‘Rocky’ Actor Tony Burton Dies at 78

Fans of the Rocky film series, and there are many, are undoubtedly saddened by the recent news that actor, Tony Burton, who played Duke, the trainer of Apollo Creed and eventually, Rocky, himself, has reportedly passed away at the age of 78 in California, where he had been living for the past 30 years. “His intensity and talent helped make the Rocky movies successful”, Weathers said. Rest in peace, ‘ he wrote alongside the pic.

Upon hearing the news on Twitter, actor Carl Weathers (Apollo Creed) tweeted: “Sad news”.

Burton appeared in the first six Rocky movies opposite Sylvester Stallone. Before Hollywood, Burton was a two Golden Gloves light-heavyweight title victor.

According to Kelley, Burton, who lived in Sun City, Calif., is survived by his wife, four brothers, four sisters, a daughter, a stepdaughter and a son.

Sylvester Stallone has expressed his grief at the loss of his former “Rocky” co-star Tony Burton. His declining health, however, kept him from seeing last year’s “Rocky” spinoff, “Creed”, in which he did not appear – although his character, Duke, is mentioned.

A Flint, Mich., native, Burton was known as a hard-working athlete who excelled in football, baseball and boxing.

The 78-year-old had been in and out of hospital for the past year, however he never received an official diagnosis.

Loretta said: ‘There’s a scene in the restaurant of that movie (Creed) where his picture is on the wall.

Tony also starred in John Carpenter’s Assault on Precinct 13 and had a co-starring role on eighties comedy-drama Frank’s Place. ‘We didn’t talk about [Rocky] a lot. I mean we were excited, but other people were more excited. Unfortunately, he just missed his chance to watch the film on DVD or Blu-ray; Creed’s home release is this Tuesday, five days after Tony Burton’s untimely passing.