When a young and very broke Sylvester Stallone wrote "Rocky," managed to get it financed, then somehow convinced the studio to let him star in it (Sly almost lost the lead role to a "Gunsmoke" actor
), he achieved something that feels like it would be almost impossible today. In the streaming age, in which we teeter on the verge of an AI-driven garbage future, the incredible underdog story that is Stallone's own rise to fame seems like it belongs to a bygone era.That underdog story mirrored Rocky
Balboa's own path to glory. Sly was living in New York and had struggled to maintain any sort of career as an actor prior to "Rocky." Between cleaning out the cages at the Central Park Zoo and sleeping in the Port Authority Bus Terminal for a few nights, he'd starred in a softcore sexploitation film named "The Party at Kitty and Stud's," and made an uncredited appearance in one of the greatest war movies ever made. His biggest project was the Roger Corman produced B-movie "Death Race 2000," which debuted a year before "Rocky" and saw Stallone in an atypical villain role. Soon, after, however, he became famous for portraying one of the most legendary good guys in cinema history.
"Rocky" debuted to critical acclaim and box office success in 1976, making Stallone a star but also cluing Hollywood in to his writing talents. The film received ten Oscar nominations, with Sly himself earning two: Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay. He may have lost in both categories, but simply being nominated put him on the level of Oscars royalty that only two other individuals in the history of film have matched.
Read more: 15 Best Movies Without An Oscar
Rocky Put Sylvester Stallone In Legendary Company
As confirmed by the Academy itself, with "Rocky," Sylvester Stallone became the third person in Oscars history to be nominated in a single year as both an actor and screenwriter. This put him among esteemed company, as the only other two individuals to achieve that same feat were Charles Chaplin in 1941 and Orson Welles in 1942.
Chaplin was actually nominated three times in 1941 for his 1940 film "The Great Dictator," which might not be one of the three "perfect" Chaplin movies according to Rotten Tomatoes, but did earn its writer and star nominations in the Outstanding Production category (alongside his production company United Artists, the same company that eventually put out "Rocky"), and the Best Actor and Best Writing (Original Screenplay) categories. Sadly, he didn't take home any statuettes that night, and neither did Jack Oakie, who was nominated in the Best Supporting Actor category for his performance as Benzino Napaloni in "The Great Dictator." The film was also nominated for Best Music (Original Score), but lost that category to Disney's "Pinocchio." Still, a full five nominations wasn't bad, especially when it made Chaplin the first individual in history to receive nods in both the acting and screenwriting categories. What's more, regardless of its awards or lack thereof, "The Great Dictator" remains one of the best war movies ever made.
The year after Chaplin achieved Oscars history, Welles became the second individual to receive nominations in the acting and screenwriting categories for his unimpeachable classic "Citizen Kane." This time, he actually won the screenwriting category alongside co-writer Herman J. Mankiewicz. What's more, the film received nine nominations in total, with Welles being acknowledged in the directing, acting, and writing categories. Overall, then, with its 10 nominations and three wins, "Rocky" actually had both Chaplin and Welles' classics beat, even if Stallone was third to the punch in terms of acting and writing noms.
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