Burt Young Biography

Gerald Tommaso DeLouise, popularly known as Burt Young, was born on April 30, 1940. He died on October 8, 2023. He was an American actor, author, and painter. He is best known for his Academy Award-nominated role as Rocky Balboa‘s brother-in-law and best friend Paulie Pennino in the Rocky film series.

Early Life

Burt Young was born on April 30, 1940, in Corona, Queens, New York City. He is the son of Josephine and Michael DeLouise, a high school shop teacher. He was of Italian descent.

Young served in the United States Marine Corps from 1957 to 1959. After leaving the Marines, he worked in various jobs, including as a carpet cleaner, salesman, and installer. He also took acting classes at the Actors Studio under the legendary acting coach Lee Strasberg.

Career

Military Service

Burt Young served in the United States Marine Corps from 1957 to 1959. He was stationed at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina and Camp Pendleton in California. During his time in the Marines, he boxed and won 34 of his 36 fights.

Acting

Young began his career in the late 1960s with guest roles on television shows such as The Defenders and N.Y.P.D. He made his feature film debut in 1970 in the crime drama Chinatown.

Burt Young’s breakthrough role came in 1976 with his portrayal of Paulie Pennino in the Rocky film series. He reprised the role in all five Rocky sequels, making him the only actor other than Sylvester Stallone to appear in all six films.

Young also appeared in numerous television shows throughout his career, including The Sopranos, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and Blue Bloods.

Painting and Writing

In addition to his acting career, Burt Young was also a painter and writer. He published two books of memoirs: Uncle Joe Shannon in 1998 and It Ain’t Rocket Science, But It’s My Life in 2004. He also wrote and starred in the short film The Audition in 2023.

Personal Life

Burt Young was married to Gloria DeLouise from 1961 to 1974. They have one daughter, Anne Morea. Young died on October 8, 2023, at the age of 83, from natural causes.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role
2021	Stallone: Frank, That Is	Himself
2021	Charlie Boy	Luca
2020	40 Years of Rocky: The Birth of a Classic	Himself – Paulie Pennino
2020	Beckman	Salvatore
2019	The Brawler	Salvatore
2019	Bottom of the 9th	Scaleri
2019	Vault	Don Ruggiero
2019	Tapestry	Ian
2019	Smothered by Mothers	Ivan
2018	The Selfish Ones	Father John (voice)
2018	6 Grandchildren And One Grandfather	Grandfather
2018	Sarah Q	Grandpa
2018	The Amityville Murders	Brigante
2018	Road to the Lemon Grove	Zio Vincenzo
2017	The Neighborhood	Jingles’
2017	King Rat	Art Stillman
2017	John G. Avildsen: King of the Underdogs	Himself
2016	The Dicks	Ed
2015	The Elevator: Three Minutes Can Change Your Life	George
2015	Lostland	Actor
2015	Irene & Marie	John
2015	Fall 4 You	Dominick
2014	Tom in America	Michael
2014	Zarra’s Law	Paul Canto
2014	Rob the Mob	Joey D.
2013	See You Tomorrow	Mario Palagonia
2013	All Over	Himself – Host
2012	Casting By	Himself
2011	Win Win	Leo Poplar
2010	Kingshighway	Mario Capriolini
2009	New York, I Love You	Landlord
2008	Carnera: The Walking Mountain	Lou Serosi
2008	Rocky Jumped a Park Bench	Himself
2007	Blue Lake Massacre	Pops
2007	Downtown: A Street Tale	Gus
2007	The 21st Annual Genesis Awards	Himself
2007	Skill vs. Will: The Making of ‘Rocky Balboa’	Himself
2007	Go Go Tales	Murray
2007	Oliviero Rising	Santino
2007	The Hideout	Mueller
2007	Hack!	J.T. Bates
2006	RevoLOUtion: The Transformation of Lou Benedetti	Himself
2006	Nicky’s Game	Leo Singer
2006	Rocky Balboa	Paulie Pennino
2006	In The Ring	Himself
2006	Tribute to Burgess Meredith	Himself (voice)
2005	Land of Plenty	Sherman
2005	Carlito’s Way: Rise to Power	Artie Bottolota Sr.
2005	Shut Up and Kiss Me	Vincent Bublioni
2005	Hubert Selby Jr: It/ll Be Better Tomorrow	Actor
2005	Transamerica	Murray
2004	The Wager	Jack Stockman
2004	Los Angeles Plays Itself	Curly In Chinatown
2003	Crooked Line	Mike Ameche
2002	The Adventures of Pluto Nash	Gino
2002	Checkout	Uncle Louie
2002	2 Birds 1 Stallone	Himself
2002	Kiss the Bride	Santo Sposato
2000	The Florentine	Joe McCollough
2000	Very Mean Men	Dominic Piazza
2000	Blue Moon	Bobby
2000	Table One	Frankie Chips
1999	Mickey Blue Eyes	Vito Graziosi
1999	Loser Love	Sydney Delacroix
1997	She’s So Lovely	Lorenzo
1997	Kicked in the Head	Jack
1997	The Deli	J.C.
1997	Heaven Before I Die	Pollof
1997	The Good Life	Jimmy
1997	Red-Blooded American Girl II	Roy Falk
1997	The Undertaker’s Wedding	Alberto
1996	The Mouse	Himself
1996	North Star	Reno
1995	Opposite Corners	Unknown
1993	Excessive Force	Sal DiMarco
1992	Circle of Fear	Mancini
1992	Cattive ragazze	Unknown
1991	Bright Angel	Art
1991	Red American	George Maniago
1990	Last Exit to Brooklyn	Joe ‘Big Joe’
1990	Betsy’s Wedding	Georgie
1990	Wait Until Spring, Bandini	Rocco Saccone
1990	Club Fed	Warden Boyle
1990	Diving In	Coach Mack
1990	Backstreet Dreams	Luca
1990	Rocky V	Paulie Pennino
1989	Going Overboard	General Noriega
1989	Blood Red	Andrews
1989	Beverly Hills Brats	Clive
1986	Back to School	Lou
1985	Rocky IV	Paulie Pennino
1985	A Summer to Remember	Fidel Fargo
1984	Over the Brooklyn Bridge	Phil
1984	Once Upon a Time in America	Joe Minaldi
1984	The Pope of Greenwich Village	Eddie ‘Bed Bug Eddie’ Grant
1982	Rocky III	Paulie Pennino
1982	Amityville II: The Possession	Anthony Montelli
1982	Lookin’ to Get Out	Jerry Feldman
1981	Blood Beach	Sergeant Royko
1981	…All the Marbles	Eddie Cisco
1979	Rocky II	Paulie Pennino
1978	Convoy	Bobby ‘Love Machine’ Pig Pen
1978	Uncle Joe Shannon	Joe Shannon
1977	The Choirboys	Scuzzi
1977	Twilight’s Last Gleaming	Augie Garvas
1976	Harry and Walter Go to New York	Warden Durgom
1975	The Killer Elite	Mac
1975	Live A Little, Steal A Lot	Sergeant Bernasconi
1974	Chinatown	Curly
1974	The Gambler	Carmine
1973	Cinderella Liberty	Master At Arms
1972	Across 110th Street	Lapides
1971	Born to Win	First Hood
1971	The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight	Willie Quarequlo
1970	Carnival of Blood	Gimpy
1970	Rocky	Paulie Pennino
TBA	The final code	Detective
	Way of the Warriors	George Stevens
	Street Justice	Patty O’Grady
	All In	Ben Marino
	Asleep at the Wheel	Judge

Television

Year	Title	Role
2019	Russian Doll	Joe
2018	Kevin Can Wait	Marv
2016	Brows Held High	Paulie Pennino
2016	Horace and Pete	Horace Sr.
2015	The Jack and Triumph Show	Himself
2014	Turning Point with Frank McKay	Himself
2013	Baciamo le mani – Palermo New York 1958	Gillo Draghi
2011	The Rocky Saga: Going the Distance	Himself
2009	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Eddy Mack
2008	Cinemania	Himself
2007	La noche desesperada	Murray
2005	The Contenders	Himself
2004	I’m With Her	Himself
2003	The Handler	Dino Mantoni
2002	Alternate Realities	Frank
2001	The Sopranos	Bobby “Bacala” Baccalieri Sr.
2000	The Howard Stern Show	Himself – Guest
1999	The Making of a Mobster: ‘Mickey Blue Eyes’	Himself
1998	Greener Fields	Gallagher
1997	The Last Don	Virginio Ballazzo
1997	Law & Order	Lewis Darnell
1997	Before Women Had Wings	Louis Ippolito
1997	The Outer Limits	Captain Parker
1995	Bless This House	Mr. Riveto
1994	Columbo	Mo Weinberg
1994	Crocodile Shoes	Lou Benedetti
1993	Double Deception	Zimmer
1992	The Final Contract
1992	Tales from the Crypt	Gambler
1990	Vendetta: Secrets of a Mafia Bride	Vincent Dominici
1987	Roomies	Nick Chase
1986	Alfred Hitchcock Presents	Ed Fratus
1986	Nightlife	Himself
1985	Airwolf
1985	A Summer to Remember	Fidel Fargo
1985	Playboy Mid Summer Night’s Dream Party 1985	Himself
1985	The Equalizer	Louie Ganucci
1984	Miami Vice	Lupo Ramirez
1983	You and Me Kid	Actor
1980	The 6th People’s Choice Awards	Himself – Accepting Favourite Motion Picture Award
1980	Murder Can Hurt You	Lt. Palumbo
1978	Daddy, I Don’t Like It Like This	Rocco Agnelli
1977	Good Morning America	Himself – Guest
1977	The 49th Annual Academy Awards	Himself – Nominee
1976	The Rockford Files	Stuart Gaily
1976	Serpico	Alec Rosen
1976	Woman of the Year	Ralph Rodino
1975	Hustling	Gustavino
1974	The Great Niagara	Ace Tully
1973	The Connection	Ernie
1973	MASH	Lieutenant Willis
1969	The Doctors	Bartender
2005–2011	Biography	Himself
1996–1997	Walker, Texas Ranger	Jack “Soldier” Belmont
1979–1980	The Mike Douglas Show	Himself – Guest
1975–1976	Baretta	WillySolomonJohnny Checco

Death

Burt Young died on October 8, 2023, at the age of 83, from natural causes. He is survived by his daughter, Anne Morea.

Burt Young was a talented actor who left behind a legacy of iconic roles. He was also a kind and generous person who was loved by his family, friends, and fans.