Tony Burton, who played Duke Tony "Duke" Evers in six Rocky films, has died at the age of 78.
The cause as yet are unknown but his sister Loretta Kelly, said he had regularly been in hospital over the past year.
Before becoming an actor, Burton - who was from Flint, Michigan - briefly fought professionally and won Flint Golden Gloves light heavyweight titles in 1955 and again in 1957.
Burton is seen briefly in Creed, which was released in the UK last month, but only as part of a flashback which used stock footage from an earlier film.
In addition to appearing in the Rocky Films, Burton also appeared in The Shining and Stir Crazy.
His last role was Sheriff Stoker in comedy-horror Hack! released in 2007.
Dukes Speech:
