Sylvester Stallone-All The Unknown People

Ambling Along: For All the Unknown People

by Jay Hudson


All my life I have been fascinated by rags-to-riches stories, and the story of Sylvester Stallone ranks up there with the best of them. His climb from the trenches of a Philadlphia beauty school to the heights of Hollywood fame is a lesson in perseverence and luck. As a little-known screenwriter with very little success to show for his efforts, Stallone enrolled in a Philadelphia beauty school to support himself. After several hundred hours with his hands in shampoo and perms, and making $35 a week, he decided to give screenwriting another try. He said that he got plenty of F's in English in his high school years and figured he would never make it as a writer. He wanted to be an actor. Stallone had no desire to write. He was a New York kid looking for the brass ring.He was taking drama classes in Florida when his mom told him that he would make it to Hollywood by writing. Stallone was quoted as saying that his early screenwriting was full of pessimism and that was the reason very little of his work sold, but all that changed when he arrived in California. With a new-found optimism he watched the Muhammad Ali/Chuck Wepner fight in 1975. Wepner was an underdog, and considered an easy opponent for Ali. It was considered money in the bank for Ali. It was anything but easy. Wepner took Ali into the 15 th round and had a chance to defeat Ali before succumbing. The idea for a boxing story took shape in Stallone's mind. With help from his wife he wrote Rocky in a 80-something hour writing frenzy. He wanted to write a story about a man fighting for dignity, a story about the unknown people who could do well if they only had the opportunity. Hollywood was interested in Rocky. Stallone decided to sell Rocky only if he was part of the package. He desperately wanted to play the part of Rocky. He had the size and the rugged looks of a heavyweight fighter. He decided not to sell the story unless he was the actor who played Rocky. His persistence paid off. The script was sold and Stallone became an actor.Rocky won an Academy Award as "Best Picture of the Year." More Rocky and Rambo stories followed, and Stallone became a star. Stallone's story is inspiring. How many unknown's in backyard arenas all over America are just waiting to be discovered? How many of them will be able to grab the brass ring? Copyright-(c)-2006-Jay Hudson-All rights reserved. No reproduction or transmission by any means, mechanical or electronic, without expressed written permission of Jay Hudson.