Carl Weathers, who played Apollo Creed in the first four “Rocky” films with Sylvester Stallone, died Thursday, his manager Matt Luber confirmed to Variety. He was 76.
Weathers also appeared in the 1987 film “Predator” and had a noteworthy cameo in Adam Sandler’s “Happy Gilmore.” He was nominated for a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for his role in the “Star Wars” series “The Mandalorian.”
He portrayed Combat Carl in “Toy Story 4” and appeared as a fictionalized version of himself in a recurrent role on “Arrested Development.” His other credits include the TV programs “Street Justice,” “Colony,” “The Shield,” “Chicago Justice,” and “Brothers,” as well as the movies “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “Death Hunt,” and “The Comebacks.”
After collaborating with Sandler on the 1996 golf comedy “Happy Gilmore,” Weathers temporarily returned to his part in “Little Nicky” and voiced a character in Sandler’s animated Hanukkah comedy “Eight Crazy Nights.”
Weathers, born on January 14, 1948, in New Orleans, participated in a range of sports such as boxing, football, soccer, wrestling, and gymnastics. He played football in college for San Diego State University, where he helped the Aztecs win the 1969 Pasadena Bowl. Weathers studied theatrical arts at SDSU before signing as a free agent with the Oakland Raiders in 1970. He played eight games as a linebacker in the NFL over two seasons.
After his professional football career, Weathers turned his attention to acting, landing small roles in Arthur Marks’ blaxploitation films “Bucktown” and “Friday Foster,” as well as TV series such as “Good Times,” “Kung Fu,” “Cannon,” and “Starsky and Hutch.
Weathers played Colonel Al Dillon in the film “Predator,” with Arnold Schwarzenegger, who went on to become California’s governor, and Jesse Ventura, who became Governor of Minnesota. Weathers hosted “Saturday Night Live” in 1988, and many years later, he returned to the live sketch show for a spoof segment in which he announces his candidacy for political office based on his role as “the Black guy in ‘Predator.’”
When Stallone requested Weathers for permission to utilize footage from previous “Rocky” films for the sixth film in the series, 2006’s “Rocky Balboa,” Weathers declined and campaigned for a real role in the film, despite the fact that his character, Apollo Creed, died in “Rocky IV.” Stallone declined and hired a lookalike actor to film flashback fight sequences. The two reunited, and Weathers subsequently gave Stallone permission to use his image in the “Creed” sequel series, in which Michael B. Jordan portrays Apollo Creed’s son.
Weathers then obtained lesser parts in TV procedurals, which he also directed. He received his first Emmy nomination in 2021 for his role as Greef Karga in the Disney+ series “The Mandalorian,” which spanned three seasons and nine episodes. Weathers directed episodes 12 and 20 of the “Star Wars” spinoff.
Weathers is survived by his former wife, Mary Ann, and their two boys.
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