Burt Young Biography

MARITAL STATUS
Profession Actor
Birth name Gerald Tommaso DeLouise
Nationality American
Birth April 30, 1940 (New York, New York – United States)
Death October 8, 2023 (Los Angeles, California – United States)\

BIOGRAPHY
Burt Young takes lessons from Lee Strasberg at the prestigious Actor’s Studio drama school . After a few small appearances in thrillers such as Chinatown (1974) and Le Flambeur (1974), it was director Sam Peckinpah who revealed the actor’s talent in the role of an assassin in Elite Killer (1975) , a film in which he meets one of his friends: the actor James Caan . Burt Young then impressed with his solid acting to the point that director John G. Avildsen hired him to play the role of Paulie in Rocky (1976).

It is a consecration for the actor who finds himself nominated for the Oscar for best supporting role. But despite this success, Burt Young remains in his favorite genre: the detective film. However, he was only content with supporting roles: this is how he made various appearances in thrillers such as The Ultimatum of the Three Mercenaries (1977), Gang of Cops (1977). He then found himself under the direction of Sam Peckinpah in The Convoy (1978) where he played a sassy trucker.

He then finds Sylvester Stallone in all the episodes of the Rocky saga (excluding the Creed trilogy), from Rocky I I (1979) to Rocky Balboa (2006), always carried in the French version, by the inimitable timbre of Serge Sauvion , essential voice -among others- of Columbo. Note in passing that if Rocky had opened the doors to the Oscars for him, Rocky IV and Rocky V earned him two nominations for the Razzie Awards in 1986 and 1991.

After having appeared in horror films such as Bloody Beach (1981) or Amityville 2, The Possessed (1982), he made an appearance in the legendary film Once Upon a Time in America (1984). After The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984), the career of the actor, who previously worked in police or gangster roles, diversified. We thus find Burt Young as much in very light comedies such as Back to School (1986) or Betsy’s Wedding (1990) as in dramas like Last Exit to Brooklyn (1989) and Bright Angel (1991).

After She’s So Lovely (1997) by Nick Cassavetes, Burt Young directed his career towards much more intimate films. He plays the role of a stingy landlord in Jerry Schatzberg ‘s The Day the Ponies Come Back (2000) . He subsequently starred under the direction of Wim Wenders in the contemplative American drama Land of Plenty (2004) before playing Felicity Huffman ‘s father in Transamerica (2005). He was subsequently seen in Abel Ferrara ( Go Go Tales , 2007), Fatih Akin (a segment of New York, I Love You , 2009), Tom McCarthy ( The Winners , 2011) and in two episodes of the season 1 of the Netflix series Russian Doll in 2019.