Michael Sylvester Enzio Stallone (born July 6, 1946), 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, in both of which he played a largely monosyllabic hero.
Stallone was born in New York City, and attended high school in Silver Spring, Maryland, at Montgomery Blair High School. He studied drama at the University of Miami, after which he returned to New York and appeared in a few small Off-Broadway plays. His first film roles were very small, including a pornographic film, and he did not break through until he starred in Rocky (1976), a film that he wrote and sold with the rider that he would be 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 only other early successes were as John Rambo in First Blood (1982) and its sequels. He also appeared in Cobra (1986) and Daylight (1996).
In the 1990s he 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. He 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 the singer and actor Frank Stallone.
