Stallone, struggling to make a living as an actor and with only $106 in the bank, turned down a reported fee of $350,000 for his script about the Italian Stallion’s improbable rise because the production company planned to cast someone else in the title role. This movie so strongly tells the fable of the American dream that even its production is one of the great rags to riches tales in filmmaking. Let’s have a look at how the series has evolved and how it’s many incarnations have dealt with and reflected shifting attitudes in American politics. Throughout its history, Rocky has dealt with issues such as legacy and fatherhood, (an awkward attempt at) racial politics, social mobility, and even managed to bring down the Soviet Union. However, that is not the only social movement that we can link to the film’s long narrative. Throughout its 42-year life cycle, Rocky has always represented the American dream: a working-class guy who life had seemingly passed by reaches the summit of the sport of boxing through determination, hard work and guts. The former athlete also served three and a half years in prison for robbery at the California Institution for Men in Chino, California, but said the sentence was ultimately “productive” as he earned his high school diploma and a college degree while behind bars.Īlong with the “Rocky” franchise, Burton also appeared in “The Shining,” “Stir Crazy,” “The Toy” and “Assault on Precinct 13.”īurton had been living in California for 30 years with his wife, Rae, before his death. His son, Martin, died of a heart attack at age 43 on May 8, 2014.The Rocky franchise is due to welcome it’s eighth instalment this month with the release of Creed II. See videos: Tony Burton's Most Inspirational 'Rocky' ScenesĪs a boxer, he won two Flint Golden Gloves light heavyweight titles in 19, then briefly fought professionally before starting his acting career. He played football and made All-City and All-Valley teams as a halfback in 1954, while also leading the Vikings baseball team to a city title as a pitcher, too. Sadly, due to his poor health, Burton wasn’t able to see the 2015 film “Creed,” the blockbuster film centered on the son of Rocky’s rival Apollo.īurton graduated from Flint Northern High School in 1955. #BePeace,” he wrote.īurton, from Flint, Michigan, had been in and out of the hospital for the past year, but never received an official diagnosis, his younger sister Loretta “Peaches” Kelley told the Michigan news site. His intensity and talent helped make the Rocky movies successful. Weathers confirmed Burton’s death in a heartfelt tweet Thursday night. The former football player and boxer appeared alongside Stallone and Weathers in the first six films of the hit franchise as Apollo Creed’s trainer. He was 78.Īlso Read: Tony Burton, 'Rocky' Actor, Dies at 78 “Tony Burton who played the character of Duke brilliantly in all six Rocky movies… Rest in peace,” Stallone posted on Instagram, along with a photo of himself, Burton, and Carl Weathers.īurton, the actor who played Apollo Creed’s and later Rocky Balboa’s boxing trainer Tony “Duke” Evers, died on Thursday. Sylvester Stallone has expressed his grief at the loss of his former “Rocky” co-star Tony Burton.
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