NEW YORK (AP) — Carl Weathers, a former NFL linebacker
who became a Hollywood action movie and comedy star,
playing nemesis-turned-ally Apollo Creed in the “Rocky”
movies, starring alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger in
“Predator” and teaching golf in “Happy Gilmore,” has died.

Matt Luber, his manager, said Weathers died Thursday. His
family issued a statement saying he died “peacefully in his
sleep. No cause of death was mentioned.

Comfortable flexing his muscles on the big screen in “Action
Jackson” as he was joking around on the small screen in
such shows as “Arrested Development,” Weathers was
perhaps most closely associated with Creed, who made
his first appearance as the cocky, undisputed heavyweight
world champion in 1976’s “Rocky,” (below) starring Sylvester
Stallone.