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Before Sylvester Stallone became one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, he only had $60 to his name, with $43.60 already earmarked for rent. But even as he struggled to make ends meet in New York, the future “Rocky” icon refused to give up on his dream.
In his new memoir, “The Steps,” Stallone recounts the years leading up to stardom, including his arrival in New York in 1969, determined to become an actor despite poverty, rejection and uncertainty.
The 80-year-old told Fox News Digital that even in his darkest moments, he remained convinced that his life would eventually change for the better.
SYLVESTER STALLONE’S ADVICE TO THOSE WHO STRUGGLED 50 YEARS AFTER ‘ROCKY’ CHANGED HIS LIFE
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Sylvester Stallone’s “The Steps: A Memoir” is now available. (William Morrow)
“I think it comes from the naivety and the craziness of youth, that you always have this feeling of ‘I can do this, I can break the mold,'” Stallone said. “I hadn’t been beaten down enough by life yet to say it’s over because as an actor, if you haven’t made it by 30, I would say 99 percent you’ll never make it. I wasn’t aware of that, so I kept going.”
Sylvester Stallone has written a new memoir, “The Steps: A Memoir.” (2026 NBCUniversal Media, LLC)
“In New York, when I was really depressed, I didn’t focus on, ‘My God, you’re going to be broke,'” Stallone said. “There was this certain optimism that if you tried hard, if you denied yourself every moment of pleasure of going to the movies, of going out with a girl – if you gave all that up and dedicated yourself, I believe you would know 100% if you actually had a chance of being that character that you always wanted to be.”
Stallone never stopped believing that he would one day make it as an actor.
WATCH: SYLVESTER STALLONE REFLECTS ON CHILDHOOD TRAUMATISMS, “ROCKY” AND WHY “TRYING” MATTERS MOST
After leaving the American College in Switzerland without a degree and dropping out of the University of Miami just a few credits short of a degree in drama, Stallone returned to New York with little under his belt. He rented a room so cramped that he later compared it to the minimum recommended size for a federal prison cell. He shared a bathroom with 10 other people.
Stallone also found work as an usher at a movie theater, earning just $34 a week. He said the job became training in filmmaking. Night after night, he studied the films he watched, keeping his dream alive.
Sylvester Stallone is seen here in New York. (Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)
Stallone said he would shower with his clothes on to save money on laundry. If he were lucky enough to find a bar of soap that didn’t have any “strange hairs” stuck to it, he would use it to lather up “my shirt, my pants, my underwear, my socks — and myself.”
Sylvester Stallone is seen here on January 12, 1979. (Getty Images)
“I could never have afforded to go to a laundromat,” Stallone said. “My wife thinks it’s so disgusting: ‘Why would you take a shower with your clothes on?’ I said, “It made sense to me at the time, rather than going to the laundromat. But it was an apartment building. It was so bad. But you do what you can to survive.'”
To satisfy hunger, Stallone would eat spoonfuls of cottage cheese, then three or four raw eggs. In the book, he remembers later treating himself to chicken breast and apple juice.
Sylvester Stallone speaks on stage during “Sylvester Stallone In Conversation with Tracy Smith: The Steps” at 92NY on September 28, 2026, in New York. (Getty Images)
“It was the only thing that made sense numerically and financially,” he said. “Of course it’s all bad. It’s terrible. I’m surprised I didn’t get salmonella, really. It’s really quite remarkable. But both of those things at a certain time of year, because in the summer the cottage cheese would rot and the eggs would spoil.
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American actor Sylvester Stallone hits a punching bag in a boxing ring while his trainer, Burgess Meredith (1908-1997), watches a workout in a gym in a still from the film “Rocky.” (United Artists/Courtesy Getty Images)
“But if you brought it in around October, it would sit on your windowsill until March. So it became my refrigerator. And at the time, I just thought it was so convenient. No dishes. You drink the egg, so you don’t have to wash anything. You don’t need a fork. And the cottage cheese is a spoon, and you throw the cup away.”
Sylvester Stallone is seen here in New York. (Bettmann Archives)
Stallone wrote in the book: “I would not recommend this diet to anyone. But if you’re young and poor, that’ll be enough, which is why I ate raw eggs in “Rocky” to give some insight into how Rocky approaches his life.
Stallone had a dollar or two a day for food. He needed a job, and fast.
American actor and screenwriter Sylvester Stallone on the set of “FIST”, directed by Norman Jewison. (Corbis via Getty Images)
One of Stallone’s first gigs was cleaning lion cages at the Central Park Zoo. The smell was bad enough, but that wasn’t what scared him.
“I was also afraid for my life,” he wrote. “The lions were always nearby, always lying in wait. They were watching me. They were behind bars, but that didn’t stop the big, sad creatures from sticking their enormous snouts between the bars to sniff at me. The way they inhaled and exhaled produced a strange moan, as if they already knew what I was going to taste like.”
Sylvester Stallone was so broke when he married his first wife, Sasha Czack, in 1974, that he wore a movie costume. (Bettmann Archives)
During this period, Stallone faced repeated rejections from agents, including one who criticized his deep voice and asymmetrical mouth – two traits that would later become signatures of his on-screen persona.
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Sylvester Stallone takes photos on location while filming a movie in Dubuque. (Bettmann Archives)
One day, on his way home, he spotted a “Help Wanted” sign at Dover Delicatessen and took the 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. shift. Although he was able to save enough money to buy a coat that will allow him to weather the city’s harsh winter, it’s a gig he doesn’t miss.
“All the customers get grumpy about this and that: ‘Hey, there’s not enough coleslaw here. This sandwich should be an ounce and a half heavier,'” Stallone said with a laugh. “You’d be shocked. I learned to be a really good fish cutter, like lox on bagels. I always heard, ‘I can’t see through salmon.’ They wanted the cut to be so thin that you could actually see the light. Oh man. And you cut your fingers too.”
After years of traveling in Europe, Sylvester Stallone returned to his hometown, New York, in 1969. (Bettmann Archives)
“And then the characters that show up at two in the morning, the outrageous drunks and gangsters, it’s incredible,” Stallone continued. “You’d be shocked if someone walked into a place at two in the morning and wanted a sandwich. So it’s colorful. And sure, I ended up in jail, but that’s only because of that stupid grocery store.”
American actor Sylvester Stallone sits on a staircase, leashing a dog wearing a football jersey, in a still from the film “Rocky.” (Getty Images)
“I thought I was living a good life, a decent life,” he said. “But by today’s standards, you were on the verge of oblivion.”
After an altercation at the deli, Stallone found himself handcuffed in the back of a police car, still wearing his apron and badge. He was sent to “The Tombs,” New York’s notoriously violent detention center – or, as Stallone puts it, “the place of nightmares.” He was placed in a 20-by-20-foot holding cell with at least 25 other men. One man was already pushing another man’s head into a small hole that served as a toilet for prisoners.
Sylvester Stallone wrote “Rocky” and starred as boxer Rocky Balboa. (Getty Images)
A criminal court judge ultimately released Stallone.
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American actor Sylvester Stallone appears with actor, director and screenwriter Woody Allen on the set of “Bananas”. (Corbis via Getty Images)
“I took the apron, balled it up and threw it in the trash on the way out,” he wrote.
Today, Stallone has no regrets.
“If you don’t sacrifice yourself completely and fail, you will suffer for the rest of your life thinking, ‘Why didn’t I try harder?’ Why didn’t I use the talent God gave me to be the absolute best?” Stallone said. “If you fail, you can say, ‘I tried.’ People can never point a finger at you and say, ‘You didn’t try hard enough.’ But my biggest fear was leaving something on the table.”
Sylvester Stallone appears in a scene from “Lords of Flatbush” (1974) after his girlfriend tells him she is pregnant and he takes her to a jeweler to buy her a ring. (FilmPublicityArchive/United Archives via Getty Images)
Looking back, Stallone said those difficult years taught him a lesson that still resonates in “Rocky” decades later.
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Actor Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa, circa 1982. (James Drake/Getty Images)
“‘Rocky’ further emphasizes that if you are willing to completely sacrifice good times, fun and escapism to achieve a goal, it really is possible,” he said. “There is no half way.”
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