Don’t you think we all adore a good rags-to-riches story? It gives you the belief that anything is possible if you put in the necessary grit, persistence, and work ethic. Sylvester Stallone is undoubtedly an intriguing example of the many underdog successes that Hollywood has seen.
Stallone has experienced several trials and hardships in the past. He has earned a multitude of accolades in the critics’ eyes, including many major award winners. There are still many unknowns regarding the famous actor even after all these years in the spotlight.
The Rambo Star Had to Work at a Zoo To make Ends Meet
Sylvester Stallone‘s path to fame and fortune was anything but easy. He confronted new challenges when he moved to New York in 1969.
The actor reportedly slept on a bus station bench for nearly two weeks while attempting to ignore the next-door junkies. In the 1970s, Stallone began working as a lion dung shoveler at the Central Park Zoo, earning $1.12 per hour. According to reports, the lions urinated on him, leaving a smell that would burn his eyes.
“Not too many people ever have the thrill of seeing lions taking giant leaks,” the Tulsa King actor once shared in an interview. “Let me tell you, they’re accurate up to 15 feet, and after a month of getting whizzed on, I quit.”
Stallone eventually earned his breakthrough after auditioning for the Woody Allen film Bananas. His popularity ultimately took off with the 1976 movie Rocky, which he wrote as well, after playing a few other minor roles. Stallone hasn’t had to look back since and has continued to achieve greater success throughout his career, which has spanned five decades.
Sylvester Stallone was called ‘Mr. Potato Head’ in his School
Stallone wasn’t made for academics, or more precisely, academia wasn’t designed for a young man with a sporadic tendency of fighting, lighting fires, shooting arrows out of windows, and stealing nuns of their crucifixes.
The First Blood star once told the press that his appearance made him look “like a poster boy for a nightmare” and earned him nicknames like “slant mouth,” “Sylvia,” and “Mr Potato Head” in school.
At home also, things weren’t any better. Stallone’s father harassed him relentlessly, abusing him physically while yelling things like, “Why can’t you be smarter? Why can’t you be stronger?”
Stallone supposedly broke at least 10 bones at the age of 12 as a result of the rage from his past traumas, and was named by his teachers as the “the student most likely to end up in the electric chair.”
Despite his early struggles, Stallone’s resilience and unwavering belief in himself transformed him into an enduring Hollywood icon.