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.

The classic rags-to-riches story got a macho spin in the Oscar-
winning Rocky, which was written by its star, Sylvester Stallone,
and began filming on January 9, 1976. Stallone had his own rags-
to-riches tale: Born in the gritty Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of
New York City, he was a juvenile delinquent who was kicked out
of a number of schools before he turned 15. After attending high
school in Philadelphia and studying drama at the University of
Miami, Stallone moved back to New York and later to Los Angeles,
with dreams of becoming an actor.

When shooting his famous jog through the streets of Philadelphia, Stallone pulled a tendon in his leg and
was taken to a nearby hospital in a wheelbarrow.

Most of the jogging scenes of Rocky jogging were
shot guerrilla-style, with no permits, no equipment,
and no extras. The entire movie w as shot in 28
days.

Ryan O’Neal (April 20, 1941 – December 8, 2023)

O’Neal was a native of Los Angeles, he trained as an amateur
boxer before beginning a career in acting in 1960. In 1964, he
landed the role of Rodney Harrington on the ABC nighttime
soap opera Peyton Place.

In April 2012, O’Neal stated he had been diagnosed with stage
4 prostate cancer. He later stated it was stage 2.

SANDY KOZEL

On September 15, 1978, boxer Muhammad Ali defeated Leon
Spinks at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans to win
the world heavyweight boxing title for the third time in his
career, the first fighter ever to do so. Following his victory,
Ali retired from boxing, only to make a brief comeback two
years later. Ali, who once claimed he could “float like a
butterfly, sting like a bee,” left the sport permanently in
1981.

Muhammad Ali (Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.)
(January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016)