Burt Young, the Actor Behind Paulie in Rocky, Tells His Story
Our American Stories
iHeartPodcasts
4.6 • 817 Ratings
🗓️ 22 April 2026
⏱️ 8 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On this episode of Our American Stories, Burt Young grew up in Queens, the son of a working-class family, and spent his early years far from the world of film. He boxed professionally, served in the Marine Corps, and worked a series of jobs before ever thinking about acting.
That changed when he began studying under Lee Strasberg and started to take the craft seriously. Not long after, he came across the script for Rocky, and his live was forever changed.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is an I-Heart podcast. |
| 0:02.3 | Guaranteed Human. |
| 0:16.4 | This is Lee Habib, and this is Our American Stories, the show where America is the star and the American people. |
| 0:25.0 | And to search for The Our American Stories podcast, go to the Iheart Radio app to Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. |
| 0:34.1 | Bert Young is an immediately recognizable character actor whose half-muttered voice and flinty |
| 0:39.4 | gaze made him the perfect fit for Rocky as Sylvester Stallone's ill-mannered brother-in-law, |
| 0:45.6 | Paulie. Without any further ado, here's Bert Young with his story. |
| 0:50.8 | Yes, I'm Bert Young. I was born in Corona, Queens, New York. |
| 0:58.0 | I had the greatest parents. |
| 1:00.0 | My pop, it became like a minister in a high school. |
| 1:05.0 | The name was Michael. |
| 1:07.0 | He was a sheet metal from Iceman. |
| 1:10.0 | It could do anything, build anything. |
| 1:14.6 | He could smock you pretty good too. |
| 1:16.6 | He's a tough guy himself. |
| 1:18.6 | He was a great guy. |
| 1:21.6 | My mother, Josephine, she lived to about 93. |
| 1:27.8 | The most beautiful lady ever, protected me from everything. |
| 1:33.8 | Mama knew I couldn't do wrong. |
| 1:37.8 | When I needed money as a kid, my father would give me 25 cents. |
| 1:41.8 | I said, Mama, I need two grand. |
| 1:47.0 | She said, Mike right out of check, sign the check. |
... |
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