Character", *Boxing Scene*.
10. ↑ "Rocky's House in "Creed"". Total Rocky. January 19, 2016. http://totalrocky.com/filming-location-guide/rocky-house-creed.html.
11. ↑ Klugman, Deborah (January 20, 2017). "*Rocky* Star Burt Young Takes the Stage as an Aging Mobster With a Problem", Voice Media Group. Retrieved on April 26, 2017.
12. ↑ Gasparri, Elena (November 13, 2013). "GABRIELE TINTI AND BURT YOUNG :: ALL OVER", *DROME magazine*.
13. ↑ Jacques, Rich (January 4, 2014). "Reminder: Library to Present Burt Young One Man Show Sunday", *Patch Media*.
14. ↑ Kaan, Gil (January 9, 2017). "Burt Young Lightly Spars on His Life From Rocky to THE LAST VIG". Better Lemons. https://better-lemons.com/theater/burt-young-lightly-spars-life-rocky-last-vig/.
15. ↑ Template:Cite magazine

## External links

* Template:Official website
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