Sylvester Stallone (born Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone on July 6,
1946) is a two-time Academy Award-nominated American actor, director,
producer and screenwriter. He achieved his greatest
successes in a number of action films, notably the Rocky and Rambo series.
Biography
Early life
Stallone was born in Hell's Kitchen/Clinton, Manhattan, New York; the son of Jacqueline
"Jackie" (nee Labofish), an astrologer, former dancer, and promoter of women's wrestling, and
Frank Stallone, Sr., an actor and singer.[1] Stallone's father was an immigrant from Gioia del Colle
(province of Bari, Apulia, Italy)[2]. In the 1960s, Stallone attended the American College of Switzerland, Leysin and the
University of Miami for three years. He came within a few credit hours of graduation
before he decided to drop out and pursue an acting career. After Stallone's request that his acting and life experiences be
accepted in exchange for his remaining credits, he was granted a Bachelors of Fine
Arts (BFA) degree by the President of the University of Miami in 1999.[3]
Early film roles 1970-1975
Stallone made his film debut with the lead in a 1970 hardcore pornographic film,
Party at Kitty and Stud's. He was paid US$200 for two days work. Scenes
of sexual penetration were edited out on later releases of the film designed to cash in on Stallone's fame. These releases were
re-packaged under the names of Italian Stallion (taken from Stallone's nickname and a line from the film) and Cocky
(a spoof of Rocky). Stallone's other first few film roles were minor, and included brief uncredited appearances in
Woody Allen's Bananas (1971) as a subway thug, in the psychological thriller Klute
(1971) as an extra dancing in a club, and in the Jack
Lemmon vehicle Prisoner of 2nd Avenue (1975) as a youth. In the Lemmon film,
Jack Lemmon chases and tackles Stallone, thinking he is a pickpocket. He had his first starring role in the cult hit
The Lords of Flatbush (1974). In 1975 he played supporting roles in
Farewell, My Lovely, Capone
and, another cult hit, Death Race 2000. He also made guest appearances on the
TV series Police Story and
Kojak.
Success with Rocky 1976
Sylvester Stallone: footprints and hands stamped at
Hollywood
walkthrough
Stallone did not gain world-wide fame until his starring role in the smash hit Rocky
(1976). The film was awarded the 1976 Academy Award for Best Picture. On March 24,
1975, Stallone saw the Ali-Chuck Wepner fight which inspired the foundation idea of Rocky.
That night Stallone went home, and in three days he had written the script for Rocky. After that, he tried to sell the
script with the intention of playing the lead role. Robert Chartoff and Irwin Winkler in particular liked the script (which was suggested by Stallone after a casting), and
planned on courting a star like Burt Reynolds or James
Caan for the lead role. The final result was an unequalled success; Rocky was nominated for ten Academy Awards in all, including Best Actor for
Stallone himself.
Stallone in one of his earlier films,
F.I.S.T, 1978
Rocky, Rambo and new film roles 1978-1989
The sequel Rocky II which Stallone had also written and directed was released in 1979
and also became a major success, grossing US$200 million worldwide.
Apart from the Rocky films, Stallone did many other films in the late 1970s and early 1980s which were critically
acclaimed but were not successful at the box office. He received critical praise for films such as F.I.S.T. (1978), a social drama in which he plays a warehouse worker who becomes involved in the
labor union leadership and Paradise Alley
(1978), a family drama in which he plays one of three brothers who is a con artist and who helps his other brother who is
involved in wrestling.
In the early 1980s he starred alongside British veteran Michael Caine in
Escape to Victory (1981), a sports drama in which he plays a prisoner of war involved in a Nazi propaganda football tournament. Stallone then made the action thriller film Nighthawks (1981), in which he plays a New York city cop who plays a cat and mouse game with a
foreign terrorist, played by Rutger Hauer.
Stallone had another major franchise success as Vietnam veteran John Rambo in the action
adventure film First Blood (1982). The first installment of Rambo was both a critical
and box office success. The critics praised Stallone's performance, saying he made Rambo seem human as opposed to the way he is
portrayed in the book of the same name First Blood and in the other films. Two Rambo
sequels Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) and Rambo III (1988) followed. Although box office hits, they met with much less critical praise than the
original. He also continued his box office success with the Rocky franchise and wrote, directed and starred in two more
sequels to the series: Rocky III (1982) and Rocky
IV (1985). He also attempted roles in different genres when he wrote and starred in the comedy film
Rhinestone (1984) where he played a wannabe country music singer and the drama
film Over the Top (1987) where he played a truck driver who enters an
arm wrestling competition to impress his estranged son. But these films did not do well at
the box office and were poorly received by critics. The action films Cobra (1986)
and Tango and Cash (1989) continued the hit parade, further solidifying
Stallone's fanbase.
Stallone has turned down many hit films: Romancing the Stone, Beverly Hills Cop, Die Hard, Pretty
Woman, Basic Instinct, Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, Enemy of the State. His trademark sneer and
slurred speech are the result of ptosis and partial paralysis in the left side of his face
caused by birth complications.[4]
1990-2002
At the start of the 1990s, Stallone starred in the fifth installment of the Rocky franchise Rocky
V which was considered a box office disappointment and was also disliked by fans as an unworthy entry in the series.
It was intended to have been the last installment in the franchise at the time.
After starring in the critical and commercial failures Oscar (1991) and
Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot (1992) during the early 90s, he made a
major comeback in 1993 with the blockbuster hit Cliffhanger which became an
enormously successful film grossing over US$255 million worldwide. Later that year he enjoyed another hit with the
futuristic action film Demolition Man which
grossed in excess of $158 million worldwide. His string of hits continued with 1994's
The Specialist (over $170 million worldwide gross). In 1995 he played the
comic book based title character Judge Dredd who was
taken from the popular British comic book 2000 AD in the film of the same name. His overseas box office appeal even saved the domestic box office
disappointment of Judge Dredd with a worldwide tally of $113 million. In 1996 he starred in the disaster movie Daylight which made only $33 million in the
U.S but was a major hit overseas taking in over $126 million, totaling $159,212,469 worldwide. Originally "Daylight" had been
penned as "Cliff Hanger II".
Sylvester Stallone and Robert De Niro in
Cop Land.
Following his breakthrough performance in Rocky, critic Roger Ebert had once said
he could become the next Marlon Brando - however arguably Stallone had never recaptured
the critical acclaim he won in Rocky. Stallone did however go onto receive much acclaim for his role in the crime drama
Cop Land (1997) in which he starred alongside Robert De
Niro and Ray Liotta, but the film was only a minor success at the box office. His
performance led him to win the Stockholm International Film
Festival Best Actor Award. In 1998 he did voice-over work for the computer-animated film Antz, which grossed over 90 million
domestically.
As the new millennium began, Stallone starred the thriller Get Carter
which was a remake of the 1971 British Michael Caine film Get Carter. Get Carter was poorly received by both critics and audiences and was a box office
failure. Stallone career declined considerably after his subsequent films Driven (2001),
Avenging Angelo (2002) and D-Tox (2002)
also failed to do well at the box office and were poorly received by critics.
He also appeared in film "Assassins (1995)" with co stars Julianne Moore and Antonio Banderas. Tag line of this film was
"In the shadows of life, In the business of death, One man found a reason to live..." and with the story as "Robert Rath
(Sylvester Stallone) is a seasoned hitman who just wants out of the business with no back talk. But, as things go, it ain't so
easy. A younger, peppier assassin named Bain (Antonio Banderas) is having a field day trying to kill said older assassin. Rath
teams up with a computer hacker named Electra (Julianne Moore) to defeat the obsessed Bain."
2003-2005
In 2003 he played a villainous role in the third installment of the Spy Kids trilogy
Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over which was a huge box office success (almost 200
million worldwide). Stallone also had a cameo appearance in the 2003 French film
Taxi 3 as a passenger.
Following several poorly reviewed box office flops, Stallone started to regain prominence for his supporting role in the
neo-noir crime drama Shade (2003) which was a box office failure but was praised by
critics.[5] He was also attached to star and direct a film
about the murder of rappers Tupac Shakur and Biggie
Smalls titled Notorious but the film has yet to be made due to the
legal problems concerning the movie.
In 2005 he was the co-presenter alongside Sugar Ray Leonard of the NBC Reality television boxing series The Contender. That same year he also made a guest appearance in two episodes of the
television series Las Vegas.
Resurrecting Rocky Balboa and John Rambo 2006-present
After three years since his last film appearance in Shade, Stallone made a comeback to films in 2006 with the sixth and
final installment of his successful Rocky series; Rocky Balboa, which was
both a critical and commercial hit. After the critical and box office failure of the previous and presumed last installment
Rocky V, Stallone had decided that he should end the series with a sixth installment
which would be a much more appropriate climax to the series. The total domestic box
office gross came to a close with US$70.2 million (an impressive US$155.3 million worldwide), almost three times its production
budget. His performance in Rocky Balboa has been praised and garnered mostly positive reviews.[6]
Stallone is currently in post-production on the fourth installment of his other successful Rambo franchise with the sequel being titled simply Rambo. The
film is experiencing very positive buzz due to a favorable reception of its rough cut trailer for Cannes. The movie is scheduled
for a January 25, 2008 release.
Stallone was accused by the Australian government of posession of anabolic steroids while promoting "Rocky Balboa". Stallone
has denied all accusations.
Future projects
Next on Stallone's agenda is one of his dream projects. He will direct (but not star) a biography on the life of
Edgar Allan Poe, which will be titled Poe.
Stallone has also been linked to Inglorious Bastards, a Quentin Tarantino film, which is set to be Tarantino's next project.[7]
Other work
Stallone's debut as a director came in 1978 with Paradise Alley, which he also
wrote and starred in. In addition, he directed Staying Alive (the sequel to
Saturday Night Fever), along with Rocky
II, III, IV and Balboa.
In August 2005 Stallone released his book "Sly Moves" which claimed to be a guide to fitness and nutrition as well as a candid
insight into his life and works from his own perspective. The book also contained many photographs of Stallone throughout the
years as well as pictures of him performing exercises.
In addition to writing all six Rocky films, Stallone also wrote
Cobra, Driven, and the last Rambo
film, John Rambo. He has co-written several other films, such as
F.I.S.T., Rhinestone,
Over the Top and the first three Rambo films.
His last major success as a co-writer came with 1993's Cliffhanger.
Stallone owns shares in Planet Hollywood restaurants with Bruce Willis and formerly Arnold Schwarzenegger (who has
since sold his part).
Personal life
Other famous members in Stallone's family are his brother, actor/singer Frank Stallone
and his mother, Jacqueline Stallone, who achieved notoriety in the middle 1990s as an
astrologer. Stallone's pet Bullmastiff, Butkus, appeared
in the first Rocky film as an often-teased favorite pet of Balboa's who lived in Adrian's pet shop.
Stallone has been married three times, to Sasha Czack (1974–1985), Brigitte Nielsen
(1985–1987), and Jennifer Flavin (1997–present). He has five children, sons
Sage Moonblood and Seargeoh, who is autistic (with Czack,
born 1976 and 1979 respectively), and daughters Sophia Rose, Sistine Rose and Scarlett Rose (with Flavin, born 1996, 1998, 2002
respectively). He and Flavin, an Irish-American, were married at Winston Churchill's
birthplace, Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire,
England.
In addition to these marriages, he has had romantic relationships with models Susan
Anton, Angie Everhart, Naomi Campbell, and
Janice Dickinson.
Stallone claims to have been able to bench press 385-400 lbs (174.6-181.4 kg) and
squat 500 lbs (226.8 kg) in his prime. While in a bench pressing contest with former
Mr. Olympia Franco Columbu, he severely tore his
pectoral muscle and needed over 160 stitches on it. This is why one half of his chest is more vascular than the other.[8]
On January 14, 2007, Stallone was at Goodison Park
to promote Rocky Balboa, and to watch Everton
take on Reading in an English Premier League game.
The match ended as a 1-1 draw. Stallone paraded on the field at half time adorned in a home team scarfe and received a warm
reception from the 40,000 fans. Stallone has claimed to be a keen soccer fan since filming Escape to
victory in the 1980s and now claims to be an official Everton fan.[9]
In July 2007 Stallone had a tattoo
done on his upper right arm of a portrait of his wife, Jennifer Flavin. Incorporated
into the tattoo is three roses for there three girls that have rose for there middle names. The tattoo took about 14 hours and
isn't finished, it will be expanded onto Stallone's chest a bit.[10]
Growth hormone controversy
On February 16 2007, Stallone flew into Sydney, Australia as part of his promotional tour Rocky
Balboa[11]. Upon landing he was searched by
Australian Customs officials, who found 48 vials of the human growth hormone (HGH) Jintropin in his personal luggage. As a
result of this, he was charged one count of importing a prohibited import. The hormones are banned under the Australian Customs
Act and are not approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. In a court hearing on May 15
2007, he pleaded guilty to two charges of possessing a controlled substance. On May 21st 2007 he was formally convicted of importing restricted muscle-building
hormones into Australia and ordered to pay more than $9,870 in fines and court costs [12]. As a result of the controversy within Australia, Stallone banned the
Australian media from attending the Los Angeles premiere of the film.[13] [14]
In a typed apology from Stallone, delivered to the court on May 15, Stallone said: "I made a terrible mistake. Not because I
was attempting to deceive anyone but I was simply ignorant of your official rules and I wish to sincerely apologize to the court
and the Australian community for my breach of Australian customs law. ... I have never supported the use of illegal drugs or
engaged in any illegal activities in my entire life. ...I wish to express my deepest remorse and again apologize for my
actions."[15]
Filmography
-
Television appearances
References
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External links
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