The following article includes mentions of addiction and suspected suicide.
The year 1976 delivered a one-two punch for Sylvester Stallone.
Sadly, Sage died unexpectedly in 2012, and his father has had time to reflect.
And the repercussions are quite radical and devastating."
Sage Stallone, who was raised primarily by his mother, was one of them.
Many young boys spend quality time with their fathers tossing the football and other male bonding rituals.
If Sage wanted face time with his dad, it often meant hanging out on movie sets.
Children of famous parents also have to live with the questions and curiosity of their peers.
Sometimes the interest is harmless, but occasionally it can turn ugly.
In an interview withE!
“He was a wonderful guy who loved life and was so sensitive that it got to him.”
Sage Stallone had what his friend Stephen Wozniak toldPeoplewas a “love-hate” dynamic with his movie star dad.
What is he doing?'"
The fact that Stallone was absent from much of his young son’s life didn’t help.
And I think as a kid that acts out, he had a lot of difficulty with his dad.
He said he spent less time with him," said Wozniak in an E!
Stallone went on to have three daughterswith his current wife, former modelJennifer Flavin.
“I find that to be my biggest regret.
I’m riding that boat.”
“When I was screaming ‘You never spent time with me!
You never spent time with my mother!’
I was looking into my father’s face and really saying that,” Sage told People in 1996.
“I got a lot of things out.”
“And so quite often I would do it theatrically, magically.
… A lot of that is true.”
“We broke into tears a few times.
After the film, everything changed.
We’d do anything for each other.”
Especially when you have very little in common.
Sylvester Stallone was famous for his ripped body and hyper-masculine “take no crap” characters.
Sage’s longtime friend, director David DeFalco, told People, “Sage wanted to do it.”
He has put himself in a position in which he’ll never have to be compared to me."
Sage’s attorney George Braunstein toldPeoplethat Sage was fascinated by film.
“He knew everything about movies.
The man was a walking encyclopedia of film.
It was remarkable, even a little weird how much he knew.
He could talk volumes about a movie you had never even known existed.”
In an interview with E!
However, it wasn’t something that Sage wanted to discuss.
“He would withdraw and get depressed,” Wozniak said.
“He would take a stab at overcompensate.
He was no different.
Very few people were telling him ‘don’t do that.’
He was very resistant when [you would tell him that].
It was a sore point with him.”
That didn’t change the fact Wozniak thought his friend had a problem.
He told People, “I’m certain he was addicted to those medications.”
Reports first surfaced that Sage, whom his close friend described to E!
Sage’s attorney, George Braunstein, put that rumor to rest by tellingE!
Newsthat the actor had posted to social media “around 17 hours” before the housekeeper’s discovery.
As for Stallone, a rep for the actor toldPeoplehe was “devasted” and “grief-stricken.”
The statement included, “His compassion and thoughts are with Sage’s mother, Sasha.
Sage was a very talented and wonderful young man, his loss will be felt forever.”
“It was a picture of Sage at 14 standing next to his dad,” said Braunstein.
“He idolized his father.”
“I told him not to do that.
I’ve heard about people dying having multiple procedures done to your mouth.
Do not have more than one tooth [pulled],” Czack said.
Friends of the elder Stallone told People that he had no knowledge of his son’s prescription drug use.
“Sly isn’t the kind of person who would let somebody self-destruct, especially his loved one.
He’s very caring.”
The only drug found in the young man’s system was an over-the-counter pain reliever.
The news may not have been a big surprise to those who knew Sage best.
“There was a report that his room was filled with liquor bottles.
Actually, they were empty bottles of Dr. Brown’s Cream Soda.”
“Sage was a really young, very sensitive, and very talented kid,” said Braunstein.
“There has been no indication that there was anything wrong in his life.”
Most importantly I wanted to respect his memory and I think we did."
She’s great."
