From left: Paul Mace, Perry King, Henry Winkler & Sylvester Stallone in 'The Lords of Flatbush'
Fonzie Fodder
3. Stallone moved to Hollywood with the intention of bettering his chances of employment by writing his own parts. He even painted the windows of his apartment black so as to not be influenced by the comings and goings of the sun. Stallone’s first writing credit came for writing his own dialogue in “The Lord’s of Flatbush” (1974). But that’s not the only credit Stallone earned on that film; his co-star Henry Winkler also credits Stallone as being the inspiration behind Winkler’s iconic Fonzie character on “Happy Days”. “I studied Sly. Sly Stallone,” Winkler revealed to the Archive of American Television, “He played the character. But what Sly really was, inside, was funny, witty, and unbelievably articulate. And a brilliant writer.”