Profile of Sylvester Stallone on Famous Like Me

Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone (born July 6, 1946 in New York City) is an American film actor, director, producer, and screenwriter. He is often referred to by his nickname, "Sly". He achieved his greatest successes in a number of action films, notably the Rocky and Rambo series.

Career

Stallone was born to Frank Stallone Sr. (a beautician who was an immigrant from Italy) and Jacqueline "Jackie" Labofish, an American astrologer of 1/4 Russian Jewish descent. Stallone's career began with an appearance in a soft-core pornographic film called Party at Kitty and Stud's. The film was originally hard core and depicted sexual acts, but the repackaging was censored to have scenes end just before any hard core action would take place. After Stallone's later success the film was re-packaged as The Italian Stallion.

Stallone's first film roles were very small. He had a brief appearance in the Jack Lemmon vehicle The Prisoner Of Second Avenue (1974). He had a starring role in the cult hit The Lords Of Flatbush (1974). In 1975 he was featured in Farewell, My Lovely, Capone and another cult hit Death Race 2000. Stallone also appeared in guest shots on the popular television series' Police Story and Kojak.

Stallone did not gain wide fame until his starring role in the smash hit Rocky (1976), the winner of Best Picture for the year. Stallone had written the screenplay and had tried to sell it to a Hollywood studio for years, finally succeeding, and with the rider that he would play the lead. Rocky was nominated for ten Academy Awards in all, including two for Stallone himself, for Best Actor and for Best Original Screenplay. In addition to winning Best Picture, Rocky won for Best Director and Best Film Editing.

Rocky cost about US$1.1 million to make, and grossed about US$225 million worldwide. Stallone had been a lifelong boxing fan and used "Bayonne Bleeder" Chuck Wepner's surprising performance in his 1975 title bout with Muhammad Ali as partial inspiration for the plot.

Stallone's subsequent attempts to expand his range floundered and he was forced to return to the Rocky franchise a number of times (1979, 1982, 1985, and 1990) to pay for the flops. This link with boxing later extended to hosting reality TV show The Contender. He tried his hand at directing as well as writing with Rocky II, III and IV. With the monetary success of the Rocky films, Stallone gave professional wrestler Hulk Hogan his first mainstream exposure, as the character Thunderlips in 1982's Rocky III, two years before Hogan hit it big as the champion of the World Wrestling Federation.

Stallone has also directed and co-written several other films, such as Tango and Cash and the sequel to Saturday Night Fever, Staying Alive. His other early successes were as John Rambo in First Blood, released in (1982), and its sequels, Rambo: First Blood Part II, and Rambo III. In Rambo III, Stallone's character is portrayed fighting alongside the Mujahideen in Afghanistan. He also appeared in the 1986 movie, Cobra, and the 1987 arm wrestling movie Over the Top. Stallone was recently awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the USA Academy of Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Films.

In the 1990s, Stallone had further box-office wins with a number of action movies, including Cliffhanger (1993, for which he co-wrote the screenplay), Demolition Man (1993) and Judge Dredd (1995). He still sought to expand his appeal with the low-budget Cop Land (1997) (for which his understated performance won critical praise) and a voice role in Antz (1998), but his $15 million-plus paychecks are still only offered for more lively action roles.

In 1991, Stallone worked with Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Demi Moore, Keith Barish and Robert Earl to co-found Planet Hollywood, a worldwide chain of Hollywood-themed restaurants filled with memorabilia and merchandise. Stallone later sued Kenneth Starr (no relation to the independent counsel to the Whitewater investigation), his one-time business manager, for advising him to hold his shares in the restaurant chain, despite its falling value and eventual bankruptcy.

Currently, Stallone has just finished wrapping up the first season of his boxing reality series The Contender (it has been renewed for a second season) and is working on a film about the murders of Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G.. He is also set to star in yet another Rambo film. Both are scheduled to be released in 2006.

Critics

Stallone has never recaptured the amazing credibility he won initially with the critics after Rocky, when Roger Ebert said he could be the next Marlon Brando. He has been nominated a record 30 times for the Golden Raspberry Awards, usually in the "Worst Actor" category, and has won 10 times. The Golden Raspberry Award Foundation awarded him a special "Worst Actor of the Century" award in 2000.

Personal life

His trademark sneer, lazy eyes, and slurred speech are the result of paralysis in the left side of his face caused by birth complications. While Stallone's "official" height has always been put at 5 feet 10 inches, he is actually believed by many, as first reported in Us Weekly magazine, to be only 5 feet 7 inches (170 cm).

Stallone's family include former chart-topping singer Frank Stallone, his mother Jackie, who achieved fame in the middle 1990s as an astrologer and Sage Stallone, who played Rocky's son in 1990's Rocky V and in Stallone's 1996 Movie, Daylight.

He 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 has autism (with Czack, born 1976 and 1979 respectively), and daughters Sophia Rose, Sistine Rose, and Scarlet Rose (with Flavin, born 1996, 1998, 2002 respectively).

Trivia

• Not all of the films in which he's appeared are in the English language. He made a cameo appearance in the French film Taxi 3 where he spoke what appeared to be fluent French.
• He was born on the same date as President George W. Bush.
• In 2005, he inducted close friend Hulk Hogan into the WWE Hall of Fame

Filmography

• Rocky VI (2007) (currently announced start of production)
• Notorious (2006) (currently announced start of production) (also director and producer)
• Rambo IV (2006) (currently in pre-production) (also producer)
• Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over (2003)
• Shade (2003)
• Taxi 3 (2003) (Cameo)
• Avenging Angelo (2002)
• D-Tox (2002) (Released on DVD as Eye See You )
• Driven (2001) (also writer)
• Get Carter (2000)
• Antz (1998) (voice)
• Junket Whore (1998) (documentary)
• The Good Life (1997)
• Cop Land (1997)
• An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn (1997) (Cameo)
• Daylight (1996)
• Your Studio and You (1995) (short subject)
• Judge Dredd (1995)
• Assassins (1995)
• A Century of Cinema (1994) (documentary)
• The Specialist (1994)
• Cliffhanger (1993) (also writer)
• Demolition Man (1993)
• Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot! (1992)
• Oscar (1991)
• Rocky V (1990) (also writer)
• Lock Up (1989)
• Tango & Cash (1989)
• Rambo III (1988) (also writer)
• Over the Top (1987) (also writer)
• Cobra (1986) (also writer)
• Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) (also writer)
• Rocky IV (1985) (also director and writer)
• Rhinestone (1984) (also writer)
• Staying Alive (1983) (Cameo) (also director, producer, and writer)
• Rocky III (1982) (also director and writer)
• First Blood (1982) (also writer)
• Nighthawks (1981)
• Victory (1981)
• Rocky II (1979) (also director and writer)
• F.I.S.T. (1978) (also writer)
• Paradise Alley (1978) (also director and writer)
• Cannonball (1976)
• Rocky (1976) (also writer)
• No Place to Hide (1975)
• The Prisoner of Second Avenue (1975)
• Capone (1975)
• Death Race 2000 (1975)
• Farewell, My Lovely (1975)
• The Lords of Flatbush (1974) (also writer)
• Bananas (1971)
• Klute (1971)
• Lovers and Other Strangers (1970)
• Party at Kitty and Stud's (1970) aka Italian Stallion (Softcore)

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