Birthplace: New York, NY
Occupations: Actor, Director, Writer, Producer
Quote: "See, lately--I don't know why--action movies have become like the movie business's equivalent of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Just as Quasimodo was the ugly duckling in literature, action films have become the sore spot for critics. In the old days, people talked about biblical scenarios of action films. The bible is action-packed. The Koran is action-packed. Even Buddha had a few moments of suspense in his life. Yet, when we make action movies now, we're considering moneymaking machines with no esoteric worth, and that's not true at all. There's a lot of artistry that goes into what we do. I tend to think of action movies as exuberant morality plays in which good triumphs over evil." --Interview magazine, July 1995
Claim to Fame: Rocky star
Significant Other(s):
Wife: Sasha Czack; married December 28, 1974; divorced 1985
Wife: Brigitte Nielsen, actress, model; married December 15, 1985 in Beverly Hills, California; divorced 1987
Angie Everhart, model; engaged April 1995; relationship ended June 1995
Wife: Jennifer Flavin, model; together 1993-95; resumed relationship later in 1995; announced engagement January 1996; married May 1997
Family:
Father: Frank, hairdresser; parents divorced when Sylvester was 10; Sicilian immigrant
Mother: Jacqueline (née Labofish), astrologer, self-proclaimed "rumpologist" (as of 1999): gives psychic readings of the buttock prints of celebrities; born 1931
Brother: Frank, actor, singer
Son: Sage; born May 5, 1976; made film debut in Rocky V(1990)
Son: Seth (aka Seargogh)
Daughter: Sophia Rose; born August 27, 1996 in South Beach, Florida; born with a hole in her heart; underwent surgery November 1996 to correct problem
Daughter: Sistine Rose; born June 27, 1998; mother, Jennifer Flavin
Biography
This stoic Italian-American actor with an awesomely sculpted physique gained overnight stardom as the writer and star of the Oscar-winning sleeper of 1976, "Rocky". Stallone's early acting credits include a part in the nude play "Score" and in a semi-pornographic film (since retitled "The Italian Stallion" 1971), and a role as one of the thugs who harasses Woody Allen on the subway in "Bananas" (1971). Stallone subsequently landed parts in other legitimate feature films, but his career only began flying high when he took matters into his own hands and wrote "Rocky". Though he sold the screenplay for a relatively small sum, Stallone was compensated in the form of percentage points and, more significantly, in trading a larger fee for his script for being cast in the title role. The film was nominated for 10 Oscars (and won Best Picture) and earned nearly $120 million at the boxoffice. He made his directing debut with the flawed, but watchable, "Paradise Alley" (1978), and has written a number of his subsequent vehicles, on occasion even singing a song for the soundtracks. With the possible exception of "Night Hawks" (1981), which he neither wrote, produced nor directed, Stallone has not been involved with a film as rich and refreshing as his breakthrough. To date, he has reprised the role of Rocky in four sequels. For years Stallone's only other major box-office successes have been the sequels to "First Blood" (1982) where he premiered the role of gung-ho Vietnam War hero John Rambo. His "Rambo" films, like the "Rocky" franchise, steadily declined in quality, while reflecting, contributing to and cashing in on the increasingly conservative political and social climate of the 1980s. Stallone unsuccessfully attempted to break into comedy with the John Landis-directed "Oscar" (1991). As mobster Angelo 'Snaps' Provolone, he gets caught up in a case of mistaken identity. The film demonstrated that the deadpan flair Stallone displayed with one-liners in actioners like "Tango and Cash" (1989) and "Cobra" (1986) did not readily translate to full-blown comedy. Hoping to create a successful genre hybrid in the manner of his Planet Hollywood business partners Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis, he again tried lighter fare with the action-comedy "Stop! or My Mom Will Shoot" (1992), but this effort met a cool reception at the box office. Stallone made a profitable return to action fare with two 1993 hits: the mountain-climbing adventure "Cliffhanger", which he co-wrote, and the satirical futuristic fightfest "Demolition Man". Paired with Sharon Stone, he continued on the hit parade with "The Specialist" (1994), a pyrotechnical thriller that did moderate business stateside but went over like gangbusters overseas. His $75 million sci-fi comic-book movie "Judge Dredd" (1995), however, crashed and burned at the domestic box office as did "Assassins" (also 1995), which teamed him with Antonio Banderas. He followed up with the actioner "Daylight" (1996), for which he earned a reported $17.5 million as an emergency worker who must rescue people trapped in NYC's Holland Tunnel. Stallone surprised many by forgoing his usual salary and signing to co-star with Robert De Niro and an all-star cast in James Mangold's modestly budgeted ($15 million) independent film "Cop Land" (1997). In the latter, Stallone played a hearing-impaired New Jersey lawman who must investigate possible police corruption. Stallone was formerly married to actress Brigitte Nielsen (1985-87). His brother Frank Stallone is a singer-songwriter-actor who has worked on and/or appeared in a number of his brother's films, and was well cast as the belligerent bartender in "Barfly" (1986).
Filmography
"A Party at Kitty and Stud's" (reissued as "The Italian Stallion") (1970)
"Bananas" (1971)
"The Lords of Flatbush" (1974)
"Capone" (1975)
"Death Race 2000" (1975)
"Farewell, My Lovely" (1975)
"No Place to Hide" (1975)
"The Prisoner of Second Avenue" (1975)
"Cannonball" (1976)
"Rocky" (1976) (Oscar nominations, best actor and best screenplay)
"F.I.S.T." (1978)
"Paradise Alley" (1978)
"Rocky II" (1979)
"Victory" (1981)
"Nighthawks" (1981)
"First Blood" (1982)
"Rocky III" (1982)
"Rhinestone" (1984)
"Rambo: First Blood, Part II" (1985)
"Rocky IV" (1985)
"Cobra" (1986)
"Over the Top" (1987)
"Rambo III" (1988)
"Lock Up" (1989)
"Tango and Cash" (1989)
"Rocky V" (1990)
"Oscar" (1991)
"Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot" (1992)
"Cliffhanger" (1993)
"Demolition Man" (1993)
"The Specialist" (1994)
"Judge Dredd" (1995)
"Assassins" (1995)
"Daylight" (1996)
"Cop Land" (1997)
"Antz" (1998) (voice)
"Get Carter" (2000)
"Driven" (2001)
Awards:
1976: David di Donatello Prize: Best Foreign Actor, Rocky
1992: Honorary Cesar (French equivalent of an Oscar)
Factoids:
1991: Stallone received a special achievement award from the National Italian American Foundation
1992: He was named an Officer of the French Order of Arts and Letters
Education:
University of Miami (1967-69); majored in drama; did not graduate
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