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Carl Weathers was born on January 14, 1948, in New Orleans, Louisiana. A famous and successful football star at San Diego State, he played with the Oakland Raiders and retired from the sport in 1974, in order to give full attention to his goal: to be a real actor.

Weathers first played small parts in two blaxploitation flicks, Friday Foster (1975) (in which he played "Yarbro") and Bucktown (1975) (playing "Hambone"), both made in 1975 and directed by Arthur Marks. However, his big break came the following year when producers Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff chose him to play "Apollo Creed" in the blockbuster "sleeper" Rocky (1976) (real-life boxing legend Ken Norton was originally signed for the part, but it eventually went to Weathers). He went on to play "Creed" in three other "Rocky" movies, and the characters' adversarial relationship eventually evolved into a warm friendship. After Creed's death in Rocky IV (1985), Weathers met with producer Joel Silver and agreed to play an important supporting role in Predator (1987), an action film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The following year, Silver produced Action Jackson (1988), a first starring role for Weathers, but it performed poorly at the box office and was panned by the critics.

During the 1990s, Weathers starred in four In the Heat of the Night (1988) two-hour TV specials that were much better received by critics and viewers alike. In 1996, he played the part of "Chubbs Peterson" in the blockbuster Adam Sandler comedy Happy Gilmore (1996). He returned to his "action roots" in two TV-movies with Hulk Hogan: Assault on Devil's Island (1997) and Assault on Death Mountain (1999).

In addition to his acting career, Weathers is also a member of the Big Brothers Association and the U.S. Olympic Committee, handling the career of athletes of various sports such as gymnastics, wrestling, swimming and judo.

During his professional football career, he played for the NFL Oakland Raiders (1970-71) and the CFL B.C. Lions (1971-73).

His most famous character, the flashy boxer Apollo Creed from the Rocky films, was loosely based on <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/name/nm0000738/?ref_=nmtrv_trv">Muhammad Ali</a>.

Before his career as an actor, he was a professional football player.

One of the original actors that auditioned for the role of Captain Benjamin Sisko on <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/title/tt0106145/?ref_=nmtrv_trv">Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993)</a>. The role eventually went to <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/name/nm0000984/?ref_=nmtrv_trv">Avery Brooks</a>.

Attended and graduated from San Diego State University (SDSU) with a masters&#39; degree in theater arts.

College football coach at San Diego State University (SDSU) was College Football Hall-of-Fame coach <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/name/nm1769743/?ref_=nmtrv_trv">Don Coryell</a> (&quot;Air&quot;).

Played for the B.C. Lions of the Canadian Football League from 1971 - 1973. Played linebacker in 18 games and wore #55.

Played college football at San Diego State University (SDSU). One of his teammates was <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/name/nm0004885/?ref_=nmtrv_trv">Fred Dryer</a>. Coincidentally, Fred Dryer starred in <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/title/tt0086734/?ref_=nmtrv_trv">Hunter (1984)</a> which was originally going to also be the title of <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/title/tt0093773/?ref_=nmtrv_trv">Predator (1987)</a>, which starred Carl.

Attended and graduated from San Francisco State University (SFSU) with a bachelor&#39;s degree in drama.

He has appeared in two films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being &quot;culturally, historically or aesthetically significant&quot;: <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/title/tt0075148/?ref_=nmtrv_trv">Rocky (1976)</a> and <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/title/tt0075860/?ref_=nmtrv_trv">Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)</a>.

Attended and graduated from Long Beach Polytechnic High School in Long Beach, California (1966).

Inducted into the International Mustache Hall of Fame in the category Film &amp; Television. (2016)

He was posthumously awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7076 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on August 29, 2024. His Walk of Fame star is located near the Hollywood and La Brea Gateway.

Carl&#39;s longtime partner was actress Christine Kludjian from 2014, until his death in 2024.

Currently assisted the U.S. Military with simulated Iraqi villages in Fort Irwin, California. He had directed and narrated at least one training video: &quot;IKAF First Aid&quot;. IKAF stands for &quot;individual first aid kit&quot;. (April 2006)

Took drama classes with actress and director <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/name/nm0675950/?ref_=nmtrv_trv">Donna Pescow</a>.

In the Mad magazine spoof of <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/title/tt0075148/?ref_=nmtrv_trv">Rocky (1976)</a>, Carl&#39;s character is named Appalling Greed.

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Carl Weathers

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