Meeting Sylvester Stallone

This is a true story, swear to God, best I can tell it. Iowa circa 1980. Sylvester Stallone was in Dubuque filming Fist.

I was in Iowa City, disillusioned, thinking about maybe moving, and Dubuque interested me. It was hilly and wooded, a river town like Pittsburgh where I spent some time growing up. It even had an incline up the river bluff, yet it was unmistakeably Iowa. I wasn't afraid of things like Catholic, conservative, redneck, stuff like that; on the contrary, I was sick of Iowa City already.

So I had this friend S. who had sports car and drove me around in it a little. He said he'd met Sylvester Stallone and he was an extra in the movie Fist and he'd take me up there if I wanted. I'd have to hitch back, I think that was the arrangement, but I did that often and didn't mind. I took him up on the offer and we drove up there together; it's about an hour north of Iowa City, and a pretty drive.

When we landed we were on a street down by the docks in the warehouse district. It was full of people in 20's costumes standing around, leaning on the walls of old warehouses. These guys are extra's, S. said, waiting to be filmed. You could get an outfit free in the store and hang around looking all 20's if you were an extra.

S. was slightly nervous and didn't want to hang around, so I went with him up to the Red Stone Inn, a fancy coffee shop up in town, still there I think. But no sooner did we walk in than I saw Sylvester Stallone, right there at the register, picking up two coffees to take to his table. I looked right at him and he looked at me. I'm sure he's used to being famous and having everyone know who he is, but still I was a little surprised.

So I said, "Are you Sylvester Stallone?" and he said "Yes."

So, I said, "Welcome to Iowa!" What else could I say? And he said thanks, and walked off with his coffee.

Meanwhile I looked around and my friend S. was gone. Disappeared. It was like maybe he owed him money, and just didn't want to be seen. Was that our arrangement, that he'd drop me off? If it was, I don't remember that. It's possible that it was our arrangement from the beginning and I just don't remember. But I remember being surprised that he was so completely gone. I drank my coffee and hitched back to Iowa City.

What sticks with. me now, what 45 years later, is that that was as close as I ever got to someone like him. He was busy, living his life, but he wasn't rude or anything, he was nice. Years later I watched the movie looking for S., but never saw him. Was there some crowd scene with mobs yelling? If so I don't remember. Stallone himself may or may not remember Dubuque at all. To me, that was my main memory of it. Nothing else really worked out - no jobs, no way to move there, nothing.

But if he can reminisce about a life lived, so can I.