Burt Young

Gerald Tommaso DeLouise (April 30, 1940 – October 8, 2023), known professionally as Burt Young, was an American actor. He played Rocky Balboa's brother-in-law and best friend Paulie Pennino in the Rocky film series, his performance in the first installment of which earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Young also appeared in such films as Chinatown (1974), The Gambler (1974), The Killer Elite (1975), Convoy (1978), Uncle Joe Shannon (1978), Once Upon a Time in America (1984), The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984), A Summer to Remember (1985), Back to School (1986), Last Exit to Brooklyn (1990), Mickey Blue Eyes (1999), Transamerica (2005), Win Win (2011), and Bottom of the 9th (2019).

Early life Young was born on April 30, 1940, in Queens, New York City, and raised in the Queens neighborhood of Corona, the son of Josephine and Michael DeLouise, a high school shop teacher. He was of Italian descent.

Young was trained by Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio.

Career Military service Young served a tour of duty in the United States Marine Corps from 1957 to 1959; while in the Marine Corps, he boxed regularly, winning 32 of 34 boxing bouts.

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; the character was described as having died in 2012.

Young appeared in such films as 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 Amityville II: The Possession.

Television appearances for Young included The Rockford Files, Baretta, Law & Order, Walker, Texas Ranger, All in the Family, M*A*S*H, and Miami Vice. He 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, Salvatore "Mustang Sally" Intile, as punishment for Intile having brutally beaten a family friend simply for chatting with Intile's girlfriend.

In 1986, Young appeared alongside Robert De Niro and Ralph Macchio in a Broadway production of Reinaldo Povod's play Cuba and His Teddy Bear.

In a nod to his having served in the U.S. Marine Corps, he played a retired drill instructor in the short-lived 1987 ABC series Roomies, in which his character decides to go to college after his retirement.

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.

Painting and writing Young was also a painter; his art has been displayed in galleries throughout the world. As an artist, he 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. Some of Young's actual paintings were shown in a scene in Rocky Balboa when Paulie gets fired from the meatpacking plant.

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

Personal life Young's wife, Gloria, died in 1974. He had a daughter and a grandson. He resided in Port Washington, New York.

Young owned a restaurant in the Bronx, New York. He participated in the 1984 New York City Marathon.

Death Young died at Northridge Hospital Medical Center in Los Angeles, on October 8, 2023, at the age of 83. The immediate cause of death was ruled as cardiac arrest with contributing factors listed as myocardial infarction, atrial fibrillation, and atherosclerosis. He was buried at Mount St. Mary Cemetery in Flushing, Queens.

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes 1970 Carnival of Blood Gimpy Credited as John Harris 1971 Born to Win First Hood The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight Willie Quarequlo 1972 Across 110th Street Lapides 1973 Cinderella Liberty Master At Arms 1974 Chinatown Curly The Gambler Carmine 1975 The Killer Elite Mac Live A Little, Steal A Lot Sergeant Bernasconi 1976 Harry and Walter Go to New York Warden Durgom Rocky Paulie Pennino Nominated—Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor 1977 The Choirboys Scuzzi 1977 Twilight's Last Gleaming Augie Garvas 1978 Convoy Bobby 'Love Machine' Pig Pen Uncle Joe Shannon Joe Shannon Also the writer of this film 1979 Rocky II Paulie Pennino 1981 Blood Beach Sergeant Royko ...All the Marbles Eddie Cisco 1982 Rocky III Paulie Pennino Amityville II: The Possession Anthony Montelli Lookin' to Get Out Jerry Feldman 1984 Over the Brooklyn Bridge Phil Once Upon a Time in America Joe Minaldi The Pope of Greenwich Village Eddie 'Bed Bug Eddie' Grant 1985 Rocky IV Paulie Pennino A Summer to Remember Fidel Fargo 1986 Back to School Lou 1989 Going Overboard General Noriega Blood Red Andrews Beverly Hills Brats Clive 1990 Last Exit to Brooklyn Joe 'Big Joe' Betsy's Wedding Georgie Wait Until Spring, Bandini Rocco Saccone Club Fed Warden Boyle Diving In Coach Mack Backstreet Dreams Luca Rocky V Paulie Pennino 1991 Bright Angel Art Red American George Maniago 1992 Circle of Fear Mancini Cattive ragazze Unknown 1993 Excessive Force Sal DiMarco 1995 Opposite Corners Unknown Direct-to-video 1996 The Mouse Himself North Star Reno Direct-to-video 1997 She's So Lovely Lorenzo Kicked in the Head Jack The Deli J.C. Heaven Before I Die Pollof Direct-to-video The Good Life Jimmy Never released Red-Blooded American Girl II Roy Falk Direct-to-video The Undertaker's Wedding Alberto Direct-to-video 1999 Mickey Blue Eyes Vito Graziosi Loser Love Sydney Delacroix 2000 The Florentine Joe McCollough Very Mean Men Dominic Piazza Blue Moon Bobby Table One Frankie Chips Direct-to-video 2002 The Adventures of Pluto Nash Gino Checkout Uncle Louie 2 Birds 1 Stallone Himself Kiss the Bride Santo Sposato 2003 Crooked Line Mike Ameche 2004 The Wager Jack Stockman Los Angeles Plays Itself Curly In Chinatown Uncredited, archive footage 2005 Land of Plenty Sherman Carlito's Way: Rise to Power Artie Bottolota Sr. Direct-to-video Shut Up and Kiss Me Vincent Bublioni Hubert Selby Jr: It/ll Be Better Tomorrow Actor Uncredited, archive footage Transamerica Murray 2006 RevoLOUtion: The Transformation of Lou Benedetti Himself Nicky's Game Leo Singer Short film Rocky Balboa Paulie Pennino In The Ring Himself Video documentary Tribute to Burgess Meredith Himself (voice) Video documentary short 2007 Blue Lake Massacre Pops Downtown: A Street Tale Gus The 21st Annual Genesis Awards Himself Video Skill vs. Will: The Making of 'Rocky Balboa''' | Himself | Video documentary short |- | Go Go Tales| Murray

| Oliviero Rising| Santino

| The Hideout| Mueller

| 2010 | Kingshighway| Mario Capriolini

| 2011 | Win Win| Leo Poplar

| Rob the Mob| Joey D.

| rowspan="4" | 2015 | The Elevator: Three Minutes Can Change Your Life| George

| King Rat| Art Stillman

| Sarah Q| Grandpa

| The Amityville Murders| Brigante

| Road to the Lemon Grove| Zio Vincenzo

| rowspan="5" | 2019 | The Brawler| Salvatore

| Bottom of the 9th| Scaleri

| Vault| Don Ruggiero

| Tapestry| Ian

|Smothered by Mothers|Ivan

| The Final Code| Detective

Television Year Title Role Notes 1969 The Doctors Bartender Episode #1785 10 October 1969 1973 The Connection Ernie Television film 1973 M*A*S*H Lieutenant Willis Episode: "L.I.P. (Local Indigenous Personnel)" 1974 The Great Niagara Ace Tully Television film 1975 Hustling Gustavino Television film 1976 The Rockford Files Stuart Gaily Episode: "The Family Hour" 1975–1976 Baretta WillySolomonJohnny Checco Episodes: "Keep Your Eye on the Sparrow""The Big Hand's on Trouble" (Also the writer of this episode)"Soldier in the Jungle" 1976 Serpico Alec Rosen Episode: "The Deadly Game" 1976 Woman of the Year Ralph Rodino Television film 1977 Good Morning America Himself – Guest Episode: "17 March 1977" 1977 The 49th Annual Academy Awards Himself – Nominee Television special 1978 Daddy, I Don't Like It Like This Rocco Agnelli Television film, Also the writer of this film 1979–1980 The Mike Douglas Show Himself – Guest 2 episodes 1980 The 6th People's Choice Awards Himself – Accepting Favourite Motion Picture Award Television special 1980 Murder Can Hurt You Lt. Palumbo Television film 1983 You and Me Kid Actor Television series 1984 Miami Vice Lupo Ramirez Episode: "Give a Little, Take a Little" 1985 Airwolf Episode: "Prisoner of Yesterday" 1985 A Summer to Remember Fidel Fargo Television film 1985 Playboy Mid Summer Night's Dream Party 1985 Himself Television film 1985 The Equalizer Louie Ganucci Episode: "The Confirmation Day" 1986 Alfred Hitchcock Presents Ed Fratus Episode 1x23, "Road Hog" 1986 Nightlife Himself 1 episode 1987 Roomies Nick Chase 8 episodes 1990 Vendetta: Secrets of a Mafia Bride Vincent Dominici Television miniseries 1992 The Final Contract Television film 1992 Tales from the Crypt Gambler Episode: "Split Personality" 1993 Double Deception Zimmer Television film 1994 Columbo Mo Weinberg Episode: "Undercover" 1994 Crocodile Shoes Lou Benedetti Television miniseries 1995 Bless This House Mr. Riveto Episode: "The Postman Always Moves Twice" 1996–1997 Walker, Texas Ranger Jack "Soldier" Belmont 2 episodes 1997 The Last Don Virginio Ballazzo Television miniseries 1997 Law & Order Lewis Darnell Episode: "Mad Dog" 1997 Before Women Had Wings Louis Ippolito Television film 1997 The Outer Limits Captain Parker Episode: "Tempests" 1998 Greener Fields Gallagher Television film 1999 The Making of a Mobster: 'Mickey Blue Eyes''' | Himself | Television short documentary |- | 2000 | The Howard Stern Show| Himself – Guest | Episode: "6 May 2000" |- | 2001 | The Sopranos| Bobby "Bacala" Baccalieri Sr. | Episode: "Another Toothpick" |- | 2002 | Alternate Realities| Frank | Television series |- | 2003 | The Handler| Dino Mantoni | Episode: "Bruno Comes Back" |- | 2004 | I'm With Her| Himself | Episode: "Winners & Losers & Whiners & Boozers: Part 2" |- | 2005–2011 | Biography| Himself | 2 episodes |- | 2005 | The Contenders| Himself | 4 episodes |- | 2007 | La noche desesperada| Murray | Television film, archive footage |- | 2008 | Cinemania| Himself

Burt Young

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