50 Fun Facts About Rocky III

Which Queen hit did Stallone want as the Rocky III theme before the band refused him permission?

Another One Bites the Dust was refused, so Stallone commissioned an original song instead, and that replacement went to number one in the US for six weeks.

The Clubber Lang actor was cast in Rocky III after an NBC contest to find America's toughest what?

Bouncer was his old job before he became a bodyguard to the stars, and the film-makers spotted him on the show Games People Play.

Which wrestling star, suggested by a stuntman, plays the champion Thunderlips in Rocky III?

Hulk Hogan lost his WWF job for taking the role, yet the film made him famous far beyond wrestling.

Which former celebrity bodyguard made his film breakthrough as Clubber Lang in Rocky III?

Mr. T had guarded stars including Michael Jackson and Diana Ross, and his part was first meant to be just a few lines.

Which chart-topping rock anthem was written specially as the theme song for Rocky III?

Eye of the Tiger spent six weeks at number one in the US, and its title was lifted from a line of dialogue in the film.

How does Rocky's trainer Mickey die in Rocky III after Clubber Lang shoves him backstage?

A heart attack fells Mickey before the first bell, and he dies after the fight with Rocky at his side.

What does Apollo lend Rocky to wear for the rematch with Clubber Lang in Rocky III?

Star-spangled trunks were Apollo's signature look: he wore the same pair in his first fight against Rocky.

What is Rocky about to announce at his statue unveiling when Clubber Lang interrupts in Rocky III?

His retirement speech is cut short when Lang, by then the number-one contender, publicly demands a title shot.

The Clubber Lang actor from Rocky III went on to play B. A. Baracus in which TV series?

The A-Team launched on NBC in January 1983, months after the film, and his mechanic who was afraid of flying became the show's breakout star.

Which rock band got their breakthrough by recording the theme song for Rocky III?

Survivor had formed only four years earlier, in 1978, and wrote the song at Stallone's request.

Which New York venue hosts the Rocky III rematch between Rocky and Clubber Lang?

Madison Square Garden stages the second fight, a pointed change from the first, which Rocky lost on home ground in Philadelphia.

To which city does Apollo take Rocky to train at his old gym in Rocky III?

Los Angeles is home to Tough Gym, where Apollo himself once trained and where his old trainer Duke joins the effort.

What does Mickey confess about the ten title defenses Rocky won before facing Clubber Lang?

He handpicked the opponents to spare Rocky another beating like the one he took in the second Apollo fight.

Where does Rocky hold his crowded public training camp before first fighting Clubber Lang?

A hotel ballroom full of fans and distractions is where Rocky prepares, while Lang trains alone with ruthless focus.

Why does Rocky step into the ring with the wrestler Thunderlips in Rocky III?

It is a charity event billed as champion boxer against champion wrestler, and the wrestler turns out to be nearly seven feet tall.

In his backstory, where did Rocky III's Clubber Lang discover his talent for boxing?

In prison, serving five years for assault, the orphaned Lang took up boxing as an outlet for his anger.

How does Rocky finally beat Clubber Lang in the Rocky III rematch after letting him tire?

By knockout in the third round: Lang was used to quick wins, so Rocky took his best shots and taunted him until he ran out of stamina.

What is Apollo doing at ringside when Rocky first fights Clubber Lang in Rocky III?

Guest commentating gives Apollo a close view of the defeat, and Lang snubs his handshake before the bell.

Which favor does Apollo collect from Rocky at the very end of Rocky III?

A private sparring match between friends in Mickey's old gym closes the film as both men swing at once; Creed (2015) later revealed that Apollo won it.

Which former Oakland Raiders linebacker plays Apollo, Rocky's new trainer, in Rocky III?

Carl Weathers played two NFL seasons before turning to acting, and later starred in Predator and Happy Gilmore.

Which actor, Oscar-nominated for the original Rocky, plays the trainer Mickey in Rocky III?

Burgess Meredith was also the Penguin in the 1960s Batman series and a familiar face from The Twilight Zone.

Which sister of director Francis Ford Coppola plays Rocky's wife in Rocky III?

Talia Shire had already played Connie Corleone in her brother's Godfather films, earning an Oscar nomination for Part II.

Which actor, a former Marine who boxed in the service, plays Paulie in Rocky III?

Burt Young won 32 of his 34 bouts in the Marine Corps, and earned an Oscar nomination as Paulie in the first film.

What does a drunk, jealous Paulie smash early in Rocky III, getting himself arrested?

A pinball machine bearing Rocky's image takes the blow, and Rocky has to bail his brother-in-law out.

Which composer of the original Rocky theme returned to write the score for Rocky III?

Bill Conti scored every Rocky film to that point, then missed the fourth, and later won an Oscar for The Right Stuff.

Rocky III cinematographer Bill Butler had earlier shot which Steven Spielberg film?

Jaws made his name in 1975, and he went on to shoot Grease and three Rocky sequels.

Which sequel pushed Rocky III out of first place at the box office in its second weekend?

Star Trek II took the top spot from the boxing sequel, which still finished as the fourth-biggest hit of 1982 in North America.

Rocky III was the first Rocky film released after United Artists merged with which studio?

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer merged with United Artists in 1981, so the third film went out under the joint MGM/UA banner.

Which ballad from An Officer and a Gentleman beat Rocky III's theme to the Best Song Oscar?

Up Where We Belong, the Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes duet, took the award; the song category brought the boxing film its only Oscar nomination.

Footage of Stallone's guest spot on which TV series appears in Rocky III's opening montage?

The Muppet Show clip was redubbed by Jim Henson so that Kermit introduces Rocky Balboa as the guest rather than Stallone.

Which artist, famous for vivid paintings of athletes, is a guest ring announcer in Rocky III?

LeRoy Neiman announces the Thunderlips bout, and he returned to the ring announcer's microphone in Rocky IV.

Rocky loses his title to Clubber Lang at which Philadelphia venue, later home to the film's statue?

The Spectrum, then home of the 76ers and the Flyers, hosts the first fight, and the bronze Rocky later stood outside its entrance for years.

The Clubber Lang and Thunderlips actors became tag-team partners in 1985 at which wrestling event?

WrestleMania had its very first edition that year, and the two Rocky III co-stars won its main event together.

The Clubber Lang actor says his famous mohawk copies a warrior of which African people?

Mandinka warriors, he says, wore the style in a National Geographic photograph that caught his eye.

Which boxer does Rocky fight in Rocky IV, the 1985 sequel to Rocky III?

Ivan Drago kills Apollo in the ring in that film, turning the friendship forged in the third film into a revenge story.

Which actor, a former Golden Gloves champion, plays Apollo's trainer Duke in Rocky III?

Tony Burton won his amateur titles in Michigan before acting, and he appeared in every one of the first six Rocky films.

Mickey's burial in Rocky III takes place in a mausoleum of which faith?

Jewish tradition frames the small private service, and the trainer's memorial plaque gives his birth year as 1905.

City officials moved Rocky III's statue from the art museum, arguing it was not art but what?

A movie prop was the city's verdict within months of filming, but the bronze returned to the museum grounds in 2006.

Which wrestler, who did stunt work on Rocky III, recommended the actor cast as Thunderlips?

Terry Funk already knew Stallone, having had a role in his 1978 film Paradise Alley.

The writers of Rocky III's theme song timed its chord changes to match what on screen?

The punches in the fight scenes set the rhythm: Stallone had asked for a song with a pulse to it.

Rocky Super Action Boxing, a 1983 game based on Rocky III, was made for which console?

ColecoVision owners could play as Rocky or as Clubber Lang, alone or head to head against a friend.

Which producing duo, Best Picture winners for the original Rocky, also produced Rocky III?

Chartoff and Winkler started out together running a talent management company before they turned to producing films.

Who helps a haunted Rocky come to terms with Mickey's death and regain his focus in Rocky III?

Adrian confronts him on the beach when his training stalls, and after that talk he finally commits to the fight.

Mickey, Rocky's trainer in Rocky III, had been a 1920s fighter in which weight class?

Bantamweight is one of boxing's lightest divisions, a long way from the heavyweights he trained in the gym he owned.

Which trademark of Apollo's style do he and Duke add to Rocky's brawling in Rocky III?

Quick footwork, along with skill and speed, was Apollo's hallmark, and adding it rebuilds Rocky into a more complete fighter.

Clubber Lang and the actor who plays him in Rocky III both come from which city?

Chicago shaped both: Lang grew up on the streets of the South Side, and the actor was raised in the Robert Taylor Homes housing project.

The child actor who plays Rocky's son in Rocky III grew up to work in which field?

Journalism became the career: the former child actor, who also voiced Timothy in The Secret of NIMH, went on to report on the technology industry.

Which sculptor did Stallone commission to make the bronze Rocky statue seen in Rocky III?

A. Thomas Schomberg counted Stallone among his early collectors, and three copies of the bronze were eventually cast.

Rocky III's theme lost the Song of the Year Grammy to which Willie Nelson recording?

Always on My Mind took Song of the Year, though the boxing anthem still won its band a Grammy for rock performance that night.

Which hard-hitting heavyweight hurt Stallone with a body shot while trying out for Clubber Lang?

Earnie Shavers held back at first, then landed one blow near the liver that ended the session on the spot.