Sylvester Stallone’s new memoir“The Steps”pulls back the curtain on a story most fans have never heard in full. Before Rocky, before the Oscars, before the fame, Stallone was broke in early 1970s Manhattan, sleeping in bus terminals and working jobs like cleaning lion cages. A forceps accident at birth had paralyzed the lower left side of his face, causing the sneer and slurred speech that casting directors used as reasons to reject him. He kept going anyway.
The turning point came when he wrote the“Rocky”screenplay in just three days, inspired by Muhammad Ali’s fight against Chuck Wepner. Producers offered $350,000 for the script, but only if they could cast someone like Robert Redford or Ryan O’Neal in the lead. Stallone refused. He held out until they agreed to let him star. The film was made for under a million dollars and won Best Picture at the 1977 Academy Awards.
The memoir also gets candid about the personal cost of that journey, including the moment he sold his dog Butkus outside a 7-11 and later bought him back for $1,500. The later chapters on’80s fame lose some steam, but the final act finds honesty as Stallone confronts aging, mortality, and faith. His message?“God’s greatest gift is your heart and the will to keep going.”Have you ever bet on yourself when everyone else said no?
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Local Lawton
Local Lawton is a contributor to LocalBeat, covering local news and community stories.