 After the success of _Rocky (1976)_ (qv), Sylvester Stallone (qv)  lobbied hard to play Clark Kent/Superman, but he was ultimately  turned down. Stallone found out that Marlon Brando (qv), who had  casting approval, turned him down for the role, just as he had  allegedly vetoed Burt Reynolds (I) (qv) casting as Sonny in  _Godfather, The (1972)_ (qv). (Responding to that rumor, Brando told  Playboy Magazine interviewer Lawrence Gobel "Francis  [Francis Ford Coppola (qv)] would never have cast Burt Reynolds.")  Stallone subsequently went on Merv Griffin (qv)s talk show and  denounced Brando, saying he had no respect for the superstar as an  actor or as a man. This surprised many as the early Stallone (as had  the early Burt Reynolds) had clearly modeled himself after Brando,  particularly Brandos characterization of Terry Malloy in  _On the Waterfront (1954)_ (qv) in his own role as Stanley Rosiello  in _Lords of Flatbush, The (1974)_ (qv), a man named "Stanley" (a  la Stanley Kowalski in _Streetcar Named Desire, A (1951)_ (qv) who  had a coop of pigeons on his tenement roof (like Terry Malloy). This  mimicry might have been one of the the reasons Brando reportedly had  such antipathy for both actors. Stallone later explained that he  felt that it was hypocritical that Brando, whom stated on numerous  occasions that he took the role of Jor