Carl Weathers (born January 14, 1948) is an American actor, director and former professional football player. He is known for his roles as boxer Apollo Creed in the first four Rocky films (1976-1985), Al Dillon in Predator (1987), Action Jackson in Action Jackson (1988), and Chubbs Peterson in Happy Gilmore (1996) and Little Nicky (2000), and Combat Carl in the Toy Story franchise. He also portrayed Det. Beaudreaux in the television series Street Justice (1991-1993) and a fictionalized version of himself in the comedy series Arrested Development (2004, 2013), and voiced Omnitraxus Prime in Star vs. the Forces of Evil (2017-2019). He has a recurring role as Greef Karga in the Star Wars series The Mandalorian (2019-present).
Weathers played college football at San Diego State University. After going undrafted in the 1970 NFL Draft, he signed with the Oakland Raiders. He signed with the B.C. Lions of the Canadian Football League after being released by the Raiders.
Early life
Weathers was born January 14, 1948,[1] in New Orleans, Louisiana.[citation needed] His father was a day laborer. As an eighth-grade student, he earned an athletic scholarship to St. Augustine High School, a private school.[2] He was an all-around athlete, involved in boxing, football, gymnastics, judo, soccer, and wrestling. He played football and graduated from Long Beach Poly high in 1966.
College football career
Weathers played football as a defensive end in college. He started his college career in 1966 at Long Beach City College,[2] where he did not play in 1966 due to an ankle injury suffered when he tripped over a curb surrounding the running track while warming up for practice with another linebacker. He then transferred and played for San Diego State University, becoming a letterman for the San Diego State Aztecs in 1968 and 1969, helping the Aztecs win the 1969 Pasadena Bowl, finishing with an 11-0 record, and a No. 18 ranking in the Final UPI Poll,[3] playing for head coach Don Coryell. At San Diego State, Weathers received a master in theatre arts.[4]
Action Jackson is a 1988 American action film directed by Craig R. Baxley in his feature film directorial debut, and starring Carl Weathers,[1] Vanity, Craig T. Nelson, and Sharon Stone. The film was released in the United States on February 12, 1988.
Paula Abdul was the film choreographer. The film was released by Lorimar Film Entertainment. Although the film was quite successful at the box office, it received mostly negative reviews. Vanity was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award as Worst Actress.