Born on January 14, 1948 in New Orleans, Louisiana, Carl Weathers is a former professional football player and an actor perhaps singularly best known for his role as Apollo Creed in the Rocky film series. He attended St. Augustine High School then eventually went to San Diego State University. He is a member of the United States Olympic Committee. He became a member of the football team at San Diego State University, which lead to a brief stint as a linebacker for the Oakland Raiders in the 1970 and 71 seasons. In 1971, he joined a Canadian team and played until 1973, when he decided to shift careers and be a professional actor.
Weathers’ movie debut was in the “blaxploitation” films Bucktown and Friday Foster both released in 1975. He also appeared in an episode of the sitcom Good Times. In 1976, he was cast in what would be his most well-known role perhaps ever, as Apollo Creed in Rocky and the succeeding sequels. In 1978, he appeared in the television movie Not This Time. He later appeared in a string of actions movies, such as Force 10 from Navarone, Predator, Action Jackson, Hurricane Smith, and a small role in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. He has also appeared in an episode of Saturday Night Life, as well as in a Michael Jackson video and the much recent Adam Sandler comedy Happy Gilmore.
Weathers’ career had sort of a revival in 2004 with three episodes of Arrested Development. This would lead to his first major role in a film since 1992, The Comebacks. He would also do another two episodes of The Shield, plus lending his voice to Colonel Samuel Garret in a video game called Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction. He also narrated a 2005 18-part documentary on USC athletics. In 2009, he was cast in the Fox sitcom Brothers, as the father who pressures his two estranged sons.