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Anthony Mabron Burton (March 23, 1937 – February 26, 2016) was an American actor and boxer. He was known for his role as Tony "Duke" Evers in the Rocky films.

Early life

Burton was born in Flint, Michigan. He had a younger sister named Loretta. A Flint Northern High School graduate, he was a Michigan Golden Gloves heavyweight boxing champion and two-time all-state football player. At Northern, he played halfback. In 1954, he scored 13 touchdowns and led his team in scoring. Many of his scoring runs were of 50 yards or more. He gained 820 yards rushing that year, and one of his runs was for 95 yards. That same year, he was selected to the first teams of the All City and All Valley teams as a halfback. He was also chosen as an All State honorable mention. He was the team's co-captain and Most Valuable Player. Burton led his team in yards gained and receiving yards. In one game against Grand Rapids Catholic, he gained 213 total yards. At Northern, Burton was also the leading baseball pitcher, pitching the team to the city championship title.

Career

Boxing

Burton's boxing career included the Flint Golden Gloves light heavyweight championship in 1955 and 1957. Burton won the State Golden Gloves Light Heavyweight Championship in 1957 and lost in the Chicago Tournament of Champions semi-finals. He fought as a professional boxer in 1958 and 1959. During that time he was knocked out by knockout artist, Lamar Clark, who holds the record for most consecutive knockouts at 44.

Prison

After his brief professional boxing career, Burton served more than three years in a Chino, Calif., prison for robbery. The acting exercises he performed as part of a therapy program helped steer him into an acting career after his release. NEA's Frank Sanello in March 1988:

Prison for me was productive because I got my high school diploma and a degree from the University of California. But most important, I got myself together and found out who I was and how I could proceed without destroying myself.

More specifically, one of the skills acquired at Chino landed Burton his wife, Rae, whom he met on a TV repair house call. Moreover, a workshop in the prison, that used psychodrama as a form of therapy, pointed Burton towards his acting career, when an emotional breakthrough achieved by one of his partners in an acting exercise dramatically demonstrated theater's potential power.

Acting

After prison, Burton started getting work with small theater companies in and around Los Angeles, garnering favorable notices early on.

A life member of the Actors Studio, Burton numbers among his many credits a co-starring role in Frank's Place and parts in films, such as Stir Crazy and The Toy. He also appeared as Wells, one of the prisoners trapped in the besieged police station in John Carpenter's 1976 Howard Hawks-inspired action film, Assault on Precinct 13. He later starred in the Rocky films as a trainer to Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) and later Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone). He appeared in an episode of Gibbsville in 1976. Burton also appeared in The Shining, House Party 2, and Hook. He had guest appearances in Kojak, The Rockford Files, CHiPs, Twin Peaks, and The A-Team. Burton also guest starred as Conrad King Baylor on In the Heat of the Night in the episode "King's Ransom", which aired in January 1990.

Personal life

Burton resided in California for 30 years. He attended Immanuel Baptist Church in Highland, California. He was married to Aurelain (Rae) from 1980 until his death. The couple had two sons, one of whom, Martin, died of a heart attack at the age of 43 on May 8, 2014. They also had two daughters, Juanita and Christal.

Burton was a talented chess player. He defeated Stanley Kubrick on the set of The Shining, in which Burton played Larry Durkin, the garage owner. Speaking with Kubrick biographer Vincent LoBrutto, Burton recalled his first day on the set:

My contract was for a week. I just had two short scenes in the movie. I stayed for six weeks because Stanley and I were playing chess... Stanley was a stronger player than I but I was strong enough to give him sufficient struggle to where he enjoyed it. I beat him in the first or second game we played, and then I didn't win any more after that, but it was always a tight struggle. That's what he loved; I guess there was no one else around that played strong.

Recognition

In 1993, Burton was inducted into the Greater Flint Afro-American Hall of Fame.

Death

Burton had been frequently hospitalized for the last year of his life, according to his sister. On February 26, 2016, he died at the age of 78, from complications of pneumonia at a hospital in Menifee.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video

Professional boxing record

Boxing record

No.	Result	Record	Opponent	Method	Round	Time	Date	Location	Notes
8	Loss	4–3–1	LaMar Clark	KO	4 (6)		April 4, 1959	Polo Grounds, Palm Springs, California	Jack Dempsey was referee for the bout.
7	Loss	4–2–1	Bobby Sands	KO	4 (6)		February 21, 1959	Legion Stadium, Hollywood, California
6	Win	4–1–1	Dennis Chaney	KO	2 (4)		June 14, 1958	Legion Stadium, Hollywood
5	Win	3–1–1	Chuck Wilburn	Decision	4		April 7, 1958	Bakersfield Dome, Bakersfield, California
4	Loss	2–1–1	Curley Lee	KO	4 (4)		February 8, 1958	Legion Stadium, Hollywood
3	Win	2–0–1	Chuck Wilburn	Decision	4		January 30, 1958	Grand Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, California
2	Draw	1–0–1	Chuck Wilburn	Decision	4		January 28, 1958	Arena, San Bernardino, California
1	Win	1–0	Bob Smith	KO	4 (4)		January 4, 1958	Legion Stadium, Hollywood

References

1. The New York Times
2. Kurchak, Sarah. "Rocky Star Tony Burton Dies at 78 | FIGHTLAND". Fightland.vice.com. Retrieved February 27, 2016.
3. ^ BBC News Staff (February 26, 2016). "Rocky actor Tony Burton dies aged 78". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved February 26, 2016.
4. ^ Ortiz, Erik (February 26, 2016). "'Rocky' Actor, Former Boxer Tony Burton Dies at 78: Report". NBCNews.com. NBC News. Retrieved February 26, 2016.
5. ^ Emery, Debbie (February 26, 2016). "Tony Burton, 'Rocky' Actor, Dies at 78". TheWrap. The Wrap News Inc. Retrieved February 26, 2016.
6. LaMar Clark - BoxRec
7. Sanello, Frank: "Burton Letting Truth Be Told About His Checkered Past". The Bowling Green Daily News. March 11, 1988.
8. Harford, Margaret: "'Burning of Lepers' Indicts Prejudice". The Los Angeles Times. February 15, 1966. "Tony Burton, Lou Wagner, Brad Derek, and Tim O'Kelly are good in smaller roles and Lenore Waring, Fran Richards and Carol Lacey add some distaff interest to other roles."
9. Harford, Margaret: "Stage Review: 'Visigoths' at Santa Monica". The Los Angeles Times. February 5, 1969. "The acting tends to be abysmal, but Winston Thrash, Tony Burton, and Horace Hinkle are good as the militant blacks."
10. Garfield, David (1980). "Appendix: Life Members of The Actors Studio as of January 1980". A Player's Place: The Story of The Actors Studio. New York: MacMillan Publishing Co., Inc. p. 277. ISBN 0-02-542650-8.
11. ^ "Tony Burton". Total Rocky. Retrieved February 27, 2016.
12. ^ "Tony Burton". NNDB. Retrieved February 27, 2016.
13. Rogers, John. "Tony Burton, actor from 'Rocky movies', dies at 78". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
14. Rogers, John. "Tony Burton, cornerman-trainer in 6 'Rocky' films, has died". WSFA. Raycom Media. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved February 27, 2016.
15. Johnson, Tyler (February 26, 2016). "Tony Burton Dies; Rocky Star Was 78". The Hollywood Gossip. Retrieved February 26, 2016.
16. LoBrutto, Vincent (1999). "Let's Go Again". Stanley Kubrick: A Biography. New York: Da Capo Press, Inc. p. 432. ISBN 0-306-80906-0.
17. Woodyard, Eric (February 26, 2016). "Tony Burton, Flint native and actor from 'Rocky' films, dies in California". The Flint Journal. Booth Newspapers (Advance Publications). Retrieved February 26, 2016.
18. "The Black Godfather". TCM database. Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
19. "Trackdown movie details". Allmovie. All Media Network. Retrieved February 27, 2016.
20. "Trackdown". TCM database. Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
21. "The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings". TCM database. Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
22. "Assault on Precinct 13". TCM database. Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
23. "Rocky". TCM database. Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
24. "Heroes". TCM database. Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
25. "Blackjack". TCM database. Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
26. "Rocky II". TCM database. Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
27. "The Shining". TCM database. Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
28. "The Hunter". TCM database. Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
29. "Stir Crazy". TCM database. Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
30. "Inside Moves". TCM database. Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
31. Walton, Todd (1978). Inside Moves. New York City: Doubleday. ISBN 978-0-9850355-8-7.
32. "Rocky III". TCM database. Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
33. "Beyond Reason". TCM database. Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
34. "Rocky IV". TCM database. Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
35. "Armed and Dangerous". TCM database. Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
36. "Side Out". TCM database. Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
37. "Rocky V". TCM database. Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
38. "House Party 2". TCM database. Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
39. "Hook". TCM database. Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
40. "Shade". TCM database. Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
41. "Rocky Balboa". TCM database. Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
42. "Hack!". TCM database. Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved February 28, 2016.

External links

• Tony Burton at IMDb
• Boxing record for Tony Burton from BoxRec (registration required)
• Tony Burton 1993 Greater Flint Afro-American Hall of Fame Inductee
• Tony Burton(Aveleyman)

• 1937 births
• 2016 deaths
• Male actors from Michigan
• American male film actors
• Sportspeople from Flint, Michigan
• Boxers from Michigan
• American male television actors
• American male boxers
• 20th-century American male actors
• 21st-century American male actors
• Deaths from pneumonia in California
• People from Menifee, California
• 20th-century African-American male actors
• 21st-century African-American male actors
• 20th-century American sportsmen