Upon Sylvester Stallone’s birth on July 6, 1946, an unexpected complication arose during the delivery process. As a result of the incident, Stallone developed a slight droop on the left side of his face and acquired a distinctive speech impediment, which he likened to the resonating voice of a mafia pallbearer. But that didn’t stop Stallone from becoming the man he is today.
Stallone transformed into a dedicated fitness enthusiast, adopting an intense workout regimen. He improvised by using cinder blocks attached to broomsticks as makeshift barbells and repurposed every piece of furniture in his house as gym equipment. Seizing every opportunity, he would lift anything within reach, demonstrating his unwavering commitment to strength training. But, he once had to do something very embarrassing.
Sylvester Stallone Worked At A Zoo To make Ends Meet
Upon his arrival in New York in 1969, Sylvester Stallone faced a challenging journey in pursuit of his aspirations for fame and fortune. From the start, he encountered hardships, enduring nearly two weeks of sleeping on a bus station bench while striving to disregard the distressing presence of drug addicts nearby. By 1970, Stallone found himself earning a modest wage of $1.12 per hour, toiling as a lion dung shoveler at the Central Park Zoo.
In an unimaginably dreadful turn of events, the situation escalated to a point where the lions, on rare occasions, would urinate on him, emitting a pungent odor that stung his eyes. As Stallone beheld his attire for the play, the situation hit him with full force. His costume comprised crimson horns, a scarlet wig draped over his lower regions, and an oversized artificial p*nis, leaving no room for doubt about the utter absurdity of it all.
“It was a giant red appendage that you had to wrap around and stick in your G-string, because it was bothering you,” Stallone said. “You really couldn’t walk.”
Besides, the cumbersome apparatus did not always reliably perform on the stage.
Sylvester Stallone Started Landing Small Roles
Stallone started getting minor roles, one of which was alongside Henry Winkler and Richard Gere in the movie The Lords of Flatbush, where they portrayed 1950s greasers. However, an incident occurred during a scuffle when Gere inadvertently spilled mustard on Stallone’s trousers, leading Stallone to reflexively deliver an elbow strike to Gere’s head, resulting in Gere’s departure from the film.
Amidst all this, Stallone relentlessly pursued a career as a writer, tossing every wild notion he conceived. Under pen names such as Q. Moonblood and J.J. Deadlock, he churned out swift scripts, each filled with his characteristic audacity and unconventional ideas.
In due course, Stallone shifted his focus to what he would later characterize as “a vile, putrid, festering little street drama” about “a good guy surrounded by rotten people.” Drawing inspiration from the actual boxer Chuck Wepner, an obscure underdog who valiantly fought through 15 rounds before losing to Muhammad Ali in 1975, Stallone crafted the protagonist, Rocky Balboa.