Boxing

Burton's boxing career included the Flint Golden Gloves light heavyweight championship in 1955 and 1957.^[3][5] Burton won the State Golden Gloves Light Heavyweight Championship in 1957 and lost in the Chicago Tournament of Champions semi-finals. He fought as a professional boxer in 1958 and 1959. During that time he was knocked out by knockout artist, Lamar Clark, who holds the record for most consecutive knockouts at 44.^[6]

Prison

After his brief professional boxing career, Burton served more than three years in a Chino, Calif., prison for robbery. The acting exercises he performed as part of a therapy program helped steer him into an acting career after his release. NEA's Frank Sanello in March 1988:

Prison for me was productive because I got my high school diploma and a degree from the University of California. But most important, I got myself together and found out who I was and how I could proceed without destroying myself.

More specifically, one of the skills acquired at Chino landed Burton his wife, Rae, whom he met on a TV repair house call. Moreover, a workshop in the prison, that used psychodrama as a form of therapy, pointed Burton towards his acting career, when an emotional breakthrough achieved by one of his partners in an acting exercise dramatically demonstrated theater's potential power.^[7]

Acting

After prison, Burton started getting work with small theater companies in and around Los Angeles, garnering favorable notices early on.^[8][9]

A life member of the Actors Studio,^[10] Burton numbers among his many credits a co-starring role in Frank's Place and parts in films, such as Stir Crazy and The Toy. He also appeared as Wells, one of the prisoners trapped in the besieged police station in John Carpenter's 1976 Howard Hawks-inspired action film, Assault on Precinct 13. He later starred in the Rocky films as a trainer to Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) and later Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone). He appeared in an episode of Gibbsville in 1976. Burton also appeared in The Shining, House Party 2, and Hook.^[11] He had guest appearances in Kojak, The Rockford Files, CHiPs, Twin Peaks, and The A-Team.^[11] Burton also guest starred as Conrad King Baylor on In the Heat of the Night in the episode "King's Ransom", which aired in January 1990.

Recognition

In 1993, Burton was inducted into the Greater Flint Afro-American Hall of Fame.^{[citation needed]}

Death

Burton had been frequently hospitalized for the last year of his life, according to his sister.^[3] On February 25, 2016, he died at the age of 78, from complications of pneumonia at a hospital in Menifee, California.^[4][17]

Film

Television

Video