Tony Burton
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| Tony Burton | |
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| Birth name | Anthony Burton |
| Born | March 1937 |
| Notable roles | Duke in the Rocky series Wells in Assault on Precinct 13 |
Anthony "Tony" Burton (born March 1937 in Flint, Michigan) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Tony "Duke" Evers in the Rocky series, and reprised this role in the sixth Rocky film, Rocky Balboa, which opened for release in December 2006. He is one of three actors (Sylvester Stallone and Burt Young being the other two) who have appeared in every Rocky film.
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Burton, a Northern High School graduate, was a Michigan Golden Gloves heavyweight 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 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 teams co-captain and Most Valuable Player. Tony lead 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.
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 was once knocked out by knockout artist Lamar Clark who holds the record for most consecutive knockouts at 44.
Among his many credits are a co-starring role on the 1980s CBS sitcom Frank's Place and parts in films such as Hook, The Shining and 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.
In 1993, Burton was inducted into the Greater Flint Afro-American Hall of Fame.
He has been living in California for nearly 40 years.
