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Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone (born July 6,
1946 in New York City), usually known as Sylvester Stallone, is an
American film actor, director, producer, and screenwriter. He achieved
his greatest successes in a number of action films, notably the Rambo
and Rocky series.
As a child, Stallone was nick-named "Binky."
When kids began to substitute, for this, "Stinky," Sly decided to name
himself "Mike." In fact, in some of his earlier work, he is credited as
"Michael Stallone." Sylvester studied drama at the University of Miami,
though he dropped out and returned to New York to appear in a few small
Off-Broadway plays.
Stallone's career actually began with an
appearance in a pornographic film. Called "Party at Kitty and Stud's" it
was considered hard-core at the time, but would be considered soft-core
by today's standards (as though graphic depictions of genitals are
featured, including Stallone's, actual close-up shots of penetration are
not shown.) 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
and Capone. Stallone also appeared in guest shots on the popular
television series Police Story and Kojak.
Stallone didn't gain wide fame until his
starring role in Rocky (1976), a film that he wrote in only three days
and sold with the rider that he would play the lead. This was a box
office success, and went on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.
Stallone had been a lifelong boxing fan and used "Bayonne Bleeder" Chuck
Wepner's surprising performance in his 1975 title bout with Muhammed Ali
as partial inspiration for the plot.
Stallone had two Academy Award nominations
for Rocky. However, his attempts to expand his range floundered and he
was forced to return to the Rocky franchise a number of times (1976,
1982, 1985, and 1990) to pay for the flops. This link with boxing
extended to hosting reality TV show The Contender. He tried his hand at
directing as well as writing with Rocky II, III and IV, and directed and
co-wrote 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. 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. He played the villain in the 2003 movie Spy Kids 3-D.
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.
His trademark sneer, lazy eyes, and slurred
speech are the result of paralysis in the left side of his face caused
by birth complications.
He has been married three times, to Sasha
Czack, Brigitte Nielsen, and Jennifer Flavin. He has five children, Sage
Moonblood and Seargeoh (with Czack), and Sophia Rose, Sistine Rose, and
Scarlet Rose (with Flavin). His younger brother is singer and actor
Frank Stallone.
Currently, Stallone has just finished
wrapping up the first season of his boxing reality series The Contender
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.
Trivia
-
Nicknamed "Sly".
-
Nominated for a Best
Actor award for his role in Rocky at the 1976 Academy Awards.
-
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.
-
In Rambo III Stallone's
character is portrayed fighting alongside the Mujahideen, many of
which later formed the Taliban in Afghanistan. The actor would come
to regret this in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks. In
fairness, many of the Mujahideen also formed the Northern Alliance
who challenged the authority of the Taliban, but unfortunately their
record on human rights is also open to question.
-
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.
-
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).
-
Gave professional
wrestler Hulk Hogan his first mainstream exposure as Thunderlips in
1982's Rocky III, two years before he hit it big as the champion of
the World Wrestling Federation.
-
He was born on the exact
same day as President George W. Bush.
* * * *
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URL of Original Article:
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Date Article Copied:
July 12, 2005
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