Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —
Actor Carl Weathers died on Thursday (1/2) US time. Matt Luber as manager confirmed that the Rocky film star died at the age of 76.
“He died peacefully at home,” Luber was reported as saying CNNwithout revealing the cause of the actor’s death.
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The actor, born January 14 1948, is survived by his ex-wife, Mary Ann, and their two children.
“Carl was an extraordinary human being who lived an extraordinary life,” the family said in a statement. “Through his contributions to film, television, art and sports, he has left an indelible mark, and is recognized throughout the world and across generations.”
Carl Weathers was actually a former football player who had never boxed when he auditioned for a role in the film Rocky. He passed and went on to appear as Apollo Creed in the Oscar-winning film and three subsequent sequels.
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In a 2015 interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Weathers recalled auditioning with Sylvester Stallone, who at the time was only known as the film’s writer.
Later, he found out that Stallone was starring in the film Rocky and he couldn’t focus while reading the script.
“I can only say, ‘I could do so much better if you gave me real actors to work with.'”
After becoming increasingly popular through the film Rocky, Weathers starred in a series of other hit films, such as Predator starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, as well as Happy Gilmore with Adam Sandler.
Weathers also voiced the character Combat Carl in the film Toy Story 4. In recent years, he has also directed several episodes of the television series.
He earned his first Emmy nomination in 2021 for The Mandalorian, for which he played Greef Karga in nine episodes across the series’ three seasons. Weathers took the director’s chair for Episodes 12 and 20 of the Star Wars spinoff.
Carl Weathers was also nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for his work in the series The Mandalorian.
(chris)