Carl Weathers

Infobox actor


birthdate = birth date and age|1948|1|14
birthplace = New Orleans, Louisiana,
USA
birthname =
othername =
spouse=

Carl Weathers (born January 14, 1948) is an American actor, as well as former professional football player in the United States and Canada. He is best known for his role as Apollo Creed in the "Rocky" series of films, as well as his role as Dillon in the first "Predator" movie.

Biography

Personal life

Weathers was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. [ [http://www.filmreference.com/film/72/Carl-Weathers.html Carl Weathers Biography (1948-) ] ] He graduated from St. Augustine High School and then went to San Diego State University. Outside of acting, he is a member of both Big Brothers and the United States Olympic Committee. In April 2007, he married Jennifer Peterson, a documentary filmmaker.

Football career

At San Diego State University, Carl was a member of the football team. This led to a brief career as a linebacker with the Oakland Raiders, where he played 7 games in 1970 and one game in 1971. He joined the British Columbia Lions of the Canadian Football League in 1971 and played until 1973, 18 games in total. He retired in 1974 to become an actor.

In his football career, he played for hall-of-fame coaches Don Coryell at San Diego State and John Madden with the Oakland Raiders.

Acting career

Weathers had his first parts in two Arthur Marks directed 1970s blaxploitation films: "Bucktown" and "Friday Foster", both in 1975. Weathers also appeared in an episode on the 70's sitcom "Good Times" as an angry husband who suspected his wife of cheating on him with JJ. Ironically, though his character was presumably supposed to be older, Carl is actually one year younger than Jimmie Walker. He noted that this was not actually the first time he worked with Arthur Marks, but they had actually known each other since they were young.

In 1976, he starred alongside Sylvester Stallone in "Rocky" as Apollo Creed, a role he would reprise in the next three "Rocky" films in 1979, 1982, and 1985. For the most recent film in the "Rocky" series, "Rocky Balboa", Sylvester Stallone asked Weathers, Mr. T, and Dolph Lundgren for permission to use footage from their appearances in the earlier Rocky movies. Mr. T and Dolph Lundgren gave him their graces, however Weathers wanted an actual part in the movie, even though his character died in "Rocky IV". Stallone refused and Weathers decided not to allow Stallone to use his image for Rocky flashbacks from the previous movies. They instead decided to use new footage of a fighter who looks similar to Weathers. [stated by Stallone on Jimmy Kimmel Live Dec. 21, 2006]

In 1978 Carl portrayed misogynist Vince Sullivan in the TV movie, "Not This Time." Weathers also starred in a number of action films, both theatrically and on television, including: "Force 10 from Navarone" (1978), "Predator" (1987), "Action Jackson" (1988), and "Hurricane Smith" (1992), and is briefly seen as an Army MP in one of the three released versions of "Close Encounters of the Third Kind". As a member of the cast of "Predator", Weathers worked with future California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and future Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura. Many years later he appeared in a spoof segment on "Saturday Night Live", announcing that he was running for political office and urging viewers to vote for him on the basis that "he was the other guy in Predator".

He also appeared in Michael Jackson's "Liberian Girl" music video. He also had the role of Chubbs in "Happy Gilmore", teaching Happy how to play golf.

During the final season of "In the Heat of the Night", his character of Hampton Forbes replaced Bill Gillespie at the chief of the Sparta, Mississippi police. He continued that role in the television movies based on the series. His noted other TV role was on the cop show "Street Justice" where he played Sgt. Adam Beaudreaux. He also played as MACV-SOG Colonel Brewster in the CBS series "Tour of Duty".

In 2004, Weathers received a career revival as a comedic actor. Beginning with appearances in 3 episodes of the comedy series "Arrested Development" as a cheapskate caricature of himself, who serves as Tobias Fünke's acting coach. He was then cast in the comedies "The Sasquatch Gang" and "The Comebacks", which was his first major role in a film since 1992's "Hurricane Smith".

Weathers had a guest role in two episodes (to date) of "The Shield" as the former training officer of main character Vic Mackey.

Weathers provided the voice for Colonel Samuel Garret in the Pandemic Studios video game, "". [ [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0442688/ Internet Movie Database entry for Mercenaries (2005) video game] In 2005, he was a narrator on "Conquest! The Price Of Victory - Witness The Journey of the Trojans!", an 18-part television show about USC athletics.

Weathers is a principal of Red Tight Media, a film and video production company that specializes in tactical training films made for the United States armed forces.Fact|date=June 2007

He is currently acting as "Brian "Gebo" Fitzgerald" in advertising for Old Spice's sponsorship of NASCAR driver Tony Stewart.

He is also currently acting in viral videos as a reappearing conscientious man on a bicycle offering advice to unsuspecting people.

Filmography

References

External links

*imdb name|id=0001835|name=Carl Weathers
* (fr) [http://www.stallone.biz/article-511815.html Carl Weathers] at Stallone.biz

Persondata
NAME=Weathers, Carl
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Actor; Former American Football Player
DATE OF BIRTH=January 14, 1948
PLACE OF BIRTH=New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=