Oscar-nominated actor Burt Young, who played Paulie in Rocky films, dies aged 83

Burt Young, the Oscar-nominated actor who played Paulie in the Rocky franchise, has died aged 83.

Young died on October 8 in Los Angeles, his daughter, Anne Morea Steingieser, told the New York Times on Wednesday. No cause of death was given.

The star had roles in acclaimed films and television shows including Chinatown, Once Upon a Time in America, and The Sopranos.

But he was always best known for playing Paulie Pennino in six Rocky movies.

The film became a phenomenon, topping the box office for the year and making a star of lead actor and writer Sylvester Stallone, who paid tribute to Young on Instagram on Wednesday.

Along with a photo of the two of them on the set of the first film, Stallone wrote “you were an incredible man and artist, I and the World will miss you very much.”

Rocky was nominated for ten Oscars, including best supporting actor for Young.

It won three - best picture, best director, and best editing.

Born and raised in Queens, New York, Young served in the Marine Corps, fought as a professional boxer and worked as a carpet layer before taking up acting.

Young appeared in director Sergio Leone's 1984 gangster epic Once Upon a Time in America with Robert De Niro, the 1986 comedy Back to School with Rodney Dangerfield, and the 1989 gritty drama Last Exit to Brooklyn with Jennifer Jason Leigh.

In a striking appearance in season three of The Sopranos in 2001, he plays Bobby Baccalieri, Sr, an elderly mafioso with lung cancer who pulls off one last hit before a coughing fit leads to him dying in a car accident.

Later in life he focused on roles in the theater and on painting, a lifelong pursuit that led to gallery shows and sales.

His wife of 13 years, Gloria, died in 1974.

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