Burt the Bat

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Young was born on April 30, 1940, in Queens, New York City, and raised in the Queens neighborhood of Corona, the son of Josephine and Michael DeLouise, a high school shop teacher. He was of Italian descent. Young was trained by Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio. He served a tour of duty in the United States Marine Corps from 1957 to 1959; while in the Marine Corps, he boxed regularly, winning 32 of 34 boxing bouts. Young made his name playing rough-edged working class Italian-American characters, the best-known example being his signature role as Rocky Balboa's friend (and future brother-in-law) Paulie in Rocky (1976), for which he received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He is one of four actors (the other three being Sylvester Stallone, Stu Nahan, and Tony Burton) who have appeared in all of the first six Rocky films (although Talia Shire, who appears in the first five films, makes a flashback appearance in the sixth). Young did not reprise his role in the 2015 film Creed; the character was described as having died in 2012.

In Their Own Story

Young appeared in such films as Chinatown, Convoy, Back to School, The Pope of Greenwich Village, Once Upon a Time in America, Last Exit to Brooklyn, Downtown: A Street Tale, and Amityville II: The Possession. Television appearances for Young included The Rockford Files, Baretta, Law & Order, Walker, Texas Ranger, All in the Family, M*A*S*H, and Miami Vice. He made an appearance on The Sopranos ("Another Toothpick") as Bobby Baccalieri's father, who is dying of cancer and comes out of retirement to execute a hit on his godson, Salvatore "Mustang Sally" Intile, as punishment for Intile having brutally beaten a family friend simply for chatting with Intile's girlfriend. In 1986, Young appeared alongside Robert De Niro and Ralph Macchio in a Broadway production of Reinaldo Povod's play Cuba and His Teddy Bear. In a nod to his having served in the U.S. 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 his retirement. In 2017, Burt Young returned to the stage as an aged mob boss in The Last Vig, a play written by Dave Varriale. The show ran from January 14 to February 19, 2017, at The Zephyr Theatre in Los Angeles.

Reader's Guide

Young was also a painter; his art has been displayed in galleries throughout the world. As an artist, he collaborated with the writer Gabriele Tinti, for whom he designed the cover for the poetry collection All Over, as well as contributing the illustrations for the art book A Man. Some of Young's actual paintings were shown in a scene in Rocky Balboa when Paulie gets fired from the meatpacking plant. Young was also a published author whose works included two filmed screenplays and a 400-page historical novel called Endings. He wrote two stage plays: SOS and A Letter to Alicia and the New York City Government from a Man With a Bullet in His Head. Young's wife, Gloria, died in 1974. He had a daughter and a grandson. He resided in Port Washington, New York. Young owned a restaurant in the Bronx, New York. He participated in the 1984 New York City Marathon. Young died at Northridge Hospital Medical Center in Los Angeles, on October 8, 2023, at the age of 83. The immediate cause of death was ruled as cardiac arrest with contributing factors listed as myocardial infarction, atrial fibrillation, and atherosclerosis. He was buried at Mount St. Mary Cemetery in Flushing, Queens.

Did You Know?

• Burt Young served in the United States Marine Corps from 1957 to 1959 and won 32 of 34 boxing bouts while in service.
• He was trained by Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio.
• Young is one of four actors to appear in all of the first six Rocky films.
• He participated in the 1984 New York City Marathon.
• Young's paintings were shown in a scene in Rocky Balboa when Paulie gets fired from the meatpacking plant.