Sylvester Stallone Started His Film Career by Stealing Books
- by Michael Stillman
Sylvester Stallone, as Rocky, takes on Apollo Creed.
The rich and famous attribute their success to many different influences. For famed movie actor Sylvester Stallone, one of his sources of success was stealing books. We need to stop right here and clearly state this is not a recommendation. Far more people who start by stealing books develop careers as prisoners than movie stars.
Stallone was a featured guest at the recent Toronto International Film Festival. He spoke to the gathering before the premiere showing of the documentary film about his life, Sly. Stallone became most famous for his heroes, Rocky and Rambo in particular. He attributed his fascination with heroic characters who put everything on the line for their worthy cause to seeing the movie Hercules when he was 12 years old. It led to his getting a job as an usher in a theater and working in a bookshop next door.
Being an usher in a theater was part of his inspiration, but there was another part that led to his writing his own stories. According to Yahoo News, he explained, “I worked at a bookstore and I worked right next to the theater...and I would steal books, and I mean lots of books. Then the police came looking for me. I said, 'I've got to burn the books.' They're in the bathtub, nothing's burning... So literally they said, 'You know what, keep the books.'”
“That's when I started to read and read and read and study, and I basically self-educated. That's when I got very involved in Edgar Allan Poe. So if I hadn't 'borrowed' the books, I never would have written those kinds of screenplays.” He continued that the name of one of his characters, Apollo Creed, came from one of the books. “I'm going through a couple of stolen books...and in there it had different counties and cities where the stars would be aligned. There it was, Apollo...in the county of Creed.”
Sylvester Stallone's story is an important one for people who think movies and videos have replaced books. Books feed the imagination in ways that movies, which paint the complete picture for you, cannot do. He could write stories that became movies only because he read books. That said, we need to point out that there are better ways to get your books than the method Stallone employed. There are bookstores where you can buy them and online merchants who will ship them to you. Then, if your budget is a bit tight, there is a place where you can get them absolutely free. It's called a library and there undoubtedly is one in your community. You can get all the books you can read and never have to worry about the police knocking on your door.
Stallone also had a comment about his main characters that has nothing in particular to do with books, but will be appreciated by our older readers. We have a few. He referred to the possibility of future films about his boxer, Rocky, and his extreme action hero, Rambo. Said Stallone, “I can do Rocky until I'm 100 years old, because there's so many different stories. He doesn't have to fight in the ring. Rambo, I can leave him. He's done pretty much. Even though they want to do another one, I'm going, 'What am I fighting? Arthritis?'”
Stallone must also have been to some extent a book collector. Fourteen books “from the library of Sylvester Stallone” were sold at Heritage Auctions in 2017. They were mainly from name writers such as Tolstoy, Hawthorne, Irving, Balzac, Whitman, Bronte and such. They were valuable copies, ranging in price from $625 to $5,500. The provenance might have helped some.
Forum Auctions Online Sale: The Detective Fiction Collection of John Cooper Ending 7th November, 2024
Forum, Nov. 7: Christie (Agatha). The Thirteen Problems, first edition, The Crime Club, 1932. £15,000 to £20,000.
Forum, Nov. 7: Christie (Agatha). Dumb Witness, first edition, 1937. £3,000 to £4,000.
Forum, Nov. 7: Christie (Agatha). Cards on the Table, first edition, The Crime Club, 1936. £2,000 to £3,000.
Forum, Nov. 7: [Carr (John Dickson)], "Carter Dickson" and John Rhode. Drop to his Death, first edition, Heinemann, [1939]. £600 to £800.
Forum, Nov. 7: Berkeley (Anthony). Jumping Jenny, first edition, Hodder and Stoughton, 1933. £800 to £1,200.
Forum Auctions Online Sale: The Detective Fiction Collection of John Cooper Ending 7th November, 2024
Forum, Nov. 7: Marsh (Ngaio). Overture to Death, first edition, The Crime Club, 1939. £600 to £800.
Forum, Nov. 7: [Day-Lewis (Cecil)] "Nicholas Blake". The Beast Must Die, first edition, 1938. £750 to £1,000.
Forum, Nov. 7: Brand (Christianna). Green for Danger, first edition, signed presentation inscription from the author, John Lane the Bodley Head, 1945. £600 to £800.
Forum, Nov. 7: Christie (Agatha). Murder is Easy, first edition, signed by the author, 1939. £3,000 to £4,000.
Forum, Nov. 7: Sayers (Dorothy L.) Lord Peter Views the Body, first edition, Gollancz, 1928. £6,000 to £8,000.
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RareBookBuyer.com We Buy Librairies & Rare Books Nationwide ABAA Dealer
RareBookBuyer.com Specialized in Purchasing Institutional Collections & Deacccessioned Books
RareBookBuyer.com We Buy Librairies & Rare Books Nationwide ABAA Dealer
RareBookBuyer.com Specialized in Purchasing Institutional Collections & Deacccessioned Books
RareBookBuyer.com We Buy Librairies & Rare Books Nationwide ABAA Dealer
RareBookBuyer.com Specialized in Purchasing Institutional Collections & Deacccessioned Books
RareBookBuyer.com We Buy Librairies & Rare Books Nationwide ABAA Dealer
Sotheby's Fine Books, Manuscripts & More Available for Immediate Purchase
Sotheby’s: J.R.R. Tolkien. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. 11,135 USD
Sotheby’s: Edgar Allan Poe. The Raven and Other Poems, 1845. 33,000 USD
Sotheby’s: Leo Tolstoy, Clara Bow. War and Peace, 1886. 22,500 USD
Sotheby’s: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, 1902. 7,500 USD
Sotheby’s: F. Scott Fitzgerald. This Side of Paradise, The Great Gatsby, and Others, 1920-1941. 24,180 USD
Freeman’s | Hindman Fine Printed Books and Manuscripts, Including Americana November 14
Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: LEROUX, Gaston. The Phantom of the Opera. FIRST AM. ED, FIRST ISSUE IN THE VERY RARE DUST JACKET. 1911. $6,000 – 8,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: GOULD, John. A Monograph of the Trochilidae...Humming-Birds. L., [1849-] 1861. $60,000 – 80,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: A COMPLETE RUN of Limited Editions Club publications, v.p. [mostly New York], 1929-2010. $50,000 – 60,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: ORWELL, George. Nineteen Eighty-Four. Lon., 1949. FIRST EDITION IN A VERY FINE DUST JACKET. $6,000 – 8,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: GOULD. A Monograph of the Ramphastidae...Toucans. L., [1852-] 54. SECOND ED. $35,000 – 45,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14:The Federalist. NY, 1788. FIRST EDITION, THICK PAPER COPY. $60,000 – 80,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: SELBY. Plates to Selby’s Illustrations of British Ornithology. Edin., [1833-] 34. $20,000 – 30,000.
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: APRES DE MANNEVILLETTE Le Neptune Oriental
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: CASSAS Eaux fortes de la Sicile et quelques vues d’Espagne
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: CASSINI DE THURY Carte générale et particulière de la France.
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: JOUY; GARNERAY Vues des côtes de France dans l'Océan et dans la Méditerranée
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: LA PÉROUSE Voyage autour du monde
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: LE GENTIL DE LA GALAISIERE Voyage dans les Mers de l’Inde
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: LICENT Hoang Ho, Pai Ho, Loan Ho, Leao Ho. Itinéraires suivis dans le bassin du golfe du Pei Tcheuly
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: FRENCH SCHOOL FROM THE 19th CENTURY Panorama d’Athènes
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: PEETERS Description des principales villes, havres et isles du golfe de Venise
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: PÉRON; FREYCINET Voyage de découverte aux terres australes
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: STACKELBERG La Grèce : vues pittoresques et topographiques.
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: VALENTINER Atlas des Sonnensystems.