A huge part of the fabled Rocky franchise has passed on.
Actor Carl Weathers, who portrayed Apollo Creed in the first four Rocky movies, has passed away at age 76. Manager Matt Luber, who represented Weathers, confirmed the news on Friday with Weathers’ family revealing that he had died “peacefully in his sleep” sometime Thursday.
While not a fighter himself, Weathers and Rocky star Sylvester Stallone inspired a generation of fighters with their characters. Notably, UFC star Tom Lawlor pulled off an Apollo Creed-themed entrance at UFC 113, inspired by Creed’s own walkout to James Brown’s Living in America, part of Rocky IV.
Beyond his four highly regarded outings in the boxing franchise, Weathers also turned up in another action movie classic, Predator, in a co-starring role opposite lead Arnold Schwarzenegger.
In his later career, Weathers took a turn into the comedic, appearing in the 1996 Adam Sandler classic Happy Gilmore as a golf instructor, and as a fictionalized version of himself in the comedy series Arrested Development, which developed a cult following after three seasons on FOX and received a revival from Netflix early in the streamer’s push into original content.
Weathers might be best known to younger fans, however, as Greef Carga on The Mandalorian, a role he portrayed for three seasons, including the show’s most recent.
His Apollo Creed character also paved the way for modern day boxing franchise Creed, which focuses on the life and career of the character’s son, Adonis “Donnie” Johnson. Weathers, however, never appeared in the younger franchise itself, given his character was killed off in Rocky IV.
Off-screen, Carl Weathers got his start in football, signing with the NFL’s Oakland Raiders as an undrafted free agent in 1970. The team, with Weathers a regular, made it to the AFC championship game that same year. Weathers also had a stint in the CFL before retiring from football in 1974 and transitioning to acting.
