12/02/2023
What an amazing short biography of Sylvester (Sly) Stallone! I had no idea he wrote “Rocky” and refused initial offers for the script because the studio wanted to cast someone else as Rocky. He ultimately accepted a fraction of what he was originally offered because he insisted on playing the title character. His dog, Butkus, co-starred in the movie. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
"We used to call it the Slutton. You could lie on your bed and stretch out your arms and open the door, shut the window, turn on a faucet. You never had to move. If you wanted clean laundry, you took a shower with your clothes on."
In 1969, Sly Stallone lived at Sutton Hotel (330 E 56th St). He was an usher at nearby Baronet and Coronet Theatre (993 3rd Ave), open 1914-2001.
He changed marquee letters and wed co-worker Sasha Czack (m. 1974-85), co-writer of Rocky (1976).
Sly saw A Dream of Kings (1969) at Baronet, hearing Anthony Quinn say, "Each day, my son, you must wake up and face life with the eye of the tiger."
Sly said he was also an usher next door at Cinema I & II (1001 3rd Ave), opened in 1962, where Rocky (1976) later premiered.
He is pictured on the block with bullmastiff Butkus, walking on 59th St, towards the theatres around the corner on 3rd Ave.
He had returned to NYC on Aug 15, 1969 ("first day of Woodstock"), as "Mike Stallone," a homeless actor. He had long ago left his 1946 birth home (433-35 W 46th St) in Hell's Kitchen in 1951.
In 1969, he was back in the City, earning $38/week, and bought Butkus (named for Dick Butkus) at 6 weeks old. The Sutton (1929) was an old writers' hotel.
Nathanael West was once 1930-33 night manager, reducing rates for Dashiell Hammett in 1932, when he wrote The Thin Man (1933).
West wrote Miss Lonelyhearts (1933) about the "hard luck guests." Several did the "su***de leap" from the rooftop sundeck in the Great Depression.
Bette Midler, Michael Caine, SJ Perlman, and Nancy Reagan have also stayed at The Sutton. "I never socialized. Who could afford it?" said Sly.
In 1969, Sly did not even go to restaurants or bars in Manhattan. Weekends were exclusively for writing. He renamed himself "Sylvester Stallone" in 1970.
Sly was born "Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone" in Hell's Kitchen to Italian Frank Stallone Sr (1919-2011) and Ukrainian Jewish Breton Jackie Labofish (1921-2020), married 1945-57.
The Sutton was still a step up from Sly living homeless in 1969 doorways, libraries, bus stops and train stations in freezing Midtown.
Sly was hustling but at first only hired as an extra. He was still turned down as an extra by The Godfather (1972).
His slurred speech and drooping eyes led to many rejections by NYC producers for lead/supporting roles 1969-71. His first gigs were off-off Broadway, half-naked.
He was Stud in soft core film The Party at Kitty and Stud's (1970), later re-released as The Italian Stallion (1976) after Rocky (1976).
Sly had been sleeping three weeks at Port Authority, after eviction. He got paid $200 for two days, recruited right off Minnesota Strip.
8th Ave outside Port Authority was notorious for 1960s-90s pimps, recruiting wannabe stars, off the bus from the Midwest, entering the s*x trade before even walking to Broadway.
"It was either do that movie or rob someone, because I was at the end – the very end – of my rope."
Sly also starred in erotic off-Broadway play Score (Oct 28-Nov 15, 1970) at Martinique Theatre (1260 Broadway). It later became the movie Score (1974).
He was an extra in M*A*S*H (1970), playing an unknown soldier eating at a table; a party guest in Pigeons (1970); a subway thug in Woody Allen's Bananas (1971); and a clubber in Klute (1971).
Conceding he'd never get cast as a lead, Sly started writing scripts to cast himself. He would record audio at theatres to rewrite scripts of existing films for practice at home or at NYPL.
He would sneak into 1969-74 theatres of The Deuce, where Midnight Cowboy (1969) was filmed. He never paid for a movie ticket, too poor to pay.
He was fired as an usher for scalping tickets, trying to sell to theatre owner Walter Reade.
So Sly cleaned lion cages at Central Park Zoo, which may have inspired the pet store in Rocky (1976).
He was near the end of his rope again, when he got hired for two cameos in What's Up, Doc? (1972), starring Barbra Streisand.
In 1972, Sly then got his breakthrough role as the thug Stanley for The Lords of Flatbush (1974), co-starring Henry Winkler. It took two years to release. Winkler said Sly then lived "off Lexington."
"And he painted the windows black so he could write," said Winkler. Butkus sat by Sly's desk as Sly downed coffee after coffee. Sasha also worked as a server to pay the rent.
Sly landed his first proper lead role in No Place to Hide (1973), about student terrorism in NYC.
"I was always cast as a thug." Off-screen, Sly was arrested for stealing jewellery in 1974.
When Lords of Flatbush (1974) finally came out, Sly was praised for his performance.
"If I didn't get good reviews, I never would've made enough...just enough to get a $40 car and drive...11 days to Hollywood."
Sasha and Sly got married at age 28 on Dec 28, 1974. They then drove to Hollywood 1974/75. Their car broke down at Hollywood and Vine.
In LA, Sly only knew Henry Winkler, then already famous as Fonzie on Happy Days (1974-84). Winkler dropped them off at a motel. Four days later, they lived a street away from Balboa Blvd off 101 in Encino. Rocky "Balboa" was named.
Rocky (1976) was written in 3.5 days after Sly saw Chuck Wepner go 15 rounds against Muhammad Ali on March 24,1975.
Sasha influenced the love story, making Rocky more than just a thug for a loan shark. Sasha made Rocky less thuggish.
Sometime in 1975, Sly and Sasha moved into a seedy Hollywood apartment. In dire poverty, while developing Rocky (1976), they were down to $106.
That forced Sly to sell a starving Butkus to a stranger at 7-11. Sly said he got $60 (updated).
Sasha was then pregnant with Sage Stallone (May 5, 1976-2012). Sly turned down up to $275,000 for the Rocky script, when studios wanted other lead actors instead.
He accepted nearly 10x less so he could star in Rocky (1976) himself. His slurred speech since birth came from a paralyzed left side of his face from nerve damage caused by forceps.
Sly read Edgar Allan Poe, Walt Whitman and Shakespeare into a tape recorder to treat his speech impediment. His vocal push ups.
When Rocky (1976) got greenlit, six months after selling Butkus, Sly begged to buy Butkus back, reportedly for $1500. Filming started Jan 1976 in Philly where Sly had lived from age 15 in 1961.
Butkus had been with Sly through thick and thin, watching Sly write in NYC and LA.
Butkus was also the only one Sly originally cast who stuck with him. Even extras abandoned Rocky (1976), leaving Rocky and Adrian stranded alone on the rink.
Talia Shire (Adrian) was a last-minute addition. So was Carl Weathers (Apollo) after Ken Norton bailed.
Rocky yelling at Mickey behind a closed door in 1976, reflected Sly's turbulent relationship with his dad Frank Sr in Hell's Kitchen (1946-51) and Maryland (1952-61). Sly then ran away to his mom in Philly.
Paulie yelling at Adrian also reflected Frank Sr yelling at Sly, sometimes very publicly before a Maryland polo crowd.
Rocky (1976) had a matinee pre-screening on Nov 15/16, 1976, at Cinema I & II that bombed, shattering Sly's confidence.
75% walked out in the first 20 mins. Critics were not inspired by hope for the everyman.
The New York Times' Vincent Canby gave Rocky (1976) a scathing review on Nov. 22, 1976 ("`Rocky,' Pure 30's Make-Believe").
It looked like Sly's movie career was ending. The premiere audience was silent at first. "It's almost like it's a still painting. No one is moving."
Then suddenly "boom!" New Yorkers stood to cheer the first time Apollo got knocked down. The audience roar could be heard outside Cinema II.
Fiction got real as if moviegoers were at MSG. Viewers even forgot Rocky lost the fight. "The audience is participating like it's a real sporting event. We blurred the lines," said Sly.
As a star, Sly would continue his early days habit of rewriting scripts. He insisted Rambo not die (as originally written) in First Blood (1982). "I'm in the hope business."
In 1998, Sly successfully argued his experience as a director, writer, producer and actor should qualify for remaining credits he needed to graduate, when he went to University of Miami 1967-69. He finally got his BFA.
In Miami, Sly had acted in Death of a Salesman. Brian Dennehy in First Blood (1982) also starred in a Broadway run of the play.
A Harvard prof in the Miami crowd told Sly to think about acting as a career. "And that moment changed the course of my life."
Before then, Sly was very truant, going to 13 schools in 12 years, including Philly's Notre Dame Academy and Abraham Lincoln High School, Devereux Manor High School (Berwyn PA) for problem kids, Charlotte Hall Military Academy (MD), Miami Dade College, and American College of Switzerland (1965-67).
Photo from Sylvester Stallone. Photo location ID by Bob Egan. Some quotes from Sly (2023) and The New York Times.
