Celebrating Black History Month: Carl Weathers, actor extraordinaire

Super-sexy, handsome Carl Weathers, born January 14, 1948 in New Orleans, Louisiana, passed away peacefully in his sleep February 1, 2024.  He was an award winning actor whose career spanned fifty years.  He played football in college at Long Beach City College, and later transferred to San Diego State University.  He helped the Aztecs win the 1969 Pasadena Bowl.  

However, his first love was acting and received a master in theatre arts from SDSU.  He signed with the Oakland Raiders in 1970, helping them win the AFC West Division title, which took them to their first ever AFC Championship Game. After one season, he signed with the British Columbia Lions of the Canadian Football League until 1973. 

While still playing football, he began working as an extra, which included an uncredited role in Magnum Force in 1973. His first significant roles came in blaxploitation films, Bucktown and Friday Foster. His breakout role was his performance as Apollo Creed with Sylvester Stallone in Rocky.  He played Creed in the next three Rocky films. 

In 2019, Weathers appeared as Greef Karga in The Mandalorian of the Star Wars cinematic universe, for which he was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor. 

Rest In Power, Carl. 

Here he is with my girls:

"The Mandalorian wins seven Primetime Emmy Awards 2020

After only one season, The Mandalorian proved to be a powerhouse in the creative arts and won seven Primetime Emmys at the 72nd ceremony September 20, 2020.  The Disney-produced Star Wars spin-off won: 

1.     Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series (Half-Hour),
Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Original Dramatic Score),
Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Program (Half-Hour),
Outstanding Sound Editing for a Comedy or Drama Series (Half-Hour) and Animation,
Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (Half-Hour) and Animation,
Outstanding Special Visual Effects,
Outstanding Stunt Coordination for a Drama Series, Limited Series or Movie

It was nominated for seven more:

Outstanding Drama Series,

Outstanding Guest Actor (Giancarlo Esposito) in a Drama Series,

Outstanding Fantasy/Sci-Fi Costumes,

Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup for a Series, Limited Series, Movie or Special,

Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Drama Series (3 episodes nominated)

Happy birthday, Jon Favreau!

Cinematic powerhouse Jon Favreau, born October 19, 1966 in Queens, New York, is a producer, director and actor.  He is the executive producer for all three Iron Man movies, and three of the Avengers movies, Age of Ultron, Infinity War and Endgame.

He directed the first two Iron Man movies.  

He has appeared in six movies as Tony Stark's chauffeur Happy Hogan.

Favreau won a Saturn Award (Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films) for Best Director for Iron Man.  He has also been recognized for his work on the Disney Star Wars production of The Mandalorian.