Sylvester Stallone pays tribute to Carl Weathers: ‘Rest in power and keep punching”

3 February, 2024

Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger and more have paid tribute to the late actor Carl Weathers following the announcement of his death.

Weathers, the actor best known for his role as Apollo Creed in the Rocky films, as well as Predator, Happy Gilmore and The Mandalorian, died at the age of 76 on Thursday (February 1).

Stallone, who starred alongside Weathers in the first four Rocky films, released between 1976 and 1985, posted a video on Instagram saying it was “an incredibly sad day for me”, describing himself as “torn up” following his co-star’s passing.

He added: “Carl Weathers was such an integral part of my life, my success… I give him incredible credit. When he walked into that room and I saw him for the first time, I saw greatness but I didn’t realise how great.

“I never could have accomplished what we did with Rocky without him. He was absolutely brilliant. Rest in power and keep punching.”

Schwarzenegger who starred alongside Weathers in the 1987 action film Predator, also hailed the late actor.

He wrote: “Carl Weathers will always be a legend. An extraordinary athlete, a fantastic actor, and a great person. We couldn’t have made Predator without him. And we certainly wouldn’t have had such a wonderful time making it.”

His fellow Predator co-star Jesse Ventura described Weathers as a “phenomenal talent, a true professional and a dear friend”.

He added: “We lost an icon. Carl Weathers was a phenomenal talent, a true professional, and a dear friend. All my sympathies and love to his family. I loved working with him on Predator and then celebrating that film with him at various conventions in the ensuing years. Thank you, Carl.”

Elsewhere, fellow Mandalorian actor Giancarlo Esposito and former star Gina Carano also offered their condolences, with the latter posting a lengthy tribute saying she was “flooded by all the precious memories we had together”.

Michael B. Jordan who starred in the Rocky spin off movies Creed took to his Instagram Stories to pay his respects writing: “We lost a legend,” along with two dove emojis. In another slide, he paid silent tribute with a throwback photo of Carl working out with a punching bag.

Further tributes were also paid by director Robert Rodriguez and Danny Trejo. You can view them below.

Weathers was born in New Orleans in January 14, 1948. He excelled in sports, eventually playing college football at San Diego State University and then the Oakland Raiders in the NFL. He started working as an extra during those years, appearing in several blaxploitation films and an episode of Starsky and Hutch, before landing the role in Rocky.

His other acting roles included the title character in 1988 action film Action Jackson and the G.I. Joe-like character Combat Carl in Toy Story 4. He also played a parody version of himself in four episodes of Arrested Development as David Cross’ character’s acting coach.

Weathers was married three times, and is survived by his sons Jason and Matthew.

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