Carl Weathers

Carl Weathers was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. A gifted athlete, he played college football for San Diego State University and played professionally as a linebacker for the Oakland Raiders under John Madden before transitioning into acting, earning a degree in drama from San Francisco State University.

In 1976, Weathers landed the iconic role of charismatic heavyweight world champion Apollo Creed in Sylvester Stallone's Oscar-winning Rocky, returning for three sequels as Creed evolved from antagonist to beloved mentor. He went on to star in action classics including Predator (1987) and Action Jackson (1988), and demonstrated comic mastery in Happy Gilmore (1996) as Chubbs Peterson. In his later years, Weathers earned an Emmy nomination as Greef Karga in The Mandalorian, also directing several acclaimed episodes of the Star Wars franchise.