Sep 22, 2026 · 33 min · 10 segments
How a movie prop became one of Philadelphia’s most beloved monuments, and sparked a decades-long fight over where it belonged. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of 99%…
Laura HulsmanGuest
Paul FarberGuestIn the way that great boxers aren't born as indomitable fortresses of muscle, the Rocky statue began its life not as an important public sculpture, but a common movie prop.
Originally it was for a scene in Rocky III in which a fictional mayor standing next to the statue at the top of the museum steps dedicates it to the city of Philadelphia.
It is with tremendous honor that we present this memorial, which will stand always as a celebration to the indomitable spirit of man.
But instead of getting the art department to make this prop out of painted plastic and foam, Stallone paid $53,000 to an artist named A. Thomas Schomburg to cast the statue in bronze.
It is really significant that he chose to have this be made of fine art materials and not just stuff that would be thrown into the trash bin at the end of the film shoot.
Stallone once called Rocky a, quote, "euphemism for the city of Philadelphia." Some have speculated that he had always wanted the statue to be a permanent piece of public art there.
Stallone went to high school in Philly, and because of his and the statue's connection to the city, he made an offer.
He said that after the Rocky III film shoot, he wanted to donate the 1,800-pound statue to Philadelphia to stand permanently at the top of the museum steps.
But almost as soon as Stallone announced his plans, there were haters, critics who didn't want the statue anywhere near the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Some refused to indulge what they saw as just an ego trip for Stallone.
At the time, Philly's influential art patrons and tastemakers were trying to figure out how to return Philly to its former glory as a hub of national culture.
I mean, like, way back in the day, like 1776 back, when Philadelphia was at the center of the nation's founding.
And by the time of the bicentennial, so 1976, Philadelphia had a reputation as a city that just couldn't get a break.
In the nostalgia stirred up by that bicentennial, the 1980s art crowd were dreaming of ways to remake Philly as a grand cultural metropolis.
They aspired for the city to again become, as a famous architect once called it, the Athens of the Western World, a city that would boast one of the nation's premier art scenes.
In the way that great boxers aren't born as indomitable fortresses of muscle, the Rocky statue began its life not as an important public sculpture, but a common movie prop.
Originally it was for a scene in Rocky III in which a fictional mayor standing next to the statue at the top of the museum steps dedicates it to the city of Philadelphia.
It is with tremendous honor that we present this memorial, which will stand always as a celebration to the indomitable spirit of man.
But instead of getting the art department to make this prop out of painted plastic and foam, Stallone paid $53,000 to an artist named A. Thomas Schomburg to cast the statue in bronze.
It is really significant that he chose to have this be made of fine art materials and not just stuff that would be thrown into the trash bin at the end of the film shoot.
Stallone once called Rocky a, quote, "euphemism for the city of Philadelphia." Some have speculated that he had always wanted the statue to be a permanent piece of public art there.
Stallone went to high school in Philly, and because of his and the statue's connection to the city, he made an offer.
He said that after the Rocky III film shoot, he wanted to donate the 1,800-pound statue to Philadelphia to stand permanently at the top of the museum steps.
But almost as soon as Stallone announced his plans, there were haters, critics who didn't want the statue anywhere near the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Some refused to indulge what they saw as just an ego trip for Stallone.
At the time, Philly's influential art patrons and tastemakers were trying to figure out how to return Philly to its former glory as a hub of national culture.
I mean, like, way back in the day, like 1776 back, when Philadelphia was at the center of the nation's founding.
And by the time of the bicentennial, so 1976, Philadelphia had a reputation as a city that just couldn't get a break.
In the nostalgia stirred up by that bicentennial, the 1980s art crowd were dreaming of ways to remake Philly as a grand cultural metropolis.
They aspired for the city to again become, as a famous architect once called it, the Athens of the Western World, a city that would boast one of the nation's premier art scenes.
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