Sylvester Stallone
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Sylvester Stallone

Sylvester S. Stallone
Born 1940s.
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Profile last modified | Created 10 Oct 2014
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Biography

Sylvester Stallone is a highly regarded American actor and filmmaker. He is one of only two actors in history (the other being Harrison Ford) to have starred in a number 1 box-office film in six consecutive decades. One of his most notable roles is that of Rocky Balboa, a boxer in the "Rocky" film franchise. [1]

Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone was born on July 6, 1946 in New York City, New York, United States, son of Francesco Stallone (1919–2011) and Jacqueline Frances Labofish (1921–2020). He was their firstborn child, and grew up in Hell's Kitchen in Manhattan, New York City. Due to being birthed by use of forceps, he suffered from nerve damage from the procedure, and had paralysis to the lower left side of his face. This would later give him his signature snarl and slurred speech. His name was originally told to be "Tyrone", but no records have been found to back that up. His family nicknamed him Binky, but his schoolmates began calling him Stinky, and due to his paralysis, slurred speech, and being intimidated due to the bullying, he turned to the gym and became interested in bodybuilding at a young age.

He attended Miami Dade College, went to Europe where he attended the American College of Switzerland, and returned to the US where he attended the University of Miami, majoring in drama. He finished with school in 1969. While he attended many schools and received many credits, he did not formally graduate until much later when he petitioned the college to accept his life experiences, and the University of Miami awarded him a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1998.

He began his career on the stage, playing small parts and barely making ends meet. He took whatever parts he could get, including some soft porn and erotica parts that would return to him later in his career. The stretch from 1968 to 1974 left him homeless at times, struggling to pay his rent at the best of times, but he stuck with it, determined to succeed. He played bit parts in television shows, often uncredited, By the early 70's, he began to at least receive his name in the credits, but by the mid-70's, his big break had not come - yet.

In 1976 he portrayed Rocky Balboa in the movie, Rocky. It was a huge hit worldwide, and he became famous overnight. The movie was about a fictitious boxing match and fictitious boxers, but comparisons came out immediately, such as Muhammad Ali and Chuck Wepner. Rocky was nominated for ten Oscars including the nomination for Best Actor. While Sylvester did not win Best Actor, the movie won three, including Best Picture. The movie has become a historical picture now, being honored at the Smithsonian Museum and leading to a statue of Rocky Balboa showcased at the steps to the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

He continued starring in films, but his next break was in 1979 with Rocky II, which was another tremendous hit. He starred in several more films, but in 1982, the release of First Blood drew the crowds and was yet another box-office success. He followed this up with Rocky III, which also did well at the theaters. He not only starred in this film, but wrote and directed the picture. In almost all his films, when he directed, he also acted. However, he turned to directing and "not" acting for only one picture. A film starring John Travolta called Staying Alive, which was the sequel to Saturday Night Fever. Critics hated the picture, but fans turned this almost into a cult classic. Between Travolta, Stallone, and the Bee Gees' music, this film was the biggest opening weekend for a musical film (of it's time), and Stallone continued to be on a roll with his career.

He rounded out the 1980's with additional successful movies such as Rocky IV, Rambo: First Blood II, Cobra, and Tango & Cash. While some movies failed to do well, his movies continued to be well-received by the action hero crowd. When Rocky V was released in the 1990's, it ran to disappointing box-office crowds and it appeared the franchise was in decline. In 1993 he came back with Cliffhanger and Demolition Man, both of which did well. His role in the 1995 Judge Dredd did well, but was an expensive film and barely made back what they spent on it. He rounded out the 1990's with Assassins, Daylight, and Cop Land, all of which made an average amount. He also did voice overs for the animated movie Antz in 1998.

Most of his roles in the early 2000's were poorly received. Get Carter, Driven, Avenging Angelo, and D-Tox were just a few of his films that saw his career begin to decline. In 2006, he returned to the Rocky franchise with Rocky Balboa, and fans loved it. Stallone wrote, directed, and starred in the role as retired boxer Rocky Balboa who takes on a young woman as his protege. His 2008 Rambo movie was also a success, portraying an aged John Rambo who finds himself besieged by society once more. In 2009, he wrote, directed, and starred in The Expendables, an ensemble cast of action heroes that did incredibly well at theaters. Expendables 2 was released in 2012 and did equally as well. To his delight, he also was able to pen the script for Rocky for a theatre musical.

Since then, he has had his share of hits and misses. Some of his more memorable shows include Escape Plan, The Expendables 3, Creed, Escape Plan 2, Escape Plan 3, and Creed II. Rambo: Last Blood was released in 2018 and was a very successful film. He continues to work on projects, including lending his voice to animated films as well as for video games.

He has also had other ventures that were non-film related. At one point, he began his own boxing company and signed several solid boxers. He has partnered with a beverage company to produce Sly Water. He was voted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in the non-participant category.

In his personal life, he has been married three times:

  • <private first wife> (married 1974 - divorced 1985) - two sons together.
  • <private third wife> (married 1997) - three daughters together.

Sources

  1. Wikipedia:Sylvester_Stallone

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Abby

posted by Abby (Brown) Glann

Acadian heritage connections: Sylvester is 24 degrees from Beyoncé Knowles, 25 degrees from Jean Béliveau, 25 degrees from Madonna Ciccone, 25 degrees from Rhéal Cormier, 24 degrees from Joseph Drouin, 26 degrees from Jack Kerouac, 24 degrees from Anne Murray, 26 degrees from Matt LeBlanc, 24 degrees from Roméo LeBlanc, 24 degrees from Azilda Marchand, 25 degrees from Marie Travers and 25 degrees from Clarence White on our single family tree. Login to see how you relate to 33 million family members.