photo:
http://images.askmen.com/galleries/men/sylvester-stallone/pictures/sylvester-stallone-picture-1.jpg
Biography
Career
Stallone was born to Frank Stallone Sr. (a beautician who was an immigrant from Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily) and Jacqueline "Jackie" Labofish, an American astrologer of 1/4 Russian Jewish descent. In the 1960's, Stallone attended the University of Miami for 3 years. He came within a few credit hours of graduation, before he decided to drop out and pursue an acting career. 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 played a subway thug in Woody Allen's Bananas (1971) and 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), awarded the Academy Award for Best Picture. 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.
After Demolition Man, Jesse Ventura said on television that "He's big and rugged. You can slam 'im around, he's not gonna run cryin' to the producer."
Personal life
Sylvester Stallone, 1970, 24 years old, in his first movie.
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 170 cm (5 ft 7 in).
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 is said to have had an affair with Pamela Anderson.
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. Stallone was paid a mere $60,000 to do Cop Land (1997). It is said that he did the film to play a serious role and escape his action hero cast type.
Oil paints in his spare time and considers Leonardo Da Vinci his personal hero. Part owns Planet Hollywood restaurants with Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger. At 15, his classmates voted him the one "most likely to end up in the electric chair." Turned down the role of John McClane in Die Hard (1988). The part went to Bruce Willis instead. Was the initial choice for the role of Axel Foley in 1984's Beverly Hills Cop. After changes were made to the script, the part went to Eddie Murphy.
As of 2004 is the all time Razzie Award champion, with a record 30 nominations and 10 "wins", more than any other person in history. He joins Roberto Benigni, Prince, Kevin Costner, William Shatner, and Tom Green as being the only actors to direct themselves in performances that would "win" them a Razzie Award for Worst Actor.
Listed as one of the top heroes of all time by American Film Institute (AFI) on 2003, he listed seventh as Rocky Balboa behind Gregory Peck (Atticus Finch), Harrison Ford (Indiana Jones), Sean Connery (James Bond), Humphrey Bogart (Rick Blaine), Gary Cooper (Will Kane) and Jodie Foster (Clarice Starling).
When he heard that copies of his porn film, Party at Kitty and Stud's, was being hired for sexparties at $50,000 a time, Stallone joked that for $50,000 he'd turn up in person. On the opening of his first film as director, Paradise Alley: “You could hunt deer in that theatre.”
Filmography
Brutal Deluxe (2008 / 2009)
Rocky Balboa (late 2006 / early 2007) (currently filming)
Rambo VI (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)
Escape To 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) (re-released as The Italian Stallion)
Salary
Avenging Angelo (2002) - $20,000,000
D-Tox (2002) - $20,000,000
Driven (2001) - $20,000,000
Get Carter (2000) - $20,000,000
Cop Land (1997) - $60,000
Daylight (1996) - $20,000,000
Assassins (1995) - $20,000,000
Judge Dredd (1995) - $20,000,000
The Specialist (1994) - $15,000,000
Demolition Man (1993) - $15,000,000
Cliffhanger (1993) - $15,000,000
Oscar (1991) - $15,000,000
Rocky V (1990) - $15,000,000
Tango & Cash (1989) - $15,000,000
Lock Up (1989) - $15,000,000
Rambo III (1988) - $15,000,000
Over the Top (1987) - $12,000,000
Rocky IV (1985) - $15,000,000
Staying Alive (1983) - $10,000,000
First Blood (1982) - $3,500,000
Rocky III (1982) - $10,000,000
Rocky (1976) - $23,000
Death Race 2000 (1975) - $1,000/week
Party at Kitty and Stud's (1970) - $200
