Born and raised in Flint, Michigan, Burton was a top Golden Gloves boxer in his youth and had a brief professional boxing career.
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Burton played Duke, who was the trainer of Rocky’s nemesis-turned-comrade, Apollo Creed, in the first five “Rocky” films starting in 1976, as well as in a sixth film, “Rocky Balboa”, in 2006. “His intensity and talent helped make the Rocky movies successful”, he wrote.
The timing of his death could not be more dramatic as it comes days before theAcademy Awards, where Stallone is favored to win best supporting actor for the 2015 Rocky spinoff Creed. According to Burton’s sister, Loretta Kelly, her brother had, in fact, been making regular trips to the hospital over the past year, though she didn’t specify whether or not he would ever have to stay overnight for evaluation.
Upon hearing the news on Twitter, actor Carl Weathers (Apollo Creed) tweeted: “Sad news”. It’s predictable enough, because Burton was consistently great in the first three, but he – and maybe only he – gives a nice set of periodic reminder of why anyone cared about those movies in the first place.
Burton had been living in California for 30 years with his wife, Rae, before his death. ‘We didn’t talk about [Rocky] a lot. I mean we were excited, but other people were more excited.
As well as the Rocky films, Burton had scenes in Stanley Kubrick psychological horror The Shining, John Carpenter’s action thriller Assault on Precinct 13 and Sydney Poitier comedy Stir Crazy.
Burton, who is absent in “Creed”, the latest, and possibly final instalment of the Rocky saga, would likely have appeared in the Rocky spin-off had he been well enough to have worked.
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Burton was only one of four actors, including “Rocky” star Sylvester Stallone, to appear in all six movies in the franchise. Another son, Martin, died in 2014, Kelley said.
