Yo, Sly – Happy Birthday!
Sylvester “Sly” Stallone, the actor who made a lovable losing boxer named Rocky Balboa into one of the most iconic screen characters of all time, is celebrating his 80th birthday on Monday.
The actor, who has Ukrainian Jewish heritage on his mother’s side but who grew up Roman Catholic, embodied a hunky, unassuming, and very Italian appeal on-screen; it’s not for nothing that Rocky was called the “Italian Stallion.”
Stallone’s Rocky was known for the catchphrase, “Yo, Adrian!” that he shouted out to the woman he loved. Rocky, the story of a battered fighter who lost in the ring but won by making Adrian (Talia Shire) and audiences love him fiercely, was one of the most popular movies of the 1970s, winning three Oscars, including Best Picture – in a year when it was up against All the President’s Men, Taxi Driver, and Network – and spawning five sequels.
“To all the Rockys in the world, I love you,” he said as he stood onstage at the Oscars, accepting the Best Picture Award in 1977, and creating a minor scandal in those more straitlaced days by appearing without a tie, a streetwise gesture that endeared him even more to his fans.
The movie is an enduring classic, and to this day people still run up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, imitating a key scene in which Rocky exults in his training routine, a moment that has become a symbol of underdogs overcoming the odds. There is now a statue of Stallone as Rocky at the museum that has at times been placed near the museum entrance.
Stallone's iconic roles
He went on to star as another iconic hero, John Rambo, in the Rambo franchise, starting with First Blood in 1982. It told the story of a special forces Vietnam veteran who could not stop fighting even when he got back home, and who used his skill and bravery to battle corrupt officials, drug cartels, and enemy troops around the world. There were also several Rambo sequels starring Stallone. The Rambo films anointed Stallone as a top action-movie star, and his movies earned billions at the box office.
Stallone was embraced by audiences just as much as the characters he played. He is still acting as he enters his ninth decade, with nine upcoming credits on the Internet Movie Database (IMDB), including his starring role in Tulsa King, a hit TV series about a mobster relocated to Oklahoma.
People may not realize they probably first saw Stallone when he played one of the thugs who terrorized Woody Allen on the subway in Bananas in 1971, as Allen hid behind a copy of Commentary magazine. This bit part, in which Stallone had a close-up as he entered the train, proved that he had one of those faces – often, as in his case, far from perfect – that come across unforgettably on camera.
This led to more movies, including a leading role in The Lords of Flatbush in 1974, opposite Henry Winkler, that got him on the radar. He began pitching the screenplay he wrote, Rocky, which he was inspired to create after watching the fight in which Muhammad Ali defeated Chuck Wepner, a young white opponent known for taking punishment in the ring. Many top producers were interested in the script but wanted to cast established stars in the leading role, but Stallone held out and got the part.
There have been triumphant years for the actor, and other times that were a bit, well, rocky, as he struggled to recapture the magic of Rocky and Rambo in other films.
Stallone wins Golden Globe for Rocky reprisal
In the 2010s, Stallone went on to co-star in a reboot series, the Creed movies starring Michael B. Jordan as the son of Apollo Creed, Rocky’s main rival. Stallone reprised the role of Rocky, and this time he was the coach to the gifted younger fighter. He won a Golden Globe in 2016 for this role.
An emotional Stallone said, when accepting the Golden Globe, “I want to thank my imaginary friend, Rocky Balboa, for being the best friend I ever had.”
On his birthday, audiences would surely like to thank Stallone for being one of their best on-screen friends as well.