Yahoo News Sly: Sylvester Stallone reveals his abusive dad’s last words on his deathbed
Sylvester Stallone opens up about his rocky childhood in Netflix series
What did you miss?
Emotional Sylvester Stallone has opened up about his physically abusive father Frank’s final words on his deathbed in new Netflix documentary Sly.
The Hollywood legend, 77, had a complicated relationship with his father - who died aged 91 at his home in Wellington, Florida after a battle with prostate cancer in 2011.
Fast forward 12 years on, The Expendables superstar has now revealed the piece of advice that his father gave him to "learn to love and forgive people" before his death.
What, how and why?
Stallone's brother Frank Jnr. - who makes a cameo in the Netflix documentary feature film - had arranged for the star to spend time with their father when he was growing more ill.
They managed to meet for a final time, just a few weeks before his dad died.
In a vulnerable moment, the Rocky star looked back on the last moments with his father and the emotional conversation they shared. "He's on his deathbed," he said.
"He goes, ‘You know Sly.’ I go, ‘Yeah.’ He says, ‘You should learn to love and forgive people.’ I said, ‘Really? That just come to you now as the f***ing angels are about to whisper in your ear. He goes, ‘Yeah you should learn.’
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"He starts laughing. I said, ‘You b******. What are you now telling me to be kind? You’ve just had an epiphany on the way out!’ He goes, ‘Yeah I did. Just remember those words you b******. I said, ‘Thank you.’"
Their father-son relationship certainly plays a big part in the documentary and in Sly's life from the underdog to the well loved Hollywood action hero we know and love him for.
On his trip down memory lane, Stallone returned to the apartment block where he grew up in the streets of New York as he looked back on his rocky childhood - in which the rising star went to 13 schools in 12 years.
Shining a spotlight on their early father-son relationship, the Rambo star said: "I was raised by a very physical father. I was no stranger to serious pain. I think it just became, ‘I’m not gonna break.’"
In spite of the abuse, the TV action hero doesn’t shy away from the few similarities they share. He said: "I have a certain kind of ferocity from my father."
Moving on from the hurt in his childhood, he added: "I was blessed with the ability to deflect bitterness into what I wish. What I wish had happened. I wish I had a father like Rocky."
What else happened on Sly?
Sly is a celebration of the Hollywood star and his best movie moments in Rocky, Rambo and The Expendables - as well as a look at his humble beginnings, struggles with self-doubt and the abuse he suffered at the hands of his father, plus his family life and his movie set injuries.
It opened with Stallone being asked whether he had any regrets. Honestly, the star said: “Hell yeah! That’s also what motivates me to overcome the regrets. To fix it. I do that through painting, I do that through writing. That f***ing thing called time is gone.”
One of the poignant regrets that Stallone later reflects on is putting his career over his family at times.
Throughout his starry life, actor has been married three times: his first wife Brigitte Nielsen, his second wife Sasha Czack and his current wife Jennifer Flavin.
Stallone has five children: his sons Sage - who died unexpectedly in 2012 - and Seargeoh, as well as daughters Sophia, Sistine and Scarlet.
"My children, I get really emotional about it," he said. "There’s always that regret. I could have learned so much more if I hadn’t been so self absorbed with dealing with other people.
"You think about what you should have done at this age, and now they’re this age. What did I mess up on? I’m making a stupid movie instead of making their life.
"They make me happy. They make me sad. They bring me emotion. I had to almost lose it to respect it. So the act of loving my children."
Concluding the feature film, the actor said he wanted to become a "great juggler" of life when it comes to looking out for his kids and being a husband as well as working on movies.
Elsewhere in Sly, Stallone’s former action movie rival Arnold Schwarzenegger made a starring appearance to talk about their competition.
Schwarzenegger revealed they were both “childishly” competitive with each other over every movie they were making.
In a piece to camera, he said: "Sly all of a sudden with Rambo, he stepped into my arena. All of a sudden he had ripped muscles and they were talking about his body.
"That created competition of course. At that point we were like little kids. Who uses bigger knives? Who uses the biggest guns and holds them in one arm and boom boom boom? Who has more muscles? Who has more muscle definition? Who has less body fat?
"I mean stupid stuff we would be fighting over. Now we look back and we laugh at the whole thing. We learned the effect of having muscles, that people buy in twice as much, what gave action moves a whole new boost, a whole new push."
The fellow action hero had no qualms admitting he was "trailing" behind Sly because he was now "making bigger grosses" and he only matched them the year later.
He added: "He was up and up and up and up. Sly now couldn’t stop really. Not just an actor or director but a force."
Watch Sly streaming on Netflix now
