Sylvester Stallone

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SylStallone Last Updated: 10/15/25
Real Name: Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone
Born: July 6, 1946
Height: 5' 6"

Grade: A+
Actor/Movie Star: 50%-50%
Prime Years: 1974, 1976, 1978-79, 1981-82, 1985-91, 1993, and 1995-97
Most Famous Film: Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)
Most Infamous Film: Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot (1992)
Masterpiece: Rocky (1976), Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985), and Cobra (1986)
Outstanding: Rocky II (1979), First Blood (1982), Rocky IV (1985), Over the Top (1987), Lock Up (1989), Rocky V (1990), Cliffhanger (1993), Assassins (1995), and Cop Land (1997)
Honorable: Nighthawks (1981), Victory (1981), Rambo III (1988), Tango & Cash (1989), Demolition Man (1993), and Daylight (1996)

Opinion: Where would cinema be without Sylvester Stallone? The greatest action star ever, he's a creative genius on top of writing unique screenplays and rarely gets credit for his output of so many Stallone classics. They're all 100% rewatchable. I will always choose Sylvester Stallone over Arnold Schwarzenegger any time of the day but not when it comes to The Terminator and Predator.

Confirmed: Born in New York City with a partially paralyzed face on the left side (caused by forceps which hit a nerve) and a speech impediment to an Italian father and an Ukrainian Jewish mother. His brother Frank was born four years after. Father worked as a hairdresser and had his own salon and would beat both of his sons at home. Mother sold cigarettes at nightclubs and later worked as a professional wrestling promoter for women and had her own gym. Both divorced in 1957.

Was bullied during childhood and got called dumb by everybody including his parents. Would break his own bones by doing stupid things and did crimes on the side. Moved around a lot and ultimately settled in Philadelphia. At age 13, got inspired to take up bodybuilding by watching Steve Reeves in Hercules Unchained. Bought a dictionary and learned a new word per day. Was unanimously voted "Student Most Likely to End Up in the Electric Chair."

Attended at American College of Switzerland for a couple of years because it was the only school that would take anyone. It's around this time that you could almost catch a glimpse of him in Downhill Racer starring Robert Redford. Decided to read serious books. One day, was cast in the play for Death of a Salesman and caught the acting bug. Afterwards, attended the University of Miami but did not graduate (it eventually granted him a bachelor's in drama).

During the late 60's, performed in the only play by Pablo Picasso that was horribly written. Appeared in a porn film called Party at Kitty and Stud's. Around this time, worked at the Central Park Zoo for a month, cleaning up after the lions. Worked on a lot of odd jobs throughout the lean years. Was inspired by Easy Rider to become a screenwriter, feeling he could do better than that, and proceeded to write a lot of rubbish that never got sold. However, one of them was Rocky in a rudimentary format.

Set off a long-running feud with Richard Gere during the making of Lord's of the Flatbush by elbowing him in the head for spilling mustard on his leg (as a matter of fact, Sylvester Stallone never started the rumor about a gerbil up Richard Gere's ass). That film would become an audition tape to prove that he could be the leading man in Rocky even though the producers were looking at Perry King instead and felt enthusiastic.

In 1975, witnessed a boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Chuck Wepner, forcing him to make the script for Rocky much more polished. Was reluctantly green-lit to star as Rocky Balboa for a paltry $1 million budget. Trained himself in shape and ran a lot to the point of getting up at 4 AM, and most of the stuff in the film was autobiographical with Cuff and Link and Butkus being his pets. After the film was cut, United Artists had no hope, refusing to submit it to the Cannes Film Festival. Yet Rocky scored so well with the audience, becoming a smash hit and winning Best Picture with two Oscar nominations going to Stallone for Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay. That's when he became an overnight star.

Had a rivalry with Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Rumors: None.