Examine individual changes

'{{for|the Canadian Anglican bishop|Tony Burton (bishop)}} {{Infobox person | name = Tony Burton | image = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1937|03|23}} | birth_place = [[Flint, Michigan]], [[United States|U.S.]] | birth_name = Anthony Burton | occupation = Actor/Athlete | yearsactive = 1957–present }} '''Anthony "Tony" Burton''' (born March 23, 1937) is an [[United States|American]] actor. He is best known for his role as [[Tony "Duke" Evers]] in the [[Rocky (series)|''Rocky'' series]], and is one of four actors (along with [[Sylvester Stallone]], [[Burt Young]] and real life commentator [[Stu Nahan]]) who have appeared in all six ''Rocky'' films. ==Biography== ===Early life & football career=== Burton was born in [[Flint, Michigan]]. A [[Flint Northern High School]] graduate, he was a [[Michigan]] [[Golden Gloves]] [[heavyweight]] [[boxing]] champion and two-time all-state [[American football|football]] player. At Northern he played [[running back|halfback]]. In 1954 he scored 13 [[touchdowns]] and led his team in scoring. Many of the scoring runs were of 50 yards or more. He gained 820 yards rushing that year and one of his runs was for 95 yards. In 1954, 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]]. Tony led his team in yards gained and receiving yards. In one game against [[Grand Rapids]] Catholic, he gained 213 total yards. At Northern, Tony was also the leading [[baseball]] [[pitcher]], pitching the team to the city championship title. ===Boxing career=== His [[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.<ref>[http://boxrec.com/media/index.php/LaMar_Clark]</ref> ===Prison=== Life after boxing minus any marketable skills or a high school diploma proved a poor formula for success, and before long, Burton wound up in prison, doing three and a half years for robbery at the [[California Institution for Men]] in [[Chino, California]]. In the end, it proved a valuable experience, as Burton recounted to [[United Media|NEA]]'s [[Frank Sanello]] in March 1988: <blockquote>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.</blockquote> More specifically, one of the skills acquired at Chino landed Burton his current 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 current career, when an emotional breakthrough achieved by one of his partners in an acting exercise demonstrated dramatically theater's potential power, on both sides of the footlights.<ref>Sanello, Frank: [http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=3UJAAAAAIBAJ&sjid=cEcEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3870,2330408&dq=tony-burton+rae&hl=en "Burton Letting Truth Be Told About His Checkered Past"]. ''The Bowling Green Daily News''. March 11, 1988.</ref> ===Acting career=== After prison, Burton started getting work with small theater companies in and around [[Los Angeles]], garnering favorable notices early on.<ref>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."</ref><ref>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."</ref> A life member of [[Actors Studio|The Actors Studio]],<ref>{{cite book|quote=|first=David |last=Garfield|title=A Player's Place: The Story of The Actors Studio|year=1980|publisher=MacMillan Publishing Co., Inc.|location=New York|isbn=0-02-542650-8|page=277|chapter=Appendix: Life Members of The Actors Studio as of January 1980}}</ref> Burton numbers among his many credits a co-starring role on the 1980s [[CBS]] [[comedy-drama]] ''[[Frank's Place]]'' and parts in films such as ''[[Hook (film)|Hook]]'', and ''[[The Toy (1982 film)|The Toy]]''. Burton is also known for his role as Wells, one of the prisoners trapped in the besieged police station, [[Precinct 9, Division 13]], in [[John Carpenter]]'s 1976, [[Howard Hawks]]-inspired [[action film]] ''[[Assault on Precinct 13 (1976 film)|Assault on Precinct 13]]''. He also starred in the [[Rocky (film series)|''Rocky'' films]] as a trainer to Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) and Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone). He appeared in an episode of the [[NBC]] dramatic series ''[[Gibbsville (TV series)|Gibbsville]]'' in 1976. ===Recognitions=== In 1993, Burton was inducted into the Greater Flint Afro-American Hall of Fame. Burton also is known as a talented chess player. Master chess player [[Stanley Kubrick]] was defeated by him on the set of ''[[The Shining (film)|The Shining]]'', in which Burton played Larry the garage owner. Speaking with Kubrick biographer Vincent LoButto, Burton recalled his first day on the set: <blockquote>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.<ref>{{cite book|quote=|first=Vincent|last=LoButto|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=fU78LdDClHUC&pg=PA432&dq=%22The+first+day,+I+wasn't+working%22+intitle:Stanley+intitle:Kubrick&hl=en&sa=X&ei=KZPCUOiSIong0gGniYAQ&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=true|title=Stanley Kubrick: A Biography|year=1999|publisher=Da Capo Press, Inc.|location=New York|isbn=0-306-80906-0|page=432|chapter=Let's Go Again}}</ref></blockquote> ===Personal life=== He has been living in [[California]] for nearly 40 years. He is married and currently attends Immanuel Baptist Church in [[Highland, California]]. ==Filmography== * [[Rocky]] (1976) * [[Assault on Precinct 13 (1976 film) |Assault on Precinct 13]] (1977) * [[Heroes (1977 film) |Heroes]] (1977) * [[Rocky II]] (1979) * [[The Hunter]] (1980) * [[The Shining]] (1980) * [[Rocky III]] (1982) * [[Rocky IV]] (1985) * [[Rocky V]] (1990) * [[Hook (film) |Hook]] (1991) * [[Shade]] (2003) * [[Rocky Balboa (film) |Rocky Balboa]] (2006) ==Filmography== * [[Rocky]] (1976) * [[Assault on Precinct 13 (1976 film) |Assault on Precinct 13]] (1977) * [[Heroes (1977 film) |Heroes]] (1977) * [[Rocky II]] (1979) * [[The Hunter]] (1980) * [[The Shining]] (1980) * [[Rocky III]] (1982) * [[Rocky IV]] (1985) * [[Rocky V]] (1990) * [[Hook (film) |Hook]] (1992) * [[Shade]] (2003) * [[Rocky Balboa]] (2006) ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== *{{IMDb name|id=0123748}} * {{boxrec|id=21083}} *[http://www.flint.lib.mi.us/hallfame/93/burton93.shtml Tony Burton 1993 Greater Flint Afro-American Hall of Fame Inductee] {{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. --> | NAME =Burton, Tony | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = American actor | DATE OF BIRTH =March 23, 1937 | PLACE OF BIRTH =[[Flint, Michigan]], [[United States|U.S.]] | DATE OF DEATH = | PLACE OF DEATH = }} {{DEFAULTSORT:Burton, Tony}} [[Category:1937 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Male actors from Michigan]] [[Category:Actors Studio members]] [[Category:American male film actors]] [[Category:Sportspeople from Flint, Michigan]] [[Category:African-American male actors]] [[Category:American male television actors]]'