Trivia: During the scene before the fight, where Rocky enters the ring and sees the 2 portraits of him and Apollo, the error on Rocky's shorts was an actual error made by the art crew, and Sylvester Stallone rewrote the scene when he saw this mistake.
Trivia: Directors and producers never wanted Talia Shire to play Adrian because they felt she was too pretty to play a shy girl like her character. So she came to the interview dressed down and was awarded the part.
Trivia: Adrian's hesitation to kiss Rocky in his apartment after their date together wasn't originally scripted that way; Talia Shire was suffering from the flu during filming, and she was afraid of getting Sylvester Stallone sick. What resulted ironically was a better acted scene than was originally anticipated.
Trivia: The scene, where Sylvester Stallone tells Talia Shire that he cannot win the bout against Apollo, was originally ordered to be cut out and Stallone had to plead and beg to get it in the film. Finally they told him that he could try it once, but if he didn't get it done in one shooting it would be left out of the film. He was so terrified of messing up his one chance that he got himself drunk before he got in front of the cameras. You can hear it pretty from his voice, too.
Trivia: Rocky's dog, Butkus, was actually Sylvester Stallone's dog in real life.
Trivia: Rocky's home neighborhood (where the gym and pet store are) are supposed to be in South Philadelphia. However, the pet store and vacant lot which posed as the gym are actually at the corner of Front and Susquehanna, in the Kensington section of Philly. The same mistake is made in Rocky 2 and 5.
Trivia: Sylvester Stallone made a mere $23,000 for writing and starring in the film.
Suggested correction: Rocky actually was paid £35,000 for the film. When it comes to his salary for writing and acting for the $1 million budgeted movie, Stallone told Variety, "I got £35,000 for the first one. The screenplay was about £25,000, then £360 a week before taxes." But he also got points on the back end which made him another $2.5 million according to the same source.
Trivia: When filming the scenes in the meat-locker where Rocky punches the slabs of beef, actor Sylvester Stallone punched the frozen meat so hard for so long that he flattened out his knuckles. To this day, whenever Stallone makes a fist, his knuckles are completely level.
Trivia: Due to budget constraints, members of Sylvester Stallone's family were used to play certain minor parts; his father appears as a bell ringer, his brother was used as a street corner singer and Stallone's first wife was the set photographer.
Trivia: During filming of the final fight, Sylvester Stallone and Carl Weathers both suffered injuries, with Stallone suffering bruised ribs and Weathers suffering a damaged nose. Stallone's injuries forced filming to be put on hold for over three weeks for him to recover. This happened as Stallone wanted the final fight to look believable and tried to make it real.
Trivia: Sylvester Stallone once stated on Conan O'Brien, that in one of the very earliest versions of "Rocky", the character had a strange kind of condition. If he didn't eat a banana every now and then, he'd fall into a coma.
Trivia: When Rocky is working out, doing one-handed pushups, Sylvester Stallone only did one. The film was looped to make it look like Rocky did many.
Trivia: The photos on Rocky's mirror are actually photos of Sylvester Stallone as a young boy.
Trivia: The character of Adrian Pennino was named after Talia Shire's own maternal grandfather, Francesco Pennino.
Trivia: Before signing on as director, John G. Avildsen had never seen a professional boxing match.
Trivia: Rocky was originally going to run up the steps carrying his dog. As the dog was too heavy, Rocky filmed the scene for "Rocky Balboa" with his dog in that movie, lighter than the dog in this Rocky.
Trivia: The first sports movie to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.
