Footballer-turned-actor Carl Weathers passed away earlier this month, prompting an avalanche of mourning, including from some of his costars. The cause of his death, however, was kept under wraps. Now it’s been made public.
Per The Blast, Weathers died of therosclerotic cardiovascular disease, which Johns Hopkins Medicine describes as a “thickening or hardening of the arteries” that’s “caused by a buildup of plaque in the inner lining of an artery.” According to his death certificate, he suffered from heart disease for years, and his death was declared “natural.”
Weathers passed away in his sleep at his home in Venice, California in the early hours of February 2.
Before his passing, Weathers was set to appear in a FanDuel Super Bowl commercial. The company has since been forced to frantically re-edit the ad now that he’s gone.
Before he transitioned into acting, Weathers had a short stint in the NFL, playing for the then-Oakland Raiders before retiring from the sport in 1974. He soon found himself squaring off in the ring against Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky Balboa, playing Apollo Creed in four Rocky movies. Recently he was among the main cast of The Mandalorian. We think you should absolutely watch his delightful 1987 movie Action Jackson.
(Via The Blast)