The mighty Carl Weathers of Rocky, Predator, and Star Wars fame was an absolute legend.
Youll find him in several iconic 80s movies, including in one of our genre favorites,Predator.
Hurricane Smith
Despite iconic roles in a few genuine 80s classics, Weathers was rarely given big starring roles.
At least not in decent budget, mainstream action movies.
Bucktown and Friday Foster
Its a bit of a cheat lumping these together, but its with good reason.
Carl Weathers wasnt the first American football player to move into acting in the 70s.
He did however appear in these two Pam Grier movies (Bucktownalso starred Fred Williamson).
He also wears a pretty sick checked blazer and red tie combo.
Happy Gilmore
Real talk here:Adam Sandlers early movies are pretty funny.
Back in the 90s, things likeBilly MadisonandThe Waterboyhad a genuine weirdness and energy to them.
And so does his golfing movieHappy Gilmore.
Its kind of a riff on Apollo Creeds mentoring of Rocky Balboa inRocky III.
Theres even a traditionally animated, GI Joe-spoofing Combat Carl PSA on the DVD.
Much weirder though is Weathers appearance on the cult Cartoon web link animationRegular Show.
They end up trying to do slam dunks from deep space, becauseRegular Showis weird.
Arrested Development
Of all the celebrity cameos onArrested Development, Carl Weathers might be the funniest.
And thats incredibly high praise indeed.
Its based on absolutely nothing, but its just so absurdly perfect.
Like getting really excited at the free refills in Burger King.
(Thats probably my most quoted line from the show).
Especially when the latter needs rescuing, he loves that little guy.
Were now left to imagine how Weathers would have continued to evolve as a filmmaker inStar Warsand beyond.
Predator
It would be on this list for that handshake alone.
The thing you forget though, is how amazing the team is inPredator.
And Carl Weathers easily stands up to all of them.
The development of Apollo across his four appearances in the series is actually pretty interesting.
So you might expect a thinly veiled take on Ali to be Balboas opponent.
But Weathers makes Creed a completely original character.
But it was as the sequels became more cartoony that Apollo Creed really came into his own.
Action Jackson
His roles inRockyandPredatormight be more iconic, but theyre supporting parts.
You think of Arnie or Sly first.
ButAction Jacksonis pure Carl Weathers.
It is to Weathers whatTerminatoris to Schwarzenegger, whatDie Hardis to Bruce Willis.
And he can drop one-liners with the best of them (You almost tore that boys arm off!
He had a spare).
And on top of all this, theres a genuine grit to him.
The film isnt set in just any city, its set in Detroit.
They respect him, and look out for him.
Theres a real honesty and likeability to Weathers that makes this all ring true.
If only we gotAction Jackson II: Back In Action.
