📍Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
1958 – 1965“Sylvester Stallone was born in Hell's Kitchen, New York, in 1946. A difficult birth damaged a facial nerve, leaving him with the slightly drooping lip and slurred speech that became part of his screen presence. His father, Frank, was a hairdresser and a stern, often harsh presence, and his mother, Jackie, was a dancer and later a pioneering gym owner, energetic and unconventional. His parents divorced when he was a boy, and in his early teens he moved to Philadelphia to live with his mother and her new husband. Philadelphia in the late 1950s and early 1960s was a gritty, working-class city of row houses, gyms and neighbourhood loyalties. Sylvester was restless and often in trouble, and he moved through several schools, including Devereux Manor, a school for teenagers who were struggling. He found purpose in bodybuilding and sport, inspired by Steve Reeves in the film Hercules and by his mother's enthusiasm for fitness. He learned to channel frustration into training, and to see himself as an underdog who could win by refusing to quit. He later studied in Switzerland and Miami, then fought his way into acting in New York. In 1975, nearly broke, he wrote Rocky in a few days: the story of a Philadelphia boxer from the streets who gets one shot at the title. He insisted on playing the role himself. The film, shot on Philadelphia's streets and ending with the run up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, won the Oscar for Best Picture. Today the bronze statue of Rocky at the foot of those steps is one of the city's best-loved landmarks, and Philadelphia claims the underdog as its own.”
🗺️ Approximate location today
📍 Street view today