Burt Young makes supporting tough men difficult to dismiss, allowing sensitivity to complicate their resentment. We value the feeling beneath the bad temper, though familiar casting sometimes gives him too little else to work with.
Fi1m perspective
Burt Young plays a rough man as someone who can be hurt. Resentment and volatility are familiar features of his working-class characters, but they rarely account for the whole person. We rate him for finding that sensitivity in supporting parts which could so easily amount to a threat, a nuisance or a familiar face.
His brief appearance as Curly in Roman Polanski's Chinatown (1974) is an early example of how much he can give a small part. The film's crowded plotting occasionally demands patience, yet Young makes room for a person we notice rather than another piece of information. We found the film unsettling because Jack Nicholson makes confidence so dangerously persuasive. Young contributes to the fine acting around him without needing comparable space.
The defining turn was Paulie Pennino in Rocky (1976), where a combustible temper and sensitivity become the central ingredients of the character. Young returned in five sequels through Rocky Balboa (2006), making six films with Sylvester Stallone. Paulie gave that mixture a long life, but the repeated tough-guy casting elsewhere could become restrictive. We would not confuse the durability of the part with a recommendation of every instalment.
In Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in America (1984), Young plays Joe, again in a supporting role. The film is absorbing and deeply sad, with Robert De Niro and Ennio Morricone providing much of its feeling. We are less persuaded by its occasionally arbitrary plotting or by Leone's fondness for his gangsters. Young's gift for giving rough men emotional depth is valuable in this company, though it needs careful handling. A director can make such men understandable without asking us to admire them.
Familiarity is the risk with Young: casting him as another tough man can leave too little for him to do. His work is worth seeking out where there is room for the sensitivity as well as the anger. Start with Chinatown; Paulie can wait an evening.
Biography
Burt Young, born Gerald Tommaso DeLouise, was an American actor. He was born on 30 April 1940 in New York City and died on 8 October 2023 in Los Angeles. He trained under Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio and had earlier served in the United States Marine Corps and boxed professionally.
Young was best known for playing Paulie Pennino, Rocky Balboa’s friend and brother-in-law, in the Rocky film series from 1976 to 2006. His performance in the first film earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He also appeared as Curly in Chinatown (1974) and in films including Once Upon a Time in America (1984) and The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984). He had guest roles in series such as The Sopranos and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
