Sylvester Stallone as Rocky: 8 Quotes About Iconic Role

The Philadelphia pugilist Rocky Balboa has been an iconic role for millions of movie fans, and it's been the same for its actor-creator, Sylvester Stallone, as well.

Doubly iconic is the climactic run up the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum, a scene duplicated by thousands of fans.

Michael Vitez is a Philadelphia Inquirer staff writer who has co-written a book about the steps, and he says people's connections to them transcend the movie.

"The ritual is organic, authentic, and as we discovered in our book, the actor and movie may bring people to the steps, but they run to celebrate their own lives and accomplishments, or to get motivation for challenges ahead," Vitez said.

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An everyman quality is part of what draws so many people to Stallone's Philly palooka. Everyone from critics to cricket players to the actor himself have had to something say about "Rocky" and the man who plays him:

1. "He is a man of the streets. But, he has deep emotion and spirituality and good patriotism. He has a good nature, although nature has not been particularly good to him."
– Sylvester Stallone

2. "Stallone as the next Brando? You've got to be kidding. A nice little fantasy picture? Maybe." Stallone himself is "as likable as a basset hound."
– Gene Siskel, movie critic, Chicago Tribune

3. "(Stallone is) tough, he's tender, he talks in a growl, and hides behind cruelty and is a champion at heart. 'I coulda been a contender,' (Marlon) Brando says in 'On the Waterfront.' This movie takes up from there."
– Roger Ebert, movie critic, Chicago Sun-Times

4. "Sylvester Stallone … is repulsive one moment, noble the next. He's amazing to watch."
– Pauline Kael, movie critic, The New Yorker

5. "Mr. Stallone's Rocky is less a performance than an impersonation. It's the sort of performance that could have been put together by watching other actors on television."
– Vincent Canby, movie critic, The New York Times

6. "Sometimes, early in the morning, I'd go down that long rail of meat (at the slaughterhouse where Frazier worked) and work on my punching. That's how Stallone got the same idea for Rocky. Just like he used the story about me training by running up the steps of the museum in Philly."
– Joe Frazier, late boxing champion

7. "In my opinion, Sylvester Stallone hijacked Chuck Wepner's soul. This film is my attempt to help Chuck get his soul back."
– Jeff Feuerzeig, director of a documentary on boxer Chuck Wepner, who inspired Stallone to write "Rocky"

8. "I think that there is a similarity in the story of Rocky and the Afghanistan cricket team. We both started at the bottom and gradually made our way up the rankings."
– Hamid Hassan, Afghan cricket player

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