Rocky’s Apollo Creed Actor Dies at 76: Who Was the Man Behind the Glove?

“You’re gonna have to go through hell. Worse than any nightmare that you’ve ever dreamed. But in the end, you know you’ll be the one standing. You know what you’ve gotta go. Do it. Do it!” these were the words delivered by Carl Weathers as Apollo Creed in the hit film franchise “Rocky.” These sentiments have stood the test of time and perhaps take on new meaning now after Carl Weathers’ untimely death.

Carl Weathers was born on January 14th, 1948 in New Orleans, Louisiana, and made a successful career in Hollywood but behind the scenes struggled with serious heart-related health issues for many years. Carl was the oldest child of David and Lucille Weathers and their teachings played a big part in how he dealt with his struggles and successes.

Carl started his impressive college career at Long Beach City College, and became a force on the defense as a defensive end. He would go on to transfer for San Diego State in 1968 and 1969.

While Carl was not tearing it up on the gridiron, he majored in theater arts at San Diego University. He would go on to star in a few campus theater productions. His most notable performance was his portrayal of Pylades in “Orestes”, an iconic Greek tragedy created by Euripides.

After a dominating and successful college career, Weathers moved on to a professional football career. Weathers was not drafted, but did sign as a free agent in 1970 by the Oakland Raiders.

Before claiming the iconic role as Apollo Creed, Weathers appeared in small roles on Friday Foster and Bucktown in 1975. He also appeared in a few television commercials and TV shows like “Good Times,” “Kung Fu,” “Cannon,” “Starsky and Hutch,” and “Barnaby Jones.”

During Weathers’s time starring in minor roles, Carl married Mary Ann Castle in 1973. During their marriage, the couple had two sons together, Matthew and Jason.

Carl Weathers’s most significant achievement came from Rocky, in his role as Apollo Creed. Weathers was able to portray “The King of Sting” perfectly as a charismatic and tough opponent who turned friend of Rocky Balboa.

Given the major success Weathers had portraying Apollo Creed in Rocky I, the company brought him back to work in Rocky II.

Carl Weathers would go on to be a major actor in Rocky III, and not as Rocky’s opponent. Apollo Creed turns into Rocky’s trainer after Mick passes away during the movie.

Carl’s second marriage to Rhona Unsell began in February of 1984 and went through 2006. While their marriage lasted for 22 years, they did not have any children together.

Carl Weathers played the role of Apollo Creed in “Rocky IV.” In the film, his character, Apollo Creed, faces a tragic fate during an exhibition match with the formidable Soviet boxer Ivan Drago, portrayed by Dolph Lundgren.

After the conclusion of the “Rocky” series, Carl went on to pair up with Arnold Schwarzenegger and star in “Predator”. Weathers portrays his character perfectly as a United States Army soldier transitioning into a role within the Central Intelligence Agency.

After Carl’s time on Predator, he went on to take the lead role as Jericho “Action” Jackson in the film “Action Jackson”. Despite the overall negative reviews of the movie, many critics of the movie raved about Weaters’s performance as the lead role. This role showcased his star capabilities.

In 1988, Carl Weathers earned his first nomination award for his role in Action Jackson. This nomination was for Outstanding Actor in a Motion picture.

While working on Predator and Action Jackson, Weathers played a prominent role in the hit television show In the Heat of the Night. Weathers portrayed Hampton Forbes, who was the new police chief of Sparta, Mississippi. His involvement in the series, which was filmed on location across Atlanta and held production in Georgia, allowed him to showcase his acting abilities in a different light, moving away from the action-oriented roles for which he was previously known.

Aside from Carl’s role in Rocky, his role in Happy Gilmore as Chubbs Peterson may be his most iconic and famous roles. Chubbs plays a golf legend who becomes Happy Gilmore’s mentor in the movie.

Carl Weathers’s first job as a director came from the television show “Sheena”. “Sheena” is an American action-adventure television series based on W. Morgan Thomas’s comic book character Sheena, Queen of the Jungle, and it updated the title character to the 21st century. The show starred Gena Lee Nolin as Sheena and John Allen Nelson as Matt Cutter.

Eight Crazy Nights was the first opportunity for Carl Weathers to appear as a voice role. Weathers role was the GNC Guy, and was considered to be a relatively minor portion of the movie.

Carl Weathers guest work on The Shield occurred from Season 2 to Season 6. His role as Joe Clark is considered to be one of the most memorable guest stars who appeared on the show.

Carl Weathers married Jennifer Peterson in 2007.  Jennifer Peterson is an award-winning creative content producer, director, and writer, known for her work on projects such as the 2000 short film “Pumpkin Hill” and the annual Hallmark show “American Rescue Dog Show”.

Carl Weathers appeared in the TV series Brothers as the character “Coach” Trainor. The show featured him in the role of a high school football coach and father figure to the main characters.

Carl Weathers directed yet another television episode, this time on the hit television series “Hawaii Five-0. This episode came from season nine, episode eleven, and is titled Hala I Ke Ala O’i’ole Mai. The overall narrative of the story is as follows: having buried Joe on his Montana ranch, Steve welcomes Danny, Junior, and a whole team of surviving SEALs to avenge Joe, after having bloodily beaten Omar Hassan’s whereabouts out of his Copenhagen lawyer Gregers Thomsen.

Quite arguably the most interesting and different role Weathers played came late in his career. Weathers played the role of Greef Karga for nine episodes over three seasons of the hit television show, The Mandalorian.

While Carl Weathers is mostly known for his role as Greef Karga, he is also known for directing portions of “The Mandalorian”. Carl began working his director role as one episode in the second season, and continued this role into the third season where he completed two episodes.

Carl Weathers’s final Emmy nomination came from his role as Greef Karga. Weathers received the nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor.

Weathers continued his directing career by directing the fifth episode in the fifth season of FBI, titled Flopped Cop. The episode was written by Thomas Kelly and aired on October 18, 2022.

Carl Weathers had an extremely successful career in the entertainment business, and voice acting only added to it.

In 2014, he won the BTVA Special/DVD Voice Acting Award for Best Male Vocal Performance in a TV Special/Direct-to-DVD Title or Short for his role as Combat Carl in “Toy Story of Terror”.

Carl Weathers has made significant contributions to society through his philanthropic endeavors. Weathers has worked with organizations like Big Brothers Big Sisters and the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, providing guidance and support to young people who may not have access to positive role models.

Carl Weathers unfortunately passed away on Thursday, February 1st, 2024 in his home in Los Angeles at the age of 76. His family announced he died peacefully in his sleep. It is reported per his death certificate that he died of “atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.” 

Speaking of legacy, Michael B. Jordan continued Weather’s legacy for his impressive role in the hit movie series, “Creed”. Jordan portrayed Adonis Creed, the son of Weathers’ iconic character Apollo Creed, in the “Rocky” film series.