Carl Weathers

Carl Weathers
Carl Weathers as Apollo Creed in Rocky IV
Born	January 14 1948 (1948-01-14) (age 60) New Orleans, Louisiana,  United States

Carl Weathers (born January 14, 1948) is an American actor, as well as former professional American and Canadian league football player. He is perhaps best known for his role as Apollo Creed in the Rocky series of films.

Biography

Personal life

Weathers was born in New Orleans, Louisiana.^[1] He graduated from St. Augustine High School and then went to San Diego State University. Outside of acting, he is a member of both Big Brothers and the United States Olympic Committee. In April 2007, he married Jennifer Peterson, a documentary filmmaker. Carl Weathers is well-known to the internet sports player stock market known as protrade. An estimated fifty members of the website have formed a Carl Weathers fanclub.

Football career

At San Diego State University, Carl was a member of the football team. This led to a brief career as a linebacker with the Oakland Raiders, where he played 7 games in 1970 and one game in 1971. He joined the Canadian Football League (British Columbia Lions) in 1971 and played until 1973, 18 games in total. He retired in 1974 to become an actor.

Acting career

Weathers had his first parts in two Arthur Marks directed 1970s blaxploitation films: Bucktown and Friday Foster, both in 1975. Weathers also appeared in an episode on the 70's sitcom Good Times as an angry husband who suspected his wife of cheating on him with JJ. Ironically, though his character was presumably supposed to be older, Carl is actually one year younger than Jimmie Walker. In 1976, he starred alongside Sylvester Stallone in Rocky as Apollo Creed, a role he would reprise in the next three Rocky films in 1979, 1982, and 1985. For the most recent film in the Rocky series, Rocky Balboa, Sylvester Stallone asked Weathers, Mr. T, and Dolph Lundgren for permission to use footage from their appearances in the earlier Rocky movies. Mr. T and Dolph Lundgren gave him their graces, however Weathers wanted an actual part in the movie, even though his character died in Rocky IV. Stallone refused and Weathers decided not to allow Stallone to use his image for Rocky flashbacks from the previous movies. They instead decided to use new footage of a fighter who looks similar to Weathers.^[2] In 1978 Carl portrayed infamous 60's misogynist Vince Sullivan in the TV movie, Not This Time. The role helped break new ground for Carl as a dramatic lead. Audiences across America were taken aback to see their beloved Carl portray such a vicious woman beater as Sullivan with great conviction. Though Sullivan felt at the time the film greatly exaggerated his misdeeds, he did agree that Carl was the right man for the role. Weathers also starred in a number of action films, both theatrically and on television, including: Force 10 from Navarone (1978), Predator (1987), Action Jackson (1988), and Hurricane Smith (1992), and is briefly seen as an Army MP in one of the three released versions of Close Encounters of the Third Kind. As a member of the cast of Predator, Weathers worked with future California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and future Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura. Many years later he appeared in a spoof segment on Saturday Night Live, announcing that he was running for political office and urging viewers to vote for him on the basis that "he was the other guy in Predator". He also appeared in Michael Jackson's "Liberian Girl" music video. He also had the role of Chubbs in Happy Gilmore. During the final season of In the Heat of the Night, his character of Hampton Forbes replaced Bill Gillespie at the chief of the Sparta, Mississippi police. He continued that role in the television movies based on the series. His noted other TV role was on the cop show Street Justice where he played Sgt. Adam Beaudreaux. He also played as MACV-SOG Colonel Brewster in the CBS series Tour of Duty. In 2004, Weathers received a significant career revival as a comedic actor. Since he had worked primarily as a dramatic actor in action films throughout the first half of his career, he began appearing in many works that were quite different from his past. Beginning in 2004 with appearances in several episodes of the cult hit comedy series Arrested Development as a cheapskate caricature of himself, Weathers began appearing in largely comedic roles. This series of guest spots led to him getting roles in the comedies The Sasquatch Dumpling Gang and The Comebacks, which was his first major role in a film since 1992's Hurricane Smith. Weathers provided the voice for Colonel Samuel Garret in the Pandemic Studios video game, Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction.^[3] In 2005, he was a narrator on Conquest! The Price Of Victory - Witness The Journey of the Trojans!, an 18-part television show about USC athletics. Weathers is a principal of Red Tight Media, a film and video production company that specializes in tactical training films made for the United States armed forces. He is currently acting as "Brian "Gebo" Fitzgerald" in advertising for Old Spice's sponsorship of NASCAR driver Tony Stewart.

Filmography

References

External links

• Carl Weathers at the Internet Movie Database