Celebrity Watch!

Humbert Alstredo, a stage actor who played opposite James Earl Jones, Frank Langella and Elizabeth Taylor but is best remembered by generations of scared kids as the evil, devil-bearded warlock of Dark Shadows, died February 19 at the age of 86. No cause of death was listed in the paid death notice published today in The New York Times.

After performing for Joe Papp's Shakespeare in the Park and in various Off Broadway productions, Astredo joined Shadows in 1968 in his primary role Nicholas Blair, a demon-summoning warlock and foe of witch hunters. The role was at the center of a brief controversy in '68 when real-life Christian groups protested a plotline in which Astredo's character seemed to be gearing up for an encounter with Satan himself. The show's writers – in what was either a real reaction or a publicity stunt – renamed the devil character Diablos and outfitted him in generic grim reaper garb.

Humbert served in the Korean War before studying acting at the Pasadena Playhouse, working in local L.A. theaters in Los Angeles and establishing classical theater company The Hollywood Center Theatre. He played Sergius in Shakespeare in the Park's Arms and the Man.

He also performed with James Earl Jones in Othello and in various Off Broadway and regional theater productions. After Shadows, he toured nationally with both Langella and Martin Landau in Dracula. On Broadway he performed in Gore Vidal's An Evening with Richard Nixon, Lorraine Hansberry's Les Blancs and the world tour of Little Foxes with Elizabeth Taylor.

Before retiring to Connecticut in the 1980s, he appeared on soaps Another World, The Edge of Night, For Richer, for Poorer, Guiding Light, Love of Life, Loving, One Life to Live, Somerset and Texas. He was predeceased by his daughter Jennifer.

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LOS ANGELES, Feb. 26 (UPI) -- Actor and former athlete Tony Burton, who played boxing trainer Tony "Duke" Evers in the Rocky films, has died, his family announced. He was 78.

Burton's sister, Loretta Kelley, said her brother's health had been failing for some time, causing him to be in and out of the hospital for a year. He never received an official diagnosis, Kelley said.

Burton appeared in the first six Rocky movies opposite Sylvester Stallone. During the first two films, he played the trainer of Rocky Balboa's opponent, Apollo Creed. He ultimately became Rocky's trainer in the next two films.

A Flint, Mich., native, Burton was known as a hard-working athlete who excelled in football, baseball and boxing. The inductee of the Greater Flint Afro-American Hall of Fame also was once a professional boxer.

Kelley said Burton's health kept him from seeing the latest film in the Rocky universe, Creed. His character makes an appearance in the form of a flashback in the MGM film, but it was taken from earlier stock footage.

Burton also appeared in the films The Shining, Stir Crazy and The Toy, and in 2007 played Sheriff Stoker in the comedy-horror film Hack!

The late celebrity's co-star, Carl Weathers, took to Twitter to commemorate his colleague. "Sad news. RIP Tony Burton," he wrote. "His intensity and talent helped make the Rocky movies successful."

MGM Studios also paid homage to Burton on Twitter writing, "Rest in Peace, Tony."