Carl Weathers, who starred in Rocky films as Apollo Creed, dies age 76

Carl Weathers, who starred as Apollo Creed in the first four Rocky films alongside Sylvester Stallone, and the One Chicago franchise, has died at the age of 76. 

“We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of Carl Weathers,” his family said in a statement. “He died peacefully in his sleep on Thursday, February 1st, 2024. … Carl was an exceptional human being who lived an extraordinary life. Through his contributions to film, television, the arts and sports, he has left an indelible mark and is recognized worldwide and across generations. He was a beloved brother, father, grandfather, partner, and friend.” 

Carl also appeared in Predator, Happy Gilmore, Action Jackson, Toy Story 4 as the voice of Combat Carl and most recently The Mandalorian with Pedro Pascal.  In the Disney+ Star Wars Carl starred as Greef Karga, the head of the Bounty Hunters Guild, a close ally of Pedro Pascal’s Mando. He was nominated for his first Emy for the role, and he also directed two episodes in season two and three. 

In the Rocky franchise, he appeared in the first four films as the heavyweight champion of the world Apollo Creed, the main antagonist to the titular Rocky Balboa (played by Sylvester Stallone). He was killed off in Rocky IV (1985) during a fight with Russian heavyweight Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren) but his story continued with the 2015 sports film Creed, which starred Michael B Jordan as Adonis Creed, Apollo’s son, who is trained by Rocky. 

© Michael Buckner

Born on January 14, 1948, Carl was the father to two sons whom he welcomed with his ex-wife Mary Ann.

He graduated from San Diego State University and began his career in the early 1970s with appearances on TV series including Kung Fu, S.W.A.T,  Starsky and Hutch, Barnaby Jones,  and The Streets of San Francisco.

His big break came as Apollo Creed though, and he later went on to star in the cult classic Predator, as well as the Adam Sandler comedy Happy Gilmore, playing the title character’s golf coach. 

© NBC

However Carl was badly injured during filming, and he later told GQ that he didn’t realize the extent of his injuries for many years:  “I didn’t know it until years later, but I fractured two vertebrae and osteophytes grew out and connected and it did a kind of self-fuse in a really bad place.

“There were three or four years there where I was just in excruciating pain. And somehow, I was going to a doctor and getting treatment and then I went to another doctor and, finally, after I thought I was exhausted with what to do, I started to look into surgeons and I was told by one of the heads of surgery at one of our very fine hospitals in Los Angeles, ‘You don’t want us to touch that. We can only make it worse.’ I went, ‘How am I going to get through this?’

“After maybe the fourth year it all started to calm down. Now, for about two-and-a-half years, almost three years, no serious pain. I’m glad not to be experiencing what I was experiencing. It was debilitating.”

In 2017 he joined the cast of the shortlived One Chicago spin-off Chicago Justice on NBC as State’s Attorney Mark Jefferies before he joined the 2019 series The Mandalorian. Season four is in development, while a spin-off movie -The Mandalorian & Grogu – is also being developed by the studio. It is unclear if Carl or his character were involved.