Sylvester Stallone is regarded as one of Hollywood’s most successful performers. It wasn’t easy to get there.

Stallone, who turned 70 on Wednesday, claims that in order to make ends meet, he sold his bullmastiff dog Butkus for $50 in the early 1970s.

Stallone captioned the photo below on Instagram:

“I absolutely love pictures like this. When I was 26, totally broke, going nowhere VERY fast, owned two pair of pants that barely fit, shoes that had holes in them and dreams of being successful were as far away as the sun… But I had my dog, BUTKUS, my best friend, my confidant, Who always laughed at my jokes, and put up with my moods, and was the one living thing that loved me for who I was!”

Stallone and his dog had a difficult year in 1971. “We were both, thin, hungry, and living in a flophouse above a subway stop, I used to say this apartment had… Hot and cold running roaches.”

“When things got even worse I had to sell him for $40 in front of a 7-Eleven store, because I couldn’t afford food, then like a modern day miracle.”

He attended a boxing fight between Mohammed Ali and Chuck Wepner two weeks later, and that match inspired him to create the story for the iconic film ROCKY. He spent 20 hours writing the script! He tried to sell it and received a $125,000 offer for the script. However, he just had ONE REQUEST. He wanted to be the leading man in the film. But the studio said no. They wanted REAL STAR.

He “looked funny and talked funny,” they stated. He said no walked away with his script. The studio offered him $250,000 for the script a few weeks later. He refused again. They even made an offer of $350,000. He didn’t relent. They wanted his movie. But NOT him. NO, he said. He had to be a part of THAT FILM.

He eventually received an offer (rumored to be $35,000) after six months of living on the streets and declining big deals.

At the prestigious Oscar Awards, the film won Best Picture, Best Directing, and Best Film Editing. He was even nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor! ROCKY was even named one of the best films of all time by the American National Film Registry!

When he finally got some financial breathing room, he quickly returned to the man who had bought the puppy he had adored.

He sold him back to Stallone for $15,000 since he knew how much he adored his canine friend.

In the end, he was reunited with Butkus!