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Michael Sylvester Enzio Stallone (born July 6, 1946 in New York City), usually known as simply 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, starring as a largely monosyllabic hero in both.
Stallone studied drama at the University of Miami, after which he returned to New York and appeared in a few small Off-Broadway plays.
Stallone's first film roles were very small, including a pornographic film, and he did gain wide notoriety until his starring role in Rocky 1976), a film that he wrote and sold with the rider that he would play the lead.
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 (1979, 1982, 1985, and 1990) to pay for the flops. He tried his hand at directing as well as writing with Rocky II, III and IV, and directed and co-wrote 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 two 1996 movies, Cobra and Daylight.
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) and a voice role in Antz (1998), but his $15 million-plus paychecks are still only offered for more lively action roles. H e played the villain in the 2003 movie Spy Kids 3-D.
His trademark sneer, drooping 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.
Trivia
- Nicknamed "Sly"
- In the French satirical show Les Guignols de l'Info, he was depicted as Cdr. Sylvester from the United States Army during the first Gulf War (because of his role in Rambo). He then became Mr. Sylvester, the ubiquitous man in a dark suit associated with multinational corporations (World Company) and the CIA
- Won "Worst Actor of the Century" award at the 1999 Golden Raspberry Awards for his role in "99.5% of Everything He's Ever Done." It should be noted, however, that he had a speech impediment and was 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 Mujadideen 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 charttopping singer Frank Stallone, his mother Jackie, who achieved fame in the middle 1990s as an astrologer and Sasha Stallone, who played Rocky's son in 1990's Rocky V.
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