He Slept In Bus Stations And Even Had To Sell His Beloved Dog Yet He Refused To Give Up See more

Detailing how birth complications, severe financial hardship, and the heartbreak of temporarily selling his dog Butkus preceded his inspired three-day drafting of a script based on underdog Chuck Wepner’s fight, this inspirational Hollywood profile covers Sylvester Stallone’s stubborn perseverance in creating and starring in Rocky.

The source traces the story to the period when Sylvester Stallone was trying to find a place in Hollywood. Acting work was uncertain, and his financial difficulties grew severe enough that he temporarily parted with Butkus, his dog. The detail matters because it gives a sense of the stakes in the decisions he made next. Writing a screenplay was work that offered him no immediate guarantee of a sale, an acting role or even a regular income.

The idea for Rocky took shape after Stallone watched Chuck Wepner fight Muhammad Ali. Wepner was an underdog in that contest. The fight gave Stallone a starting point for a story about a little-known boxer who suddenly receives a chance to test himself against a champion. The fictional boxer’s ambitions were small enough to be recognizable even to a viewer with no interest in boxing. He wanted to see whether he could stay on his feet and go the distance when given a chance that few people thought he deserved……..READ MORE NEXT PAGE