The actor was desperate for cash in the early days of his career, so put his beloved pooch up for sale – only to reacquire the hound after selling the script to his breakthrough film Rocky just a week later.
He recalled: “I sold my bullmastiff Butkus to a little person. You can’t use the word ‘dwarf’ any more? Let’s just say a little person.
“I tied my dog up at the store with a sign that said a hundred bucks. I got $50 from this guy called Little Jimmy.
“When I sold the ‘Rocky’ script, I went to see Little Jimmy and begged for the dog back. He lined up his children, ‘Oh my kids love the dog’. I said, ‘You’ve only had him for a f***ing week.’
“He wanted to fight me and said he was gonna kill me – he was a crazy little person. I couldn’t fight him – they’d arrest me – so I offered to pay double. Anyway, $3,000 and several threats later…”
The 66-year-old actor went on to cast Little Jimmy in Rocky.
He explained to Shortlist magazine: “I ended up putting him in the movie. Do you remember in Rocky where the little guy goes, ‘Hey, did ya win?’ and I go, ‘What are you, deaf?’ and he goes, ‘No, I’m short.’ That’s him.”
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