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Light Rain Rocky’s brother-in-law visits St. Thomas
Actor teaches students the benefits of creating art
Burt Young, known internationally for his role as Paulie, brother of Adrian (Talia Shire) and eventual brother-in-law of Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) in five “Rocky” films, visited St. Thomas the Apostle school the evening of Feb. 4 to lead a special painting lesson for students during Catholic Schools Week.
“Don’t be afraid to make a mistake. There are no mistakes,” Young told a 10-year-old student named Ella, who was painting a sunflower on her canvas. Ella was one of 10 art students who expressed an interest in being part of Young’s painting class.
“I was raised in Corona [Queens], and I always painted,” said Young, who’s now 75 and lives in Port Washington. “My father was a painter. It’s a great way for people to find themselves, and use themselves for themselves.” Asked what he would teach the kids, he said, “Who knows? Let me see if they like me first. I’m going to play it by ear.”
As students were given their canvases, St. Thomas the Apostle teacher Daniela Picone told them they were going to start by mimicking a streaked background on a recent painting done by Young of a homeless man in New York. From there, the students had artistic license to create whatever they liked. Armed with tubes of Blick paint, they squirted, sponged and brushed for nearly an hour as Young went around checking on their progress.
“I paint whatever — whatever comes to mind,” said Young, whose work is displayed in studios in Port Washington, Atlantic City and Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
As he approached a young man named Finn, whose hands were full of blue paint, Young said, “Don’t be afraid to make a mess, because I’m not going to be cleaning it up.”
In addition to the “Rocky” franchise, Young said, his acting career has comprised more than 200 films, including “The Pope of Greenwich Village,” “Last Exit in Brooklyn” and “Once Upon a Time in America.” He has also made numerous appearances in popular television shows like “M*A*S*H,” “Law and Order,” “Walker, Texas Ranger” and “The Sopranos,” on which he played Bobby Baccala’s father, who was dying of cancer and was brought out of retirement to execute a hit on his godson.
