if you read the novelization of Rocky III Rocky&Gazzo are still friends..Gazzo is even in the dressing room before the Thunderlips match much to Mickey's annoyance.In fact it states that Paulie is hiding from him in one of the bathroom stalls because he still owes Gazzo money..so why isn't he in the film???and for the record Joe Spinell was still alive so it's not because the actor passed away....
shareSly and Spinell had a falling out before the movie came out. The segment at the beginning of Rocky III with "friends don't owe, they do because they want to do" is a direct reference to Spinell, apparently. So I guess they fell out over Stallone maybe not putting him in his movies or something he owed him.
State of the bad ass art
Good info, thanks for sharing. Too bad to hear they had a falling out before Spinell died. In Rocky III, it just came off (to me) as if Rocky felt he was above that old life and didn't want to have anything to do with it anymore.
shareIn Rocky III, it just came off (to me) as if Rocky felt he was above that old life and didn't want to have anything to do with it anymore.
Rocky and Gazzo's relationship seemed closer than the typical employer and employee relationship. And Rocky seemed very loyal. He may have wanted to stay close with people who had supported him on the way up.
shareGood info, thanks for sharing
Too bad to hear they had a falling out before Spinell died.
it just came off (to me) as if Rocky felt he was above that old life and didn't want to have anything to do with it anymore
I heard that when Spinell died, Stallone was really upset. He hired a private investigator to find out if there was anything else the cops didn't know. It's obvious the fall out didn't mean he stopped caring at least, so maybe it was just a tiff that would've cleared up after time.
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A number of years ago Stallone did a few Q&A's on the Ain't It Cool News movie site to promote some of his films. I remember Joe Spinell came up on one of them. Stallone did say the two of them had a falling out but he blamed it on Joe's heavy drug addiction. I also remember seeing a documentary on Spinell and someone who knew the two of them said Sly was devastated when he heard that Joe died. Spinell was even Sage Stallone's godfather.
But even if Stallone and Joe Spinell remained on good terms it would be hard to imagine Gazzo in Rocky III. Rocky's now an international celebrity. Would he really want to be associated with a small time mobster?
according to the Rocky IV novelization, both Gazzo & his bodyguard had been shot to death.
shareI'm sure he was there with the rest of the Muppets on the Muppet Show when Rocky made a guest appearance in the early beginning of the movie...