SYLVESTER STALLONE, born in New York City, achieved international recognition with the movie, Rocky. Stallone chose De L' Esprie to commemorate this life changing role with a life-size bronze statue.
Supporting himself with small acting roles, Stallone wrote the story about prizefighter Rocky Balboa, an underdog that audiences cheered for. Inspired after watching the legendary boxing match between champion Muhammad Ali and underdog Chuck Wepner, Stallone wrote the script in only three days. Several producers offered to buy the screenplay. However, Stallone insisted on playing the title role himself and refused their offers to purchase the script as they wanted to cast a "big name" as Rocky.
Stallone's website states that he was down to his last $100 when his luck turned. When Stallone agreed to keep the movie's budget under $1 million, United Artists and Sylvester Stallone came to an agreement. Although United Artists wanted James Caan, Ryan O'Neal, or Burt Reynolds to play the title role, they agreed to cast the almost unknown Sylvester Stallone, probably thinking that $1 million was worth the gamble.
It was a move that paid off well. Shot on location in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in only 28 days, the movie .The movie, Rocky, was nominated for ten Academy Awards, winning three including Best Picture and Best Director for1976.
The movie continues to be a perennial fan favourite - it is number 76 on the American Film Institute's list of America's 100 Greatest Movies.
Other credits of Sylvester Stallone include:
- Lords of Flatbush
- Cannonball
- Rocky II
- Nighthawks
- Rocky III
- Rocky V
- First Blood
- Rambo: First Blood, Part 2
- Rambo III
- Cobra
- Over the Top
- Tango & Cash
- Oscar
- Demolition Man
- Cliffhanger
- Assassins
- Judge Dredd
- Daylight
- The Specialist
- CopLand
- Get Carter
- Driven
- Eye See You
- Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over
As a result of his body of work, Sylvester Stallone was recently given the Lifetime Achievement Award by the USA Academy of Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Films.
The process used to create the Rocky bronze sculpture includes:
- Start by welding a steel armature (skeleton). This is in the form of a stick pose that acts as a skeleton. On top of this frame, De L'Esprie adds a rib cage, knees, pelvis, shoulders, and main bones.
- Apply clay in the old classical approach by sculpting from the inside out. To do this, you block in the statue and then sculpt all muscle groups as a nude before sculpting exterior features such as face, clothing, hands, hair, etc. This time consuming and detailed approach breathes life into a statue creating emotion, movement, and a sense of realness. Sculpting a life-size statue takes at least 3 months. For portraiture it can take much longer.
- Once the bones and muscles are added to the clay, then De L'Esprie add a fine layer of clay and smooths it out to form skin. The statue is then naked.
- Clothing is added next.
- Fine details are added.
- Once the process is completed, the sculpture is divided into sections.
- A mold is made with fiberglass and plaster backing.
- Wax is poured into the mold and then the fine detail is re-sculpted into this mold.
- The wax is dipped into sand. This takes weeks to form a "rock like" crucible to withstand the temperature of poured bronze, over 2000 degrees F.
- The wax is melted away, leaving a shell that can handle the heat of the molten bronze which is then poured into the mold.
- The crucible is hammered and chiseled away to reveal the rough bronze form.
- All parts of the statue are welded back together.
- Detail is re-sculpted into the bronze using pneumatic and dental tools.
- The bronze is then glassblasted and sandblasted.
- A finish patina is applied to the surface of the sculpture to create different colours/textures on various parts of the bronze statue.
Sylvester Stallone being measured for the bronze sculpture portraying the movie role that made him famous, Rocky.
Sylvester Stallone posing while De L' Esprie sketches and sculpts.
De L' Esprie checking the angles of Sylvester Stallone's face.
Sylvester Stallone and De L' Esprie comparing the head of the sculpture with a photograph of Rocky.
De L' Esprie with the clay version of the statue. After this stage, a mold is made and then bronze is poured into the fiberglass and plaster vessel.
