One of Hollywood’s great icons has passed. It has been announced today that Hollywood actor Carl Weathers has died at 76. The Emmy-nominated actor’s family confirmed that he died yesterday (February 1). No cause of death was mentioned.
Carl Weathers was an actor for about 50 years, putting him in roles beyond what fans thought of, like The Mandalorian, Predator, and Rocky. During that time, he starred in different media in original projects and beloved franchises. He appeared in film and TV and occasionally voiced video game characters to deliver his recognizable voice in games like Mortal Kombat.
Carl Weathers Dies, Leaving Behind Family and a Tremendous Career
Born on January 14, 1948, in New Orleans, Louisiana, the actor got his start in sports before transitioning to film. He had a short career as a professional football player. He thought about acting during his time in school, but after a play went wrong, and as people laughed at him, he went instead toward the NFL. He played as a linebacker for two years in the 1970s before setting his sights on Hollywood.
Carl Weathers started as an actor in the ’70s after things in the NFL did not go as he thought. It was only a few years before he found a role that would define his career: Apollo Creed in the first Rocky with Sylvester Stallone. Still, he largely did character acting in Starsky and Hutch, Barnaby Jones, and The Streets of San Francisco. By the mid-70s and through the ’80s, he became quite the blockbuster star as he reprised his role as Apollo in the next three Rocky movies and joined Arnold Schwarzenegger in Predator.
Over the years, his acting career evolved. He started to branch out by the late ’80s through the ’90s when he starred in Tour of Duty, Street Justice, In the Heat of the Night, and Happy Gilmore. In the new millennium, he popped up in everything, from Mortal Kombat X to Toy Story 4 and Arrested Development. He made a major resurgence when he joined Pedro Pascal for his Disney Plus series The Mandalorian.
He is survived by his ex-wife, Mary Ann, and their two sons, Jason and Matthew.
