LIFE Rocky
LIFE: Rocky
LIFE Bookazines
Rock of Ages • Rocky Balboa, the underdog palooka who fought his way to box office super-success, burst into popular culture in 1976. Now, 45 years later, tourists still run the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Marching bands play “Gonna Fly Now” as halftime entertainment. High school football teams get wild-eyed to “Eye of the Tiger.” Rocky’s legacy endures.
“A Million-to-One Underdog” • With $106 left in the bank, Sylvester Stallone took one last swing at movie stardom. It landed, and Rocky—the story he conceived—would become one of the greatest.
A Real-Life Rocky • After fighter Chuck Wepner famously knocked down Muhammad Ali in 1975, his story became the archetype of another underdog palooka.
The Ring Cycle • Rocky and its sequels II through V were biblical in scale and in storyline—foes, fights, vengeance, victories, defeats, and resurrection that stretched far from Philly.
Foe Turned Friend • Once a fierce opponent, Apollo Creed became Rocky’s training partner and cornerman. His legacy lives on in the most recent spinoffs that bear his surname.
In His Corner • Every boxer needs a support team, and Rocky’s crew—wife Adrian, brother-in-law Paulie and trainer Mickey—were iconic characters played by paradigmatic actors.
21st Century Rock • The Rocky mythology continued with Rocky Balboa, followed by the most recent tales, Creed and Creed II, which brought the franchise to a new generation of shadowboxers.
Fighting Goliaths • The recurring Rocky storyline—as a television announcer shrieks in Rocky IV, just before Rocky squares off with Ivan Drago—is “a true case of David and Goliath!” Rocky’s opponents, of course, were always giants.
LIFE: Rocky Photo Credits