Tony Burton
Tony Burton | |
|---|---|
| Born | Anthony Burton March 23, 1937 |
| Occupation | Actor/Athlete |
| Years active | 1957–present |
Anthony "Tony" Burton (born March 23, 1937) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Tony "Duke" Evers in the Rocky series, and is one of three actors (along with Sylvester Stallone and Burt Young) who have appeared in all six Rocky films.
Biography
Early life & football career
Burton was born in Flint, Michigan. A Flint Northern High School graduate, he was a Michigan Golden Gloves heavyweight boxing champion and two-time all-state football player.
At Northern he played halfback. In 1954 he scored 13 touchdowns and led his team in scoring. Many of the scoring runs were of 50 yards or more. He gained 820 yards rushing that year and one of his runs was for 95 yards. In 1954, he was selected to the first teams of the All City and All Valley teams as a halfback. He was also chosen as an All State honorable mention. He was the team's co-captain and Most Valuable Player. Tony led his team in yards gained and receiving yards. In one game against Grand Rapids Catholic, he gained 213 total yards.
At Northern, Tony was also the leading baseball pitcher, pitching the team to the city championship title.
Boxing career
His boxing career included the Flint Golden Gloves light heavyweight championship in 1955 and 1957. Burton won the State Golden Gloves Light Heavyweight Championship in 1957 and lost in the Chicago Tournament of Champions semi-finals. He fought as a professional boxer in 1958 and 1959. During that time he was knocked out by knockout artist Lamar Clark who holds the record for most consecutive knockouts at 44.[1]
Acting career
Among his many credits are a co-starring role on the 1980s CBS comedy-drama Frank's Place and parts in films such as Hook, and The Toy. Burton is also known for his role as Wells, one of the prisoners trapped in the besieged police station, Precinct 9, Division 13, in John Carpenter's 1976, Howard Hawks-inspired action film Assault on Precinct 13. He also starred in the Rocky films as a trainer to Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) and Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone).
Recognitions
In 1993, Burton was inducted into the Greater Flint Afro-American Hall of Fame. Burton also is known as a talented chess player. Master chess player Stanley Kubrick was defeated by him on the set of The Shining, in which Burton played Larry the garage owner.
Also, in Rocky IV, he's shown defeating a Russian chaperon inside Rocky Balboa's quarter while he visits Russia for his title match against Ivan Drago.
Personal life
He has been living in California for nearly 40 years. He is married and currently attends Immanuel Baptist Church in Highland, California.
References
External links
- Tony Burton at IMDb
- Boxing record for Tony Burton from BoxRec (registration required)
- Tony Burton 1993 Greater Flint Afro-American Hall of Fame Inductee