Stallone at the Paris premiere of The Expendables 2 in August 2012
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| Born | Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone[1] July 6, 1946 New York City, New York, United States |
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| Residence | Beverly Hills, California, United States[2] |
| Alma mater | University of Miami |
| Occupation | Actor, screenwriter, film director |
| Years active | 1970–present |
| Religion | Catholicism |
| Spouse(s) | Sasha Czack (m. 1974–85) Brigitte Nielsen (m. 1985–87) Jennifer Flavin (m. 1997) |
| Children | 5 (including Sage [1976–2012]) |
| Parents | Frank Stallone Sr. Jackie Stallone |
| Family | Frank Stallone (brother) |
| Signature |  |
| Website | |
| www.sylvesterstallone.com | |
Stallone's film Rocky was inducted into the National Film Registry as well as having its film props placed in the Smithsonian Museum. Stallone's use of the front entrance to the Philadelphia Museum of Art in the Rocky series led the area to be nicknamed the Rocky Steps. Philadelphia has a statue of his Rocky character placed permanently near the museum. It was announced on December 7, 2010 that Stallone was voted into boxing's Hall of Fame.[5]
He has been nominated for two Academy Awards for Rocky, Best Original Screenplay and Best Actor. He is the third man in history to receive these two nominations for the same film, after Charles Chaplin and Orson Welles.
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This article is part of a series on Sylvester Stallone |
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Contents
Early life
Sylvester Stallone was born Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone[1][6] in New York City, the elder son of Frank Stallone, Sr. (1919–2011), a hairdresser and beautician, and Jacqueline "Jackie" Stallone (née Labofish), an astrologer, former dancer, and promoter of women's wrestling. Stallone's father was born in Gioia del Colle, Apulia, Italy, and emigrated to the United States in the 1930s.[7][8] Stallone's mother is of half Ukrainian Jewish and half French (from Brittany) descent.[9][10] His younger brother is actor and musician Frank Stallone.Complications his mother suffered during labor forced her obstetricians to use two pairs of forceps during his birth; misuse of these accidentally severed a nerve and caused paralysis in parts of Stallone's face.[11][12] As a result, the lower left side of his face is paralyzed – including parts of his lip, tongue, and chin – an accident which has given Stallone his snarling look and slightly slurred speech.[12] Stallone was baptized Catholic.[13] His father moved the family to Washington, D.C. in the early 1950s, where he opened a beauty school. His mother opened a women's gymnasium called Barbella's in 1954.[14] Stallone's parents divorced when Sylvester was nine, and he eventually lived with his mother.[12] He attended Notre Dame Academy and Lincoln High School in Philadelphia.[15] He attended Charlotte Hall Military Academy prior to attending Miami Dade College and the University of Miami.[16]
Hollywood career
The Party at Kitty and Stud's and Score
Stallone had his first starring role in the soft core pornography feature film The Party at Kitty and Stud's (1970). He was paid $200 for two days' work.[17] Stallone later explained that he had done the film out of desperation after being evicted from his apartment and finding himself homeless for several days. He has also said that he slept three weeks in the New York City Port Authority bus station prior to seeing a casting notice for the film. In the actor's words, "it was either do that movie or rob someone, because I was at the end – the very end – of my rope".[18] The film was released several years later as Italian Stallion, in order to cash in on Stallone's newfound fame (the new title was taken from Stallone's nickname since Rocky and a line from the film).
1970–1975: Early film roles
In 1970, Stallone appeared in the film No Place to Hide, which was re-cut and retitled Rebel, the second version featuring Stallone as its star. After the style of Woody Allen's What's Up, Tiger Lily?, this film, in 1990, was re-edited from outtakes from the original movie and newly shot matching footage, then redubbed into an award-winning parody of itself titled A Man Called... Rainbo.[19] Again starring Stallone, this self-parody was directed by David Casci and produced by Jeffrey Hilton. A Man Called...Rainbo won Silver Awards at the Chicago International Film Festival and Worldfest – Houston. It was featured on Entertainment Tonight along with its credited star, Sylvester Stallone. It received a Thumbs-Up on Siskel & Ebert and was recommended by Michael Medved on the movie review show, Sneak Previews.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 film The Prisoner of Second Avenue (1975) as a youth. In the Lemmon film, Jack Lemmon's character chases, tackles and mugs Stallone, thinking that Stallone's character is a pickpocket. He had his second starring role in The Lords of Flatbush, in 1974.[12] In 1975, he played supporting roles in Farewell, My Lovely; Capone; and Death Race 2000. He made guest appearances on the TV series Police Story and Kojak.
Success with Rocky
Rocky was nominated for ten Academy Awards, including Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay nominations for Stallone. The film went on to win the Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Directing and Best Film Editing.[22]
More Rocky, Rambo, and additional roles
Following the success of Rocky, Stallone made his directorial debut and starred in the 1978 film Paradise Alley, a family drama in which he played one of three brothers who enter the world of wrestling. That same year he starred in Norman Jewison's F.I.S.T., a social drama in which he plays a warehouse worker, very loosely modeled on James Hoffa, who becomes involved in the labor union leadership. In 1979 he wrote, directed and starred in the sequel to his 1976 hit: Rocky II (replacing John G. Avildsen, who won an Academy Award for directing the first film), which also became a major success,[12] grossing $200 million.
During this time period, Stallone cultivated a strong overseas following. He also attempted, albeit unsuccessfully, roles in different genres. In 1984 he co-wrote and starred alongside Dolly Parton in the comedy film Rhinestone where he played a wannabe country music singer. For the Rhinestone soundtrack, he performed a song. In 1987 he starred in the family drama Over the Top as a struggling trucker who tries to make amends with his estranged son. These films did not do well at the box office and were poorly received by critics. It was around 1985 that Stallone was signed to a remake of the 1939 James Cagney classic Angels With Dirty Faces. The film would form part of his multi-picture deal with Cannon Pictures and was to co-star Christopher Reeve and be directed by Menahem Golan. The re-making of such a beloved classic was met with disapproval by Variety and horror by top critic Roger Ebert. Cannon opted to make Cobra instead. Cobra (1986) and the buddy cop action film Tango and Cash (1989) alongside Kurt Russell did solid business domestically but overseas they did blockbuster business, grossing over $100 million in foreign markets and over $160 million worldwide.
That same year, Stallone, along with an all-star cast of celebrities, appeared in the Trey Parker and Matt Stone short comedy film "Your Studio and You" commissioned by the Seagram Company for a party celebrating their acquisition of Universal Studios and the MCA Corporation. Stallone speaks in his Rocky Balboa voice with subtitles translating what he is saying. At one point, Stallone starts yelling about how can they use his Balboa character, that he left it in the past; the narrator calms him with a wine cooler and calling him "brainiac." In response, Stallone says, "Thank you very much." He then looks at the wine cooler and exclaims, "Stupid cheap studio!"[26]
Following his breakthrough performance in Rocky, critic Roger Ebert had stated that Stallone could become the next Marlon Brando, though he never recaptured the critical acclaim achieved with Rocky. Stallone did go on to receive much acclaim for his role in the low-budget 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.[citation needed] 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 was a big hit domestically.
In 2000, Stallone starred in the thriller Get Carter – a remake of the 1971 British Michael Caine film of the same name—but the film was poorly received by both critics and audiences. Stallone's career declined considerably after his subsequent films Driven (2001), Avenging Angelo (2002) and D-Tox (2002) also underachieved expectations to do well at the box office and were poorly received by critics.
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 only released in a limited fashion but was praised by critics.[27] He was also attached to star and direct a film tentatively titled Rampart Scandal, which was to be about the murder of rappers Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. and the surrounding Los Angeles Police Department corruption scandal.[28] It was later titled Notorious but was shelved.[29]
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. In 2005, Stallone also inducted wrestling icon Hulk Hogan, who appeared in Rocky III as a wrestler named Thunderlips, into the WWE Hall of Fame; Stallone was also the person who offered Hogan the cameo in Rocky III.[30]
2006–2008: Revisiting Rocky and Rambo
Stallone's fourth installment of his other successful movie franchise is titled simply Rambo. The film opened in 2,751 theaters on January 25, 2008, grossing $6,490,000 on its opening day and $18,200,000 over its opening weekend. Its box office was $113,244,290 worldwide with a budget of $50 million.
Asked in February 2008 which of the icons he would rather be remembered for, Stallone said "it's a tough one, but Rocky is my first baby, so Rocky."[33]
Other film work
2010 onwards
The Expendables was Stallone's big success of 2010. The movie, which was filmed during summer/winter 2009, was released on August 13, 2010. Stallone wrote, directed and starred in the movie. Joining him in the film were fellow action stars Jason Statham, Jet Li, and Dolph Lundgren, as well as Terry Crews, Mickey Rourke, Randy Couture, Eric Roberts, and Stone Cold Steve Austin, and cameos by fellow '80s action icons Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger.[36] The movie took $34,825,135 in its opening weekend, going straight in at No. 1 in the US box office. The figure marked the biggest opening weekend in Stallone's career.[37] In summer 2010, Brazilian company O2 Filmes released a statement saying it was still owed more than US$2 million for its work on the film.[38] The Expendables 2 was released August 17, 2012 to a positive critical reception of 67% on Rotten Tomatoes,[39] as opposed to the original's 41%.[40]Stallone starred in the action film Bullet to the Head (2013), directed by Walter Hill, based upon Alexis Nolent's French graphic novel Du Plomb Dans La Tete.[41] Also in 2013, he starred in the action thriller Escape Plan, along with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jim Caviezel, and in the sports comedy Grudge Match alongside Robert De Niro. Stallone expressed interest in making a remake of the Spanish film No Rest for the Wicked and to star in a fifth Rambo film.[42]
Tobacco promotion
In 1983, Stallone entered into an agreement with Associated Film Promotions, Inc. representing their client, cigarette manufacturer Brown & Williamson Corp., to use or place B&W products in five of his feature films.[43] In exchange, Stallone was paid a total of $500,000, disbursed as $250,000 up front and $50,000 "payable at the inception of production of each participating film." In the initial correspondences Stallone guaranteed that he would "use Brown and Williamson tobacco products in no less than five feature films"[44] but later, to be consistent with the character of Rocky Balboa, it was decided that "other leads will have product usage" in Rocky IV.[43] The payments were made mostly in the form of gifts, including a car, jewelry and horse, and no written contract was ever created.[45] In 2002 documentation of the agreement was made publicly available through the Legacy Tobacco Documents Library at the University of California, San Francisco.[46]
Personal life
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.[51]
In 2007, customs officials in Australia discovered 48 vials of the synthetic human growth hormone Jintropin in his luggage.[52]
His 48-year-old half-sister, Toni Ann Filiti, died of lung cancer, six weeks after the death of his son, Sage. She succumbed to lung cancer on Sunday, August 26, 2012. She died at their mother Jackie Stallone's Santa Monica home, after choosing to leave UCLA hospital.[53][54]
Stallone stopped going to church as his acting career progressed. Later, he rediscovered his childhood faith, when his daughter was born ill in 1996, and is now an active Catholic.[55]
In recent years, Stallone started sporting tattoos on his shoulders, chest, and upper back to cover the scars he had accumulated over the years in action films. The first tattoo he had was a portrait of Flavin, followed by three roses representing their daughters. He first displayed these tattoos on-screen in The Expendables.[50]
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