In Memory Of ...

[Pacy]

David Soul
August 28, 1943 – January 4, 2024

David Soul, half of crime-fighting duo ‘Starsky & Hutch,’ dies at 80

He co-starred with Paul Michael Glaser on the 1970s action series and scored a No. 1 hit with the pop ballad ‘Don’t Give Up on Us’

David Soul, a sandy-haired actor and singer who partnered with Paul Michael Glaser to star in the 1970s action series “Starsky & Hutch,” scored a No. 1 hit with the pop ballad “Don’t Give Up on Us” and went on to an eclectic career that included a London stage turn as talk-show host Jerry Springer, died Jan. 4. He was 80.

His death was announced in a statement on his website and on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. Details were not immediately available.

A Chicago native best known for playing a Southern California cop, Mr. Soul rose to stardom with the 1975 premiere of “Starsky & Hutch,” a stylish and funny ABC series filled with undercover detective work, hip-hugging bell bottoms and high-speed car chases in “the Striped Tomato,” a bright red Ford Gran Torino that ferried Mr. Soul and Glaser around fictional Bay City, Calif.

Created by screenwriter William Blinn and co-produced by Aaron Spelling, the show featured Mr. Soul as the mellow, laid-back Kenneth “Hutch” Hutchinson, with Glaser as the intense David Starsky, who usually took the lead in belting suspects and whipping out his gun. During its four-year run, the show’s violence proved divisive — Spelling, responding to criticism during the third season, declared that they were “never going to kill anybody unless it’s totally essential” — although Mr. Soul said that the focus on the series’ brawls and bullets was beside the point.

David Soul, a sandy-haired actor and singer who partnered with Paul Michael Glaser to star in the 1970s action series “Starsky & Hutch,” scored a No. 1 hit with the pop ballad “Don’t Give Up on Us” and went on to an eclectic career that included a London stage turn as talk-show host Jerry Springer, died Jan. 4. He was 80.

His death was announced in a statement on his website and on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. Details were not immediately available.

A Chicago native best known for playing a Southern California cop, Mr. Soul rose to stardom with the 1975 premiere of “Starsky & Hutch,” a stylish and funny ABC series filled with undercover detective work, hip-hugging bell bottoms and high-speed car chases in “the Striped Tomato,” a bright red Ford Gran Torino that ferried Mr. Soul and Glaser around fictional Bay City, Calif.

Created by screenwriter William Blinn and co-produced by Aaron Spelling, the show featured Mr. Soul as the mellow, laid-back Kenneth “Hutch” Hutchinson, with Glaser as the intense David Starsky, who usually took the lead in belting suspects and whipping out his gun. During its four-year run, the show’s violence proved divisive — Spelling, responding to criticism during the third season, declared that they were “never going to kill anybody unless it’s totally essential” — although Mr. Soul said that the focus on the series’ brawls and bullets was beside the point.

Source: The Washington Post

[Pacy]

Kishin Shinoyama
December 3, 1940 – January 4, 2024

Celebrated Japanese photographer Kishin Shinoyama dies at 83

Japanese photographer Kishin Shinoyama, known for portraits of Beatles member John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono among other celebrities over his five-decade career, died of old age Thursday, his office said. He was 83.

Shinoyama, whose real name was Michinobu Shinoyama, photographed iconic figures across diverse genres, including novelist Yukio Mishima (1925-70), singer Momoe Yamaguchi, actress Rie Miyazawa and Kabuki actor Bando Tamasaburo.

Born in Tokyo in 1940, Shinoyama stood out as a photographer since his time as a student of the Nihon University College of Art's photography course.

Shinoyama became a freelance photographer in 1968 after working for an advertising agency. In 1970, Shinoyama came into the spotlight for the portraits of Mishima that he took at the request of the Japanese literary giant before he committed suicide.

His photo capturing a kiss between Lennon and Ono was used on the album cover of the couple's 1980 release Double Fantasy.

"I have just taken photos of what I found to be interesting," Shinoyama, a Tokyo native, said in an interview in 2016.

He also gained renown for his work that put the faces of his era's biggest stars on the covers of various weekly magazines, albums and celebrity photo anthologies.

Also known for taking artistic nude photos, his collections of Miyazawa and another actress Kanako Higuchi, both released in 1991, became hugely popular, with the former selling 1.65 million copies.

But his photo shoots with unclothed women also resulted in controversy, as he was ordered by a Tokyo court in 2010 to pay fines for public indecency and blasphemy for taking photos of a naked woman in a Tokyo cemetery.

The imposition of fines stirred debate over the intervention of authorities on freedom of expression, but Shinoyama did not argue, saying, "I have been taking nude photos outdoors since the 1960s. But (whether the act is considered an offense or not) is determined by the mood of the time. It cannot be helped."

"There is no complete freedom in terms of expression," he said in the interview.

Not limited to celebrity photos, Shinoyama has also photographed ordinary people as well as notable architecture and cityscapes.

Striving to capture moments in time, he took photos of victims of the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan and the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear complex that was wrecked by the calamity.

When asked what he wanted to shoot next, he said in the interview, "I don't know. Ask that moment in time."

The cumulative number of visitors to Shinoyama's touring exhibitions held nationwide between 2012 and 2019 topped 1 million. In 2021, a large-scale exhibition featuring Shinoyama's works was held at the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum.

Gekisha, or the act of capturing the defining moments of iconic figures or events, became a buzzword after the term was used for photos taken by Shinoyama.

He was also famous for a unique shooting method, dubbed "shinorama," in which multiple connected cameras release their shutters simultaneously.

Shinoyama was married to former singer Saori Minami. Their second son, Akinobu Shinoyama, is an actor.

Source: The Japan Times

[KDO]

Mary Weiss
December 28, 1948 – January 19, 2024

American Singer | Lead Singer of The Shangri-Las

Mary Weiss, Lead Singer of the Shangri-Las, Dies at 75 - Pitchfork
The pop singer was behind countless hits in the 1960s, including “Leader of the Pack”

Mary Weiss, Lead Singer of Sixties Girl Group The Shangri-Las, Dead at 75 - RollingStone
Weiss vanished from the music industry for decades before returning in 2007 to release her first solo record

Mary Weiss, style-setting lead singer of the Shangri-Las, dies at 75 - Washington Post
Ms. Weiss and The Shangri-Las brought a more street-smart twist with songs such as “Leader of the Pack”

Mary Weiss, lead singer for ‘Leader of the Pack’ girl group The Shangri-Las, dies at 75 - LA Times

Mary Weiss - Wikipedia

+++ +++ +++

The Shangri-Las - Remember (Walking in the Sand)(Stereo) (1964)
Mary Weiss: Lead Vocals
JukeHostUK
(left click = play)
(320kbps)

*

[Gemini37]

'Star Trek' Star Gary Graham Dead at 73

http://tmz.com/2024/01/23/star-trek-star-gary-graham-dead-dies/

[ghost2509]

Melanie, Singer Who Performed at Woodstock and Topped Charts With ‘Brand New Key,' Dies at 76

Variety
msn.com
Story by Chris Willman
Jan 24, 2024

Melanie, the singer who performed at Woodstock in 1969 and had major pop hits with "Brand New Key" and "Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)" in the early '70s, died Tuesday at age 76. News of the death came from her publicity firm, Glass Onyon PR.

No information on the cause of death was immediately given. But Melanie - full name Melanie Safka - had been in the studio earlier this month working on a new record of cover songs, "Second Hand Smoke," for the Cleopatra label; it would have been her 32nd album, the label said.

Her three children, Leilah, Jeordie, and Beau Jarred, posted a message on Facebook, writing: "We are heartbroken, but want to thank each and every one of you for the affection you have for our Mother, and to tell you that she loved all of you so much! She was one of the most talented, strong and passionate women of the era and every word she wrote, every note she sang reflected that. Our world is much dimmer, the colors of a dreary, rainy Tennessee pale with her absence today, but we know that she is still here, smiling down on all of us, on all of you, from the stars."

Her children asked that tonight (Jan. 24), at 10 p.m. CT, "each of you lights a candle in honor of Melanie. Raise, raise them high, high up again. Illuminate the darkness, and let us all be connected in remembrance of the extraordinary woman who was wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and friend to so very many people."

Melanie's first pop hit was "Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)," a gospel-flavored collaboration with the Edwin Hawkins Singers that reached No. 6 on the Hot 100 in 1970. It was followed in 1971 by "Brand New Key," an inescapable hit that was taken as a sort of children's tune by some and full of sexual innuendo by others. It reached No. 1, and was her only other top 10 hit in the U.S. In the UK, she also reached the top 10 with a cover of the Rolling Stones' "Ruby Tuesday."

"It was the bane of my existence for a few years," Melanie told the Guardian in 2021 about "Brand New Key," which was perceived by many as a novelty song, due to its childlike tone. The singer said it was composed as a blues tune, but she sped it up in search of greater commercial appeal.

Melanie did not always get her due in the male-dominated folk-rock scene of the time, and was too rarely mentioned even in the company of female artists like Joni Mitchell. She speculated with the Guardian about why that might have been: "It wasn't the age of smiling women," she said. "It had to be much more broody and I was way too cherubic. Men can be cute. Randy Newman can sing ‘Short People' and that's OK because he's a guy, he's got something to say. But a girl? How could she possibly have any social significance?"

Safka was born in Astoria, New York on Feb. 3, 1947 and raised in Queens. She studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, but it was her interest in performing at the folk clubs of Greenwich Village that would lead to her ultimate career path.

She was a virtual unknown when she was helicoptered into the Woodstock Festival in 1969, before she had any hits on the radio. In 1989, and again in 2019, as the festival reached landmark anniversaries, she wrote about the experience for Rolling Stone.

"I had my first out-of-body experience. I was terrified," she said. "I just left my body, going to a side, higher view. I watched myself walk onto the stage, sit down and sing a couple of lines. And when I felt it was safe, I came back. It started to rain right before I went on. Ravi Shankar had just finished up his performance, and the announcer said that if you lit candles, it would help to keep the rain away. By the time I finished my set, the whole hillside was a mass of little flickering lights. I guess that's one of the reasons I came back to my body."

That experience was the basis of "Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)," her breakthrough hit, and possibly her most popular song today, despite "Brand New Key" having been more ubiquitous in its day. Candles lighting up became a trademark of her shows for about a year after that, Melanie said, and that song "became so connected with my concerts that my shows were getting banned because fire departments wouldn't approve them," she said.

Her husband, producer and manager, Peter Schekeryk, died in 2010. She had been collaborating musically with her son Beau Jarred and daughters Leilah and Jeordie in recent years on recordings and in concert.

The singer did not lack for respect from many prominent younger performers. Miley Cyrus enlisted her for a duet of Melanie's "Look What They've Done to My Song, Ma" in 2015. More recently, Jarvis Cocker did a live, on-stage interview with her in the U.K.

Melanie had her biggest hits at the outset of the '70s with the Buddah label, which she left in 1971 to found her own label, becoming a pioneer for independent artists. She had recently signed with the L.A.-based Cleopatra label, which has been in the process of bringing together her entire post-Buddah catalog for reissue.

In early January, according to her label, Melanie recorded a cover of Morrissey's "Ouija Board Ouija Board" for a forthcoming tribute album celebrating his music. (Morrissey was known to be a fan of hers, having covered "Some Say (I Got Devil).") She had also just cut a version of and Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt," for her planned covers album, "Second Hand Smoke."

Other songs she had recorded for the new record included Radiohead's "Creep," the Moody Blues' "Nights In White Satin," Depeche Mode's "Enjoy the Silence" and David Bowie's "Everyone Says Hi."

In their Facebook statement, the singer's three children said, "We are planning a Celebration of Life for Mom and it will be open to all of you who want to come and celebrate her. The details will be announced as soon as they are in place. We look forward to seeing you there."

[L-Kabong]

LOS ANGELES—AVN Hall of Fame performer Jesse Jane has passed away at 43, TMZ confirmed Thursday.


Rumors of her untimely passing circulated Wednesday night.

A contract girl for Digital Playground for 12 years who became one of the biggest stars of the 2000s era of big-budget features, Jane performed in more than 230 movies during a glittering career in which she achieved adult industry superstardom and mainstream crossover success.

The seven-time AVN Award-winner, who headlined classics such as Pirates (2005) and the sequel, Pirates II: Stagnetti’s Revenge (2008), became one of adult’s most celebrated performers soon after her breakout year in 2003.

Jane starred in titles such as Virtual Sex With Jesse Jane, Jesse Jane: Erotique and No Limits at the beginning of her career while receiving global exposure on dozens of magazine covers such as FHM and Maxim.

The former Hawaiian Tropics model from Texas also appeared in numerous music videos for bands such as Drowning Pool, Robbie Williams, Kid Rock and HourCast. She played herself in the movie Middle Men (2009) and also appeared in Baywatch: The Movie and on HBO’s Entourage (2005), among numerous other appearances in mainstream entertainment.

Jane soon became a top draw on the feature dancing circuit. The former regional training coordinator for Hooters in 2007 claimed the title Adult Movie Feature Entertainer of the Year at the Exotic Dancer Awards.

She hosted the 2006 AVN Awards Show at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas and the 2013 ceremony—the 30th anniversary show—at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.

In 2011, she launched a line of tequila called Diosa and in 2013 she became the first adult star to surpass one million likes on Facebook.

“I am heartbroken by the loss of my friend, Jesse Jane, who was a remarkable person and a phenomenal artist," said Ali Joone, the former owner of Digital Playground who launched Jane's career and directed her in numerous award-winning features. "She had a passion for life and a love for adventure that was unmatched. She touched so many lives with her grace and beauty, her infectious laugh and a smile that lit up the world. I’m honored to have known her and to have been her friend. She will be missed.”

Former Digital Playground CEO Samantha Lewis told AVN they traveled the world together.

“I’m devastated…I’m numb,” Lewis told AVN. “I remember Jesse Jane fondly. She had this vibrant energy that lit up every room she entered. Her kindness was genuine and she had a really special way of making everyone feel valued, whether it was her fans or her team at Digital Playground or at a business meeting. And working alongside her was truly an honor for me.”

Lewis continued, “I’ll never forget her unwavering dedication to her craft and to her fans. There was only one Jesse Jane. She truly gave it her all, never leaving anyone without her undivided attention.

“Jesse’s beauty both inside and out was completely captivating. Her generosity knew no bounds and her love for life was extremely contagious. She leaves behind a legacy of grace and warmth that will be deeply missed. Rest in peace Jesse Jane... I loved her.”

Jane went on to sign a two-year performance contract with Jules Jordan Video in 2015, performing in more than 20 titles for the gonzo powerhouse including the star showcases Jesse Jane: Sex Machine 1 & 2 in 2015-16; and Face of an Angel Mind of a Devil (2015).

"Jesse was a force of nature in the industry," Jordan told AVN. "She was responsible for helping mainstream the business, and bringing in the next level of quality talent in the early 2000s. Jesse was always in pursuit of having the most fun possible. She lived life to the fullest, and very few could keep up. We will miss her greatly."

She ascended from Hooters manager to Hawaiian Tropic pageant winner to international fame with her Digital Playground contract. Jesse's bubbly personality made her a favorite radio guest on Howard Stern and Bubba the Love Sponge.

Jesse also was a host on VH1, Much Music and CTV, as well as landed roles on shows such as Celebrity Uncensored, Celebrity Fit Club and Gene Simmons' Family Jewels.

In 2005, Jane hosted her own show on Playboy TV, Naughty Amateur Home Videos and then she also was named the host of Night Calls, a show that would soon become Playboy's top-rated program.

Her body of work also included starring in acclaimed features such as Fighters, Bridesmaids and Code of Honor.

Jane twice won Best All-Girl Sex Scene -Video—for her performances in Pirates (2005) and Island Fever 4 (2006).

She went on to capture the 2009 AVN Awards for Best Girl/Girl Sex Scene—the first year it was presented—for her performance with Belladonna in Pirates II: Stagnetti’s Revenge.

Then she triumphed with two Best All-Girl Group Sex Scene awards—in 2009 for Cheerleaders and 2011 for Body Heat. She also won Wildest Sex Scene for Body Heat (2011) and Hottest Sex Scene for Babysitters (2012).

“Jesse is one of those rare people who possessed everything that the rest of us are trying for,” said director Kayden Kross, who co-starred with Jane in several movies.

“I used to sit with her and lose track of what she was saying because I would get so lost in how such a perfect face could exist. She was stunning but she amplified it so much by her personality. She made everyone comfortable and made everyone feel like they were included in whatever was happening. She would snort when she laughed and go out of her way to be the hostess in little ways.

“She took kids in to live with her that weren’t hers, she shared whatever she had, and she loved her son ferociously. She never showed that she struggled but I think the pressure was from how much everyone wanted from her. Everyone was attracted to her, some to just being in a room with her and others to finding ways to show more people what a special combination she was. She was unbelievable in her beauty and her warmth and her radiating energy everywhere she went.

“I love Jesse.”

Hall of Fame performer Nikki Benz told AVN, "Jesse's friends lost a good friend and the industry lost an icon."

“I’m just heartbroken,” Benz said. “We were really good friends and she was just a good person. I would always call her for advice. I’m just in shock like a lot of people. I just didn’t think I was never going to see her again.

“She was an amazing person and I’m lucky to have gotten to know her. … She was adventurous. Every time for my birthday I was always the one who wanted to go somewhere far and she was always down to go anywhere I wanted to go. She was a good mom, too—that makes me even more sad.

“... She represented our industry so well. She brought a lot of mainstream attention to our industry and made our industry more popular. It is a huge loss for her friends and for the adult entertainment industry.”

Source: AVN

[Dan2018]

She is legend. R.I.P.

[ghost2509]

William O’Connell Dies: Memorable ‘Star Trek’ Villain, Foils In Clint Eastwood Films Was 94

deadline.com
By Greg Evans
Feb 1, 2024


William O’Connell, whose extensive TV and film acting credits in the 1960s and ’70s included a memorably villainous role on Star Trek and a string of adversaries in the films of his frequent collaborator Clint Eastwood, died January 15 at his home in Sherman Oaks, CA. He was 94.

His death was announced to Deadline by a family friend. A cause was not disclosed.

O’Connell scored a lengthy roster of TV episodic credits in the 1960s, becoming a busy character actor of the day. He had small roles, often nameless characters distinguished only by their job titles — Flagman, Cabbie, Field Rep. #1 — in Highway Patrol, Peter Gunn and The Twilight Zone, also popping up on Dennis the Menace, My Three Sons, The Outer Limits, Bonanza, The Munsters, Batman and The Lucy Show.

His most memorable TV role from the era came in 1967, when he was cast in the Season 2 “Journey to Babel” episode of Star Trek as Thelev, a duplicitous Orion agent disguised as an Andorian ambassador. His mission to destroy the Enterprise was unsuccessful, but he did manage to wound William Shatner’s Captain James T. Kirk with a poison knife.

On the big screen, O’Connell was most familiar for frequent, if occasionally small and often adversarial, roles in the 1960s and ’70s films of his friend Clint Eastwood, including Paint Your Wagon, High Plains Drifter, The Outlaw Josey Wales, Every Which Way but Loose and its 1980 sequel Any Which Way You Can.

Born May 12, 1929 in Los Angeles, O’Connell served in the Korean War as a 1st LT in the 45th Infantry. He received many decorations including the Bronze Star.

Complete survivor information was not immediately available.

[ghost2509]

Carl Weathers, ‘Rocky’s’ Apollo Creed and ‘Mandalorian’ Actor, Dies at 76

VARIETY
yahoo.com
Ethan Shanfeld
February 2, 2024

http://youtu.be/mPv75b7saaM

Sylvester Stallone video tribute
http://youtu.be/LkOCT88jfsY

Carl Weathers, who starred as Apollo Creed in the first four “Rocky” films opposite Sylvester Stallone, died Thursday, his manager Matt Luber confirmed to Variety. He was 76.

Weathers also starred in 1987’s “Predator” and had a memorable role in Adam Sandler’s “Happy Gilmore.” He was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for his work in the “Star Wars” series “The Mandalorian.”

He voiced Combat Carl in “Toy Story 4” and played a fictionalized version of himself in a recurring role on “Arrested Development.” His other credits include the TV series “Street Justice,” “Colony,” “The Shield,” “Chicago Justice” and “Brothers,” and the films “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “Death Hunt” and “The Comebacks.”

After working with Sandler on the 1996 golf comedy “Happy Gilmore,” Weathers briefly reprised his role in “Little Nicky” and voiced a character in Sandler’s animated Hanukkah comedy “Eight Crazy Nights.”

Born Jan. 14, 1948, in New Orleans, Weathers played a variety of sports including boxing, football, soccer, wrestling and gymnastics. He played football in college at San Diego State University and helped the Aztecs win the 1969 Pasadena Bowl. While at SDSU, Weathers also pursued a degree in theatre arts, but in 1970 he signed with the Oakland Raiders as a free agent, and he played in eight games in the NFL as a linebacker across two seasons.

After his stint in professional football, Weathers pivoted more seriously to acting, landing small roles in Arthur Marks’ blaxploitation movies “Bucktown” and “Friday Foster,” as well as TV series including “Good Times,” “Kung Fu,” “Cannon” and “Starsky and Hutch.”

In “Predator,” Weathers starred as Colonel Al Dillon alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger, who went on to become the governor of California, and Jesse Ventura, who became the Minnesota governor. In 1988, Weathers hosted “Saturday Night Live” and, many years later, he returned to the live sketch show for a spoof segment in which he announces he is running for political office on the basis that he was “the Black guy in ‘Predator.'”

When Stallone asked Weathers for permission to use footage from earlier “Rocky” films for the sixth movie in the franchise, 2006’s “Rocky Balboa,” Weathers refused and lobbied for an actual part in the film, despite his character, Apollo Creed, dying in “Rocky IV.” Stallone said no and hired a lookalike actor to shoot flashback fight sequences. The pair reconciled, and Weathers later allowed Stallone to use his likeness in the “Creed” sequel series, in which Michael B. Jordan plays Apollo Creed’s son.

In his later career, Weathers landed smaller roles in TV procedurals, and he directed episodes of them, too. He earned his first Emmy nomination in 2021 for the Disney+ series “The Mandalorian,” in which he played Greef Karga in nine episodes across three seasons. Weathers stepped into the director’s chair for Episodes 12 and 20 of the “Star Wars” spinoff.

Weathers is survived by his ex-wife, Mary Ann, and their two sons.

[Dan2018]

Originally Posted by ghost2509

Carl Weathers, ‘Rocky’s’ Apollo Creed and ‘Mandalorian’ Actor, Dies at 76

VARIETY
yahoo.com
Ethan Shanfeld
February 2, 2024

http://youtu.be/mPv75b7saaM

Sylvester Stallone video tribute
http://youtu.be/LkOCT88jfsY

Carl Weathers, who starred as Apollo Creed in the first four “Rocky” films opposite Sylvester Stallone, died Thursday, his manager Matt Luber confirmed to Variety. He was 76.

Weathers also starred in 1987’s “Predator” and had a memorable role in Adam Sandler’s “Happy Gilmore.” He was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for his work in the “Star Wars” series “The Mandalorian.”

He voiced Combat Carl in “Toy Story 4” and played a fictionalized version of himself in a recurring role on “Arrested Development.” His other credits include the TV series “Street Justice,” “Colony,” “The Shield,” “Chicago Justice” and “Brothers,” and the films “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “Death Hunt” and “The Comebacks.”

After working with Sandler on the 1996 golf comedy “Happy Gilmore,” Weathers briefly reprised his role in “Little Nicky” and voiced a character in Sandler’s animated Hanukkah comedy “Eight Crazy Nights.”

Born Jan. 14, 1948, in New Orleans, Weathers played a variety of sports including boxing, football, soccer, wrestling and gymnastics. He played football in college at San Diego State University and helped the Aztecs win the 1969 Pasadena Bowl. While at SDSU, Weathers also pursued a degree in theatre arts, but in 1970 he signed with the Oakland Raiders as a free agent, and he played in eight games in the NFL as a linebacker across two seasons.

After his stint in professional football, Weathers pivoted more seriously to acting, landing small roles in Arthur Marks’ blaxploitation movies “Bucktown” and “Friday Foster,” as well as TV series including “Good Times,” “Kung Fu,” “Cannon” and “Starsky and Hutch.”

In “Predator,” Weathers starred as Colonel Al Dillon alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger, who went on to become the governor of California, and Jesse Ventura, who became the Minnesota governor. In 1988, Weathers hosted “Saturday Night Live” and, many years later, he returned to the live sketch show for a spoof segment in which he announces he is running for political office on the basis that he was “the Black guy in ‘Predator.'”

When Stallone asked Weathers for permission to use footage from earlier “Rocky” films for the sixth movie in the franchise, 2006’s “Rocky Balboa,” Weathers refused and lobbied for an actual part in the film, despite his character, Apollo Creed, dying in “Rocky IV.” Stallone said no and hired a lookalike actor to shoot flashback fight sequences. The pair reconciled, and Weathers later allowed Stallone to use his likeness in the “Creed” sequel series, in which Michael B. Jordan plays Apollo Creed’s son.

In his later career, Weathers landed smaller roles in TV procedurals, and he directed episodes of them, too. He earned his first Emmy nomination in 2021 for the Disney+ series “The Mandalorian,” in which he played Greef Karga in nine episodes across three seasons. Weathers stepped into the director’s chair for Episodes 12 and 20 of the “Star Wars” spinoff.

Weathers is survived by his ex-wife, Mary Ann, and their two sons.

Carl Weathers is the legend, I remeber watch Rocky movies, as well as Season 7 "In the Heat of Night" on CBS with the late Carroll O'Connor, He's played Chief Forbes and TV Movies.