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), George Dillon in Predator (1987), Action Jackson in Action Jackson (1988), 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, in New Orleans, Louisiana. His father was a day laborer. As an eighth-grade student, he earned an athletic scholarship to St. Augustine High School, a private school. 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 School 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, 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, playing for head coach Don Coryell. At San Diego State, Weathers received a master in theatre arts.
Professional football career
After he went undrafted, Weathers signed with the Oakland Raiders as a free agent in 1970. Now playing as a linebacker, Weathers played in seven games for the Raiders in 1970, helping them win the AFC West Division title, on their way to the first-ever AFC Championship Game. Weathers only played in one game in 1971, before the Raiders released him.
He then signed with the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League in 1971 and played until 1973, playing 18 games in total. During the off-seasons, Weathers attended San Francisco State University and earned a bachelor's degree in drama in 1974.
He retired from football in 1974, and began pursuing an acting career. In his NFL career he appeared in 8 games in two seasons, but didn't record any stats. The only stat he recorded in his CFL career was a single fumble recovery. In later years, Weathers narrated NFL Films' season recap of the 1999, 2000 and 2001 seasons. During the 2017 NFL Draft, he appeared on NFL Network's pre-draft coverage.
Acting career
Weathers began working as an extra while still playing football. He had his first significant roles in two blaxploitation films directed by his longtime friend Arthur Marks: and . Weathers also appeared in an early 1975 episode of the sitcom Good Times titled "The Nude", portraying an angry husband who suspected his wife of cheating on him with J.J. He also guest-starred in a 1975 episode of Kung Fu titled "The Brothers Caine", and in an episode of Cannon titled "The Hero". In 1976, he appeared as a loan shark in an episode of the crime-drama Starsky and Hutch, and in the Barnaby Jones episode "The Bounty Hunter" as escaped convict Jack Hopper.
While auditioning for the role of Apollo Creed alongside Sylvester Stallone in Rocky, Weathers criticized Stallone's acting, which led to him getting the role. He reprised the role of Apollo Creed in the next three Rocky films: Rocky II (1979), Rocky III (1982), and Rocky IV (1985).