ACTOR
Burt Young
- Known for
- Rocky V (1990), Back to School (1986), Mickey Blue Eyes (1999), Amityville II: The Possession (1982)
24 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
Burt Young is an actor best known for Rocky V, Back to School and Mickey Blue Eyes.
All facts (24)
- #001
Burt Young served in the United States Navy from 1957 to 1959.
- #002
Burt Young is the only actor to appear in all six 'Rocky' films alongside Sylvester Stallone and Tony Burton.
- #003
Sylvester Stallone gave Young a gold Cartier watch with an inscription, which he was still wearing in the 1990s.
- #004
Young made four films in four consecutive years with James Caan: Cinderella Liberty (1973), The Gambler (1974), Killer Elite (1975) and Harry and Walter Go to New York (1976). These were among Burt Young's first roles before his famous turn as Pauly in Rocky (1976). The two would eventually work together again 20 years later in The North Star (1996).
- #005
Young claimed he boxed in the United States Marine Corps and reported a record of 32-2-0 with 26 knockouts.
- #006
One episode of 'Baretta' earned him an Emmy nomination, while another was based on his own original screenplay.
- #007
Young claimed he was a professional boxer with a 17-0 record but fought under aliases. He also claimed that Cus D'Amato, who trained and managed Floyd Patterson and later Mike Tyson, was his manager.
- #008
During his lean years, Young worked as a carpet cleaner, salesman and installer.
- #009
Young was also a painter, and his art was exhibited in galleries around the world. As an artist, he collaborated with the writer Gabriele Tinti, designing the cover of his poetry collection All Over and contributing illustrations to the art book A Man. Some of Young's actual paintings appeared in Rocky Balboa, in a scene where Paulie is fired from the meat-packing plant.
- #010
As of 2023, he appeared in two films nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: Chinatown (1974) and Rocky (1976), the latter of which won the category.
- #011
He agreed to help a friend by auditioning for the famous acting teacher Lee Strasberg. Young was accepted; his friend was not.
- #012
Young claimed that in the 1960s he fought George Chuvallo, the third-ranked heavyweight contender in the world, in Toronto, Canada.
- #013
As a nod to his service in the United States Marine Corps, he played a retired drill instructor in the short-lived 1987 ABC series Roomies, in which his character decides to go to college after retiring.
- #014
In 1980 he guest-starred in a TV movie titled Murder Can Hurt You! (1980), a parody of popular police shows in which he played 'Lt. Palumbo'; ironically, 14 years later he took a serious role in Columbo: Undercover (1994).
- #015
He grew up on 102nd Street in Corona, Queens, New York, and then on 38th Street in Sunnyside, Queens, New York, before his parents bought a house at 25-35 89th Street in East Elmhurst, Queens, New York.
- #016
He took part in the 1984 New York Marathon.
- #017
Young was also a published author, whose work included two screenplays that were filmed and a 400-page historical novel titled Endings.
- #018
The film Tom in America (2014) marked the first time in Young's career that he played a gay man.
- #019
His son is Richard Jr. and his daughter is Anne.
- #020
Burt Young owned a restaurant in the Bronx, New York.
- #021
Burt Young was of Italian descent.
- #022
Burt Young's older brother was Robert, born on January 6, 1938.
- #023
Burt Young wrote two stage plays: SOS and Letter to Alicia and the New York City Government from a Man with a Bullet in His Head.
- #024
In 2017, Burt Young returned to the stage as an aging mafia boss in The Last Vig, written by Dave Varriale. The play ran from January 14 to February 19, 2017, at the Zephyr Theatre in Los Angeles.
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