The Stallone memoir “The Steps” opens on a stark number: $60. That was all Sylvester Stallone had after arriving in New York City in 1969, and $43.60 of it was already committed to rent, according to Page Six.
In the Stallone memoir, published Sept. 29 by William Morrow, the “Rocky” star recounts the poverty and improvisation of the years he spent chasing an acting career.
The Stallone memoir’s title nods to the Philadelphia Art Museum steps that Rocky climbs in the film, according to the publisher’s description.
How the Stallone memoir describes life on $60
The Stallone memoir says he could not afford a laundromat, so he washed his clothes by wearing them in the shower. “I could never afford to go to a laundromat,” he said, adding that the habit made sense to him at the time.
Food was just as tight. According to Fox News, he got by on spoonfuls of cottage cheese followed by raw eggs, a routine he defended with a practical reason: “No dishes. You drink the egg, so you don’t have to wash anything.”
The jobs that fed the dream
Stallone worked as a movie theater usher, earning $34 a week. He also took a 6 p.m.-to-2 a.m. shift at Dover Delicatessen, where he learned to cut lox on bagels, per Fox News.
An altercation at the deli ended with his arrest, and he was handcuffed in the back of a police car while still wearing his work apron and name tag. He was held at The Tombs, New York’s notorious detention center, in a 20-by-20-foot cell with at least 25 other men, Fox News reported. Stallone called it “the place of nightmares.”
From survival to Rocky
Those lean years fed straight into his best-known character. The Stallone memoir says he used the raw eggs in “Rocky” to show how Rocky Balboa approached life. “I wouldn’t recommend this diet to anyone,” he wrote, “but if you’re young and poor, it will suffice.”
“Rocky” arrived in 1976 and made Stallone a star. Half a century later, the Stallone memoir sums up his lesson about sacrifice in five words: “There is no halfway point.”
Stallone did not wait for Hollywood to open a door. He wrote the “Rocky” screenplay in three and a half days in March 1975, after watching a Muhammad Ali fight, according to Wikipedia.
Studios wanted the script but not Stallone as the lead. He refused to sell it unless he could play Rocky, and he turned down a six-figure offer for the rights. The gamble paid off. The film cost roughly $1 million to produce and grossed $225 million worldwide, the biggest box office total of 1976.
At the 49th Academy Awards in 1977, “Rocky” won best picture, best director for John G. Avildsen and best film editing. Stallone earned nominations for best actor and best original screenplay but did not win either one.
Stallone returned to the Balboa role nearly four decades later in 2015’s “Creed,” which earned him an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actor, and he reprised it in 2018’s “Creed II.” The story that began with $60 and a rent bill has since grown into one of cinema’s most durable franchises, and the new Stallone memoir gives fans a closer look at where it started.
Stallone’s story keeps drawing attention. The Kennedy Center named him an honoree for 2025, and he teamed with director Quentin Tarantino on a 1930s gangster series. The Kennedy Center has also set the date for its next honors ceremony.
“The Steps” is available now through Amazon and other retailers.
Reporting from Page Six and Fox News on the Stallone memoir contributed to this story.
