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Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone (born July 6, 1946) is an Academy Award-nominated American actor, director, producer and screenwriter. One of the biggest box office draws in the world from the '70s to the early '90s, Stallone is an international icon of machismo and Hollywood action heroism. He created two characters who have become a part of the American cultural lexicon: Rocky Balboa, the boxer who overcame all odds to become a champion, and John Rambo, a sensitive soldier who specialized in violent rescues and revenge. One of the biggest box office draws in the world from the 1970s through the early 1990s, actor, writer, director and producer Sylvester Stallone combined sheer physical brawn with a touch of vulnerability in two major movie franchises – the Academy Award-winning “Rocky” (1976) and its five sequels, as well as the jingoistic, ultra-violent “Rambo” quartet (1981-2008). Frequently reviled by critics and pundits for his acting and movie choices, Stallone persevered through several major career eclipses, only to come back, much like Rocky Balboa, time and time again as the pop cultural icon that he most definitely was. During the 1980s, he enjoyed phenomenal popularity and was one of the biggest movie stars in the world with the Rocky and Rambo franchises. Stallone's culturally influential films changed pop culture history and he has largely enjoyed a career on the Hollywood A list for over 30 years. He is considered by many (including the mayor of Philadelphia) as the one who made the city of Philadelphia an international tourist attraction with the Rocky Steps. His immense popularity there has led to a statue of his Rocky character being placed permanently near the Philadelphia Museum of Art as a cultural landmark. On August 2007, a statue of Rocky was also erected in the Serbian village of Zitiste. Stallone's film Rocky has also been inducted into the National Film Registry as well as having its film props placed in the Smithsonian Museum. Stallone was born in New York City, the son of Jaci Stallone (née Jacqueline Labofish), an astrologer, former dancer and promoter of women's wrestling, and Frank Stallone, Sr., a hairdresser. Birth complications caused partial paralysis in parts of Stallone's face, resulting in his signature slurred speech and drooping lower lip. Stallone's father was an immigrant from Aci Trezza (in Catania, Sicily, Italy). Stallone grew up in Northeast Philadelphia and attended Lincoln High School, whose band plays at the dedication of the Rocky statue in Rocky III. He later attended a private boarding school, The Glenholme School, in Washington, Connecticut. In the 1960s, Stallone attended the American College of Switzerland in Leysin, and the University of Miami for three years. He came within a few credit hours of graduation before he decided to drop out and pursue an acting career. After Stallone's request that his acting and life experiences be accepted in exchange for his remaining credits, he was granted a Bachelors of Fine Arts (BFA) degree by the President of the University of Miami in 1999. Other famous members in Stallone's family are his brother, actor/singer Frank Stallone and his mother, Jackie Stallone, who achieved notoriety in the middle 1990s as an astrologist and as a professional wrestler. Stallone's pet Bullmastiff, Butkus, appeared in both Rocky And Rocky II as an often-teased favorite pet of Balboa's who lived in Adrian's pet shop. Stallone has been married three times, to Sasha Czack (1974–1985), Brigitte Nielsen (1985–1987), and Jennifer Flavin (1997— ). He has five children, sons Sage Moonblood and Seargeoh, who is autistic (with Czack, born 1976 and 1979 respectively), and daughters Sophia Rose, Sistine Rose and Scarlet Rose (with Flavin, born 1996, 1998, 2002 respectively). He and Flavin, an Irish-American, were married at Winston Churchill's birthplace, Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, England. In addition to these marriages, he has had romantic relationships with models Susan Anton, Angie Everhart, Naomi Campbell, and Janice Dickinson. Stallone claims to have been able to bench press 385-400 lbs (174.6-181.4 kg) and squat 500 lbs (226.8 kg) in his prime. While in a bench pressing contest with former Mr. Olympia Franco Columbu, he severely tore his pectoral muscle and needed over 160 stitches on it. This is why one half of his chest is more vascular than the other. On January 14, 2007, Stallone was at Goodison Park to promote Rocky Balboa, and to watch Everton take on Reading in an English Premier League game. The match ended as a 1–1 draw. Stallone paraded on the field at half time adorned in a home team scarf and received a warm reception from the 40,000 fans. Stallone has claimed to be a keen soccer fan since filming Escape to Victory in the 1980s and now claims to be an official Everton fan. In July 2007, Stallone had a tattoo done by world renowned tattoo artist Mike Devries on his upper right arm of a portrait of his wife, Jennifer Flavin. Incorporated into the tattoo is three roses for their three girls that have Rose for middle names. The tattoo took about 14 hours and isn't finished, it will be expanded onto Stallone's chest a bit. In a Fox News interview that ran on January 24, 2008, Stallone said he currently supports John McCain for the 2008 Republican US presidential nomination, and he is also friends with the governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Stallone recently appeared on Larry King's television show, where he took part in an IQ test, scoring over 130. Born Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone in Hell’s Kitchen, NY on July 6, 1946, his first moments set the tone for a challenging life: an accident during his forceps delivery severed a nerve in his face, which resulted in his trademark slurred speech and drooping facial features. Stallone’s parents, Jacqueline Labofish – who would later achieve pseudo-celebrity in the 1980s as a wrestling promoter and astrologer – and Frank Stallone Sr. had a combative relationship, leading young Sly to spend several years in foster homes. He eventually returned to his family – which included younger brother Frank – in Maryland, but the marriage soon dissolved, leaving Stallone to relocate with his mother to her new husband’s hometown of Philadelphia, PA. His time there was marked by frequent expulsions from schools and bouts with loneliness and anger. By the time he landed in a school for troubled youth, he was named “Most Likely to End Up in the Electric Chair” by his classmates. Sports and exercise provided his sole positive outlet. Poor grades restricted Stallone’s choices for higher education, so he ended up spending a stint in beauty school before attending the American College in Switzerland, where drama courses gave him a new direction. He returned to the United States in 1967 and studied drama at the University of Miami, but departed for New York to find work just two years later – and three credits shy of a degree. His speech impediment made it difficult for him to find substantial work, but his brawny physique ensured him of a certain type of role – he was a randy telephone repairman in the bawdy off-Broadway play “Score” (1971) and appeared nude in a softcore grindhouse feature called “Party at Kitty and Studs” (1970), which was revived in the mid-70s after he rose to fame with “Rocky.” Minor parts in Hollywood features like Woody Allen’s “Bananas” (1971) and “The Prisoner of Second Avenue” (1975) eventually came his way, but these too were based entirely on his physical presence, and more often than not, he lost opportunities –including a role in “The Godfather” (1972) – for being too brawny. Frustrated with the lack of opportunity, Stallone headed for Los Angeles, where he intended to make his own way by writing scripts for himself. Stallone had his first starring role in the softcore feature film Party at Kitty and Stud's (1970), which was later re-released as Italian Stallion (the title taken from Stallone's nickname and a line from the film) and Cocky. He was paid US$200 for two days work. An "uncut" version of the film was released in 2007, purporting to show actual hardcore footage of Stallone, but according to trade journal AVN the hardcore scenes were inserts not involving the actor. In 2008, scenes from Party at Kitty and Stud's surfaced in a German version of Roger Colmont's hardcore-film White Fire (1976). Stallone also starred in the erotic off-Broadway stage play Score which ran for 23 performances at the Martinique Theatre from October 28 - November 15, 1971 and was later made into a film by Radley Metzger. Stallone's other first few film roles were minor, and included brief uncredited appearances in Woody Allen's Bananas (1971) as a subway thug, in the psychological thriller Klute (1971) as an extra dancing in a club, and in the Jack Lemmon vehicle The Prisoner Of Second Avenue (1975) as a youth. In the Lemmon film, Jack Lemmon chases, tackles and mugs Stallone, thinking that Stallone's character is a pickpocket. He had his second starring role in the cult hit The Lords of Flatbush (1974). In 1975, he played supporting roles in Farewell, My Lovely, Capone and, another cult hit, Death Race 2000. He also made guest appearances on the TV series Police Story and Kojak. His fortunes increased somewhat after the move. Roger Corman offered him his most substantial roles to date in “Capone” (1975), starring as murderous Depression Era gangster Frank Nitti, and “Death Race 2000” (1975), in which he played a futuristic racecar driver with a chip on his shoulder. He also sold his first screenplay, a coming-of-age drama called “The Lords of Flatbush” (1974), in which he co-starred with fellow up-and-comers Henry Winkler, Perry King, and Armand Assante. In 1975, he witnessed the epic boxing match between underdog Chuck “The Bayonne Bleeder” Wepner and heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali. Wepner’s determination in the face of his superior opponent struck a chord with Stallone, who went home and penned the script for a feature about a good-natured club fighter named Rocky Balboa who gets a shot at the heavyweight title. The script fell into the hands of producers Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff, whose attention Stallone had caught with the script for another project titled “Paradise Alley.” Both producers wanted the film, but initially balked on Stallone’s request to play the title role. After some deliberation and script changes – including a more upbeat ending – both agreed that the film’s low budget could allow for a relative unknown to play the lead. The result was one of the most invigorating and popular features of the 1970s – a rags-to-riches story enlivened by some of the most realistic boxing footage ever captured on film, as well as Stallone’s unexpectedly funny and tender turn as Rocky – the “Italian Stallion.” The shot of Rocky charging triumphantly up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art to the strains of composer Bill Conti’s “Gonna Fly Now” score became in and of itself, one of the most iconic scenes in Hollywood history. Directed ably by John Avildsen, “Rocky” went on to gross over $117 million dollars and net three Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Film Editing. Stallone himself was nominated for two Oscars – Actor and Screenplay – and his Hollywood career was effectively launched quite famously at age 30. Stallone made his directorial debut with “Paradise Alley” (1978), a period drama about three Hell’s Kitchen brothers – Stallone, Assante and Kevin Conway – who get involved with professional wrestling. He then penned and starred in “F.I.S.T. (1978), a drama about a laborer who becomes involved in union organization. Neither proved as big a hit as “Rocky” – though few films could, such was the cultural impact of part I of the Balboa saga – so the inevitable sequel was set for 1979. “Rocky II” rematched Balboa with Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers), the Muhammad Ali stand-in he battled in the first film. Not only did Stallone write this film; he also directed the picture, which, not surprisingly, earned a heavy payday from moviegoers – proving almost as popular as the first. The film also established Stallone’s routine of returning to his best-loved characters after experiencing a bout of flops. Stallone did not gain world-wide fame until his starring role in the smash hit Rocky (1976). The film was awarded with the 1976 Academy Award for Best Picture. On March 24, 1975, Stallone saw the Ali-Chuck Wepner fight which inspired the foundation idea of Rocky. That night Stallone went home, and in three days he had written the script for Rocky. After that, he tried to sell the script with the intention of playing the lead role. Robert Chartoff and Irwin Winkler in particular liked the script (which was suggested by Stallone after a casting), and planned on courting a star like Burt Reynolds or James Caan for the lead role. The final result was an unequalled success; Rocky was nominated for ten Academy Awards in all, including Best Actor for Stallone himself. Stallone was a American POW in World War II who participates in a soccer match against his Nazi captors in John Huston’s cult favorite “Victory” (1981), and donned a beard and glasses to play a cop on the trail of a terrorist (Rutger Hauer) for the underrated “Nighthawks” (1981) – the latter of which suffered cuts at the hands of its studio and underperformed at the box office. But in 1982, he rose to the top of the box office yet again with a second frachise-in-the-making: “First Blood,” an action-packed drama about troubled Vietnam vet John Rambo, who tangles with a small town police force. The film, directed by Ted Kotcheff, dampened the dark tone and downbeat ending of David Morrell’s novel – which saw Rambo commit suicide after his rampage – giving Stallone one of his biggest hits since the “Rocky” films. It also (unintentionally) served as a touchstone for conservatives such as then-President Ronald Reagan, who admitted his fondness for the violent picture. The sequel Rocky II which Stallone had also written and directed was released in 1979 and also became a major success, grossing US$200 million worldwide. Apart from the Rocky films, Stallone did many other films in the late 1970s and early 1980s which were critically acclaimed but were not successful at the box office. He received critical praise for films such as F.I.S.T. (1978), a social, epic styled drama in which he plays a warehouse worker who becomes involved in the labor union leadership and Paradise Alley (1978), a family drama in which he plays one of three brothers who is a con artist and who helps his other brother who is involved in wrestling. In the early 1980s he starred alongside British veteran Michael Caine in Escape to Victory (1981), a sports drama in which he plays a prisoner of war involved in a Nazi propaganda football (soccer) tournament. Stallone then made the action thriller film Nighthawks (1981), in which he plays a New York city cop who plays a cat and mouse game with a foreign terrorist, played by Rutger Hauer. Stallone had another major franchise success as Vietnam veteran John Rambo in the action adventure film First Blood (1982). The first instalment of Rambo was both a critical and box office success. The critics praised Stallone's performance, saying he made Rambo seem human as opposed to the way he is portrayed in the book of the same name, First Blood and in the other films. Two Rambo sequels Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) and Rambo III (1988) followed. Although box office hits, they met with much less critical praise than the original. He also continued his box office success with the Rocky franchise and wrote, directed and starred in two more sequels to the series: Rocky III (1982) and Rocky IV (1985). It was during this time period that Stallone's cultivated a strong overseas following. He also attempted, albeit unsuccessfully, roles in different genres when he wrote and starred in the comedy film Rhinestone (1984) where he played a wannabe country music singer and the drama film Over the Top (1987) where he played a truck driver who enters an arm wrestling competition to impress his estranged son. These films did not do well at the box office and were poorly received by critics. The action films Cobra (1986) and Tango and Cash (1989) did solid business domestically but overseas they did blockbuster business grossing over 100 million dollars foreign and over 160 million worldwide. The Rocky and Rambo franchises at the end of the decade were billion dollar franchises internationally. Stallone followed this with another huge hit, “Rocky III” (1982), which pitted the boxer against the brutal Clubber Lang (Mr. T). Though the latest sequel took Rocky even further from his humble roots, audiences still flocked to see the underdog story and the stellar boxing sequences. However, Stallone stumbled mightily with “Staying Alive” (1983), his sequel to “Saturday Night Fever” (1977). Despite a healthy box office take – John Travolta’s last for awhile – Stallone’s turn as director, producer and writer of the overtly cheesy musical – complete with a fur-clad Stallone street cameo and the casting of brother Frank as Travolta’s competition for a lady’s affections – was lambasted by critics. Even more maligned was his next film, the ill-advised musical comedy “Rhinestone,” which saw Stallone singing with Dolly Parton. In the first of several bad career choices, Stallone reportedly turned down the starring roles in “Beverly Hills Cop” (1983) and “Romancing the Stone” (1984) to star in his major flop. With two back-to-back disasters on his plate, Stallone retreated to familiar territory for his next projects. “Rocky IV” (1985) tapped heavily into the then-current flag-waving political rhetoric for his match between Balboa and a robotic Soviet fighter (Dolph Lundgren). Despite its not-so-subtle flash, the film was the highest grossing entry in the “Rocky” series then to date, earning some $127 million at the box office. The film also served as the launching point for Stallone’s relationship with Danish model and actress Brigitte Nielsen, who appeared as Lundgren’s Russian love interest. After marrying Sasha Czack in 1974 and raising two sons – Sage, who appeared as Rocky’s son Robert in “Rocky IV” and later became a filmmaker and exhibitor; Seargeoh, who was autistic – Stallone filed for divorce and wed the over-the-top Nielsen. Their two-year relationship was covered to dizzying extremes until an abrupt and ugly divorce in 1987. Stallone also revived John Rambo for the ultra-violent “Rambo: First Blood Part II” (1985), which sent the vet back to Vietnam to rescue POWs. Critics blasted the picture for its conservative tone and staggering violence, but it was the second most popular film of the year and a massive hit worldwide. During this period, Stallone also served as executive producer on the TV-movie biopic “Heart of a Champion: The Ray Mancini Story” (1985) and advised the project’s numerous boxing scenes. It was, indeed, his biggest year since his bicentennial breakout in 1976. The year 1986 marked the beginning of Stallone’s long, cartoonish and critically reviled tenure as an action hero – a status solidified by his participation in the overblown Planet Hollywood restaurant chain, which he co-founded with fellow defenders of cinematic liberty, Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger in 1991. “Cobra” (his second and final feature with Nielsen) was a tasteless and thick-skulled crime pic with Stallone as a taciturn cop hunting axe-wielding serial killers. It scored well among moviegoers, but “Over The Top” (1987), with Stallone as a competitive arm wrestler, and “Tango and Cash” (1989), with Stallone and Kurt Russell as odd-couple cops fighting drug dealers, yielded mediocre returns and much unintended laughter. He returned for a third time as John Rambo in “Rambo III” (1988), which dispatched the homicidal hero to Afghanistan to fight the occupying Soviet Army. The picture, which earned a place in the record books as the film with the most violent acts and on-screen deaths in history, performed poorly at American box offices, but earned massive returns worldwide. A sea change was required for Stallone’s career in the late 1980s, but his next few projects only extended his losing streak. “Lock Up” (1988), with Stallone as a falsely accused prisoner victimized by a sadistic warden (Donald Sutherland), was an attempt to return to his underdog persona, but found few ticket buyers. Even the revival of Rocky Balboa in “Rocky V” (1990), with John G. Avildsen back in the director’s chair and Stallone as screenwriter, couldn’t muster a respectable profit. And a likable attempt at comedy with John Landis’ screwball comedy “Oscar” (1991) tanked miserably. The nadir of Stallone’s film career came just one year later with “Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot” (1992) – a ghastly action comedy with a pistol-packing Estelle Getty as Stallone’s interfering mom. The Golden Rasberry Awards showered upon the film only solidified the notion that Stallone’s career was stuck in neutral, or fixed in a downward spiral. But like so many times before, Stallone came back from behind with two major hits in 1993. “Cliffhanger,” by rising action director Renny Harlin, saw Stallone as a spooked mountain climber blackmailed into aiding criminals (led by an over-the-top John Lithgow) in recovering stolen treasury money. The film, which featured breathtaking scenery and stunt work, was a massive summer hit, and was soon followed by “Demolition Man” (1993), with Stallone as a 20th century cop awakened from a cryogenic prison to hunt super criminal Wesley Snipes. Filled with softball pokes at political correctness and Stallone’s own “dinosaur” status, the film also scored mightily in the fall of 1993. With the then recent success of Lock Up and Tango and Cash, at the start of the 1990s Stallone starred in the fifth installment of the Rocky franchise Rocky V which was considered a box office disappointment and was also disliked by fans as an unworthy entry in the series. It was intended to have been the last instalment in the franchise at the time. After starring in the critical and commercial failures Oscar (1991) and Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot (1992) during the early 90s, he made a major comeback in 1993 with the blockbuster hit Cliffhanger which became an enormously successful film grossing over US$255 million worldwide. Later that year he enjoyed another hit with the futuristic action film Demolition Man which grossed in excess of $158 million worldwide. His string of hits continued with 1994's The Specialist (over $170 million worldwide gross). In 1995 he played the comic book based title character Judge Dredd who was taken from the popular British comic book 2000 AD in the film of the same name. His overseas box office appeal saved the domestic box office disappointment of Judge Dredd with a worldwide tally of $113 million. He also appeared in the thriller Assassins (1995) with co stars Julianne Moore and Antonio Banderas. In 1996 he starred in the disaster movie Daylight which made only $33 million in the U.S but was a major hit overseas taking in over $126 million, totalling $159,212,469 worldwide. That same year Stallone, along with an all-star cast of celebrities, appeared in the Trey Parker and Matt Stone short comedy film Your Studio and You commissioned by the Seagram Company for a party celebrating their acquisition of Universal Studios and the MCA Corporation. Stallone speaks in his Rocky Balboa voice with subtitles translating what he was saying. At one point, Stallone starts yelling about how can they use his Balboa character, that he left it in the past; the narrator calms him with a wine cooler and calling him, "brainiac." In response, Stallone says, "Thank you very much." He then looks at the wine cooler and exclaims, "Fucking cheap studio!" Flush with his latest bout of success, Stallone embarked on a string of high-profile action projects, including “The Specialist” (1994), a glossy action thriller with Sharon Stone and James Woods; “Assassins” (1995) with Antonio Banderas; “Judge Dredd” (1995), a live action version of the popular British graphic novel “2000 AD;” and “Daylight” (1996), a likable if busy disaster thriller. All save “Dredd” experienced anemic ticket sales, and each was picked over with increasing relish by Stallone’s growing legion of naysayers. In fact, Stallone’s paternity case with model Janice Dickinson, whom she had named as the father of her child, earned him more press than his films (Stallone was later cleared of the charge). A change of pace was clearly in need, and Stallone found it in “Cop Land” (1997), a gritty police drama from director James Mangold who would later score big with the Johnny Cash biopic, “Walk the Line” (2005). For his role as a slow-moving, partially deaf suburban sheriff who confronts a police corruption scandal, Stallone gained considerable weight and gave one of his most soulful performances since “Rocky.” Critics responded with some of his best reviews to date, and the picture – which pitted Stallone against such acting heavyweights as Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel, and Ray Liotta – performed respectably for an indie film. Stallone also took home the Best Actor Award from the Stockholm Film Festival. In 1997, Stallone married Irish model Jennifer Flavin and settled into second fatherhood with three daughters (born in 1996, 1998, and 2002). At 51, Stallone’s film career was at a crossroads – his greatest successes lay with two roles, both of which he was growing too old to play – at least, according to industry pundits. His dream project, a biography of novelist and poet Edgar Allan Poe, was stagnant, and his standing among critics had improved only slightly after “Cop Land.” Nevertheless, Stallone soldiered on with a film career. He lent his voice to DreamWorks’ animated comedy “Antz” (1998), also featuring Woody Allen, Sharon Stone, and Gene Hackman, which scored well despite the popularity of the similar “A Bug’s Life” (1998) from Pixar. But offbeat choices like this were few and far between, and Stallone was soon back in the action trenches for a string of failures, including an ill-advised remake of “Get Carter” (2000) and the racing drama “Driven” (2001). By the beginning of the new millennium, Stallone’s films were not even receiving theatrical releases – “D-Tox” (a.k.a. “Eye See You;” 2002), the mob thriller “Avenging Angelo” (2002) and “Shade” (2003) were shipped directly to cable and home video. Following his breakthrough performance in Rocky, critic Roger Ebert had once said Stallone could become the next Marlon Brando, though he never quite recaptured the critical acclaim achieved with Rocky. Stallone did, however, go on to receive much acclaim for his role in the crime drama Cop Land (1997) in which he starred alongside Robert De Niro and Ray Liotta, but the film was only a minor success at the box office. His performance led him to win the Stockholm International Film Festival Best Actor Award. In 1998 he did voice-over work for the computer-animated film Antz, which grossed over 90 million domestically. As the new millennium began, Stallone starred in the thriller Get Carter — a remake of the 1971 British Michael Caine film of the same name—but the film was poorly received by both critics and audiences. Stallone's career declined considerably after his subsequent films Driven (2001), Avenging Angelo (2002) and D-Tox (2002) also failed to do well at the box office and were poorly received by critics. In 2003, he played a villainous role in the third instalment of the Spy Kids trilogy Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over which was a huge box office success (almost 200 million worldwide). Stallone also had a cameo appearance in the 2003 French film Taxi 3 as a passenger. Following several poorly reviewed box office flops, Stallone started to regain prominence for his supporting role in the neo-noir crime drama Shade (2003) which was a box office failure but was praised by critics. He was also attached to star and direct a film about the murder of rappers Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls, entitled Notorious, but the film was shelved due to legal issues. In 2005, he was the co-presenter alongside Sugar Ray Leonard of the NBC Reality television boxing series The Contender. That same year he also made a guest appearance in two episodes of the television series Las Vegas. In 2005, Stallone also inducted wrestling icon Hulk Hogan, who appeared in Rocky III as a wrestler named Thunderlips, into the WWE Hall of Fame; Stallone was also the person who offered Hogan the cameo in Rocky III. Stallone caught a break in 2005 courtesy of director Robert Rodriguez, who cast him as the mischievous villain The Toymaker in “Spy Kids 3–D: Game Over,” which proved a monster hit among younger viewers. He also returned to television for the first time since the mid-1980s with two appearances on the show “Las Vegas” (NBC, 2005- ) and as the executive producer and co-host of “The Contender” (NBC/ESPN, 2005-07), a reality show about aspiring boxers. However, the expense of the series and middling ratings forced it off the air in 2005, but it returned in 2006 on the sports network ESPN. The show was marred by controversy when one of its contestants committed suicide during the first season. That same year, Stallone ventured into publishing as the editorial director of the men’s magazine Sly and author of the book Sly Moves, which discussed his personal life and fitness routines. The following year, Stallone revived the role that made him a star with “Rocky Balboa” (2006) – a surprise to critics and audiences alike with its heartfelt storyline and winning performance by the 60-year-old Stallone, who further impressed viewers by exchanging real punches with professional boxer Antonio Tarver, who played his opponent. The picture went on to become Stallone’s biggest success since “Cliffhanger” and the sixth most successful boxing movie in film history (after the first four “Rocky” titles and 2005’s “Million Dollar Baby”). Once again, Stallone had risen from the ashes of his career to settle as close to the top as he had been in years. In 2007, Stallone garnered controversy for his conviction for smuggling growth hormones into Australia while promoting “Rocky Balboa.” He plead guilty to the charges and was fined nearly $10,000. That same year, Stallone went into production as writer, director, producer and star of “Rambo” (2008), the fourth entry in the violent film series. In interviews, he indicated that this might not be the last of the character’s adventures. Stallone also began pre-production work on his long-gestating Poe bioflick as well as “Notorious” (2008), a look at the murders of hip-hop superstars Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls from the perspective of a Los Angeles police detective (Stallone). After a few years hiatus from films, Stallone made a comeback in 2006 with the sixth and final installment of his successful Rocky series; Rocky Balboa, which was both a critical and commercial hit. After the critical and box office failure of the previous and presumed last installment Rocky V, Stallone had decided to end the series with a sixth installment which would be a more appropriate climax to the series. The total domestic box office gross came to a close with US$70.3 million (and US$155.3 million worldwide), almost three times its production budget. His performance in Rocky Balboa has been praised and garnered mostly positive reviews. Stallone's newest release is the fourth installment of his other successful movie franchise, Rambo, with the sequel being titled simply Rambo. The film opened in 2,751 theaters on January 25, 2008, grossing $6,490,000 on its opening day and $18,200,000 over its opening weekend. Its current box office stands at $42,653,401 in the US and $101,220,852 worldwide. Asked in February 2008 which of the icons he would rather be remembered for, Stallone said "it's a tough one, but Rocky is my first baby, so Rocky." He has signed a contract with Nu Image Films for two action movies (one of which could be another 'Rambo'). The Death Wish remake is still supposed to be his next film, as reported by Empire Magazine, followed by a rumoured fifth Rambo film. Stallone's début as a director came in 1978 with Paradise Alley, which he also wrote and starred in. In addition, he directed Staying Alive (the sequel to Saturday Night Fever), along with Rocky II, Rocky III, Rocky IV, Rocky Balboa, and Rambo. In August 2005, Stallone released his book Sly Moves which claimed to be a guide to fitness and nutrition as well as a candid insight into his life and works from his own perspective. The book also contained many photographs of Stallone throughout the years as well as pictures of him performing exercises. On February 16, 2007, Stallone flew into Sydney, Australia as part of his promotional tour for Rocky Balboa. Upon landing he was searched by Australian Customs officials, who found 48 vials of the human growth hormone (HGH) Jintropin in his personal luggage. As a result of this, he was charged one count of importing a prohibited import. The hormones are banned under the Australian Customs Act and are not approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. In a court hearing on May 15, 2007, he pleaded guilty to two charges of possessing a controlled substance. On May 21, 2007 he was formally convicted of importing restricted muscle-building hormones into Australia and ordered to pay $9,870 in fines and court costs. In addition to writing all six Rocky films, Stallone also wrote Cobra, Driven and Rambo. He has co-written several other films, such as F.I.S.T., Rhinestone, Over the Top and the first three Rambo films. His last major success as a co-writer came with 1993's Cliffhanger. Stallone's work behind the cameras was recently documented in this 2008 article. Stallone owns shares in Planet Hollywood restaurants with Bruce Willis and formerly Arnold Schwarzenegger (who has since sold his part). |
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