Silvester Stallone


This athletically built, dark-haired U.S.
actor/screenwriter/director of
European parentage may never be
mentioned by old-school film critics in
the same breath as, say, Richard
Burton or Alec Guinness; however, movie fans worldwide have been
flocking to see Stallone's films for over
30 years, making "Sly" one of
Hollywood's biggest-ever box office
draws. Born on July 6, 1946, in New York's
gritty Hells Kitchen, the young Stallone
attended the American College of
Switzerland and the University of
Miami, eventually obtaining a B.A.
degree. Initially, he struggled in small parts in films such as the soft-core
"The Party at Kitty and Stud's", the
thriller "Klute" and the comedy
"Bananas". He got a crucial career
break alongside fellow young actor
Henry Winkler, sharing lead billing in the effectively written teen gang film
"The Lord's of Flatbush". Further film
and TV roles followed, most of them in
uninspiring productions except for
the opportunity to play a
megalomaniac, bloodthirsty race driver named "Machine Gun Joe
Viterbo" in the Roger Corman-
produced "Death Race 2000".
However, Stallone was also keen to be
recognized as a screenwriter, not just
an actor, and, inspired by the 1975 Muhammad Ali-Chuck Wepner fight in
Cleveland, Stallone wrote a film script
about a nobody fighter given the
"million to one opportunity" to
challenge for the heavyweight title.
"Rocky" became the stuff of cinematic legends, scoring ten Academy Award
nominations, winning the Best Picture
Award of 1976 and triggering one of
the most financially successful movie
franchises in history! Whilst full credit
is wholly deserved by Stallone, he was duly supported by tremendous acting
from fellow cast members Talia Shire,
Burgess Meredith and Burt Young, and
director John G. Avildsen gave the film
an emotive, earthy appeal from start to
finish. Stallone had truly arrived on his terms, and offers poured in from
various studios eager to secure
Hollywood's hottest new star. Stallone followed "Rocky" with
"F.I.S.T", loosely based on the life of
Teamsters boss "Jimmy Hoffa", and
"Paradise Alley" before pulling on the
boxing gloves again to resurrect
Rocky Balboa in the sequel "Rocky II". The second outing for the "Italian
Stallion" wasn't as powerful or
successful as the first "Rocky";
however, it still produced strong box
office. Subsequent films "Nighthawks"
and "Victory" failed to ignite with audiences, so Stallone was once again
lured back to familiar territory with
"Rocky III" and a fearsome opponent
in "Clubber Lang" played by muscular
ex-bodyguard Mr. T. The third
"Rocky" installment far outperformed the first sequel in box office takings,
but Stallone retired his prizefighter for
a couple of years as another mega-
franchise was about to commence for
the busy actor. The character of Green Beret "John
Rambo" was the creation of Canadian-
born writer David Morrell, and his
novel was adapted to the screen with
Stallone in the lead role in "First
Blood", also starring Richard Crenna and Brian Dennehy. The movie was a
surprise hit that polarized audiences
because of its commentary about the
Vietnam war, which was still relatively
fresh in the American public's psyche.
Political viewpoints aside, the film was a worldwide smash, and a sequel
soon followed with "Rambo: First
Blood Part II", which drew even
stronger criticism from several
quarters owing to the film's plotline
about American MIAs allegedly being held in Vietnam. But they say there is
no such thing as bad publicity, and
"John Rambo's" second adventure
was a major money spinner for
Stallone and cemented him as one of
the top male stars of the 1980s. Riding a wave of amazing popularity, Stallone
called on old sparring partner Rocky
Balboa to climb back into the ring to
defend U.S. pride against a Soviet
threat in the form of a towering
Russian boxer named "Ivan Drago" played by monosyllabic Dolph
Lundgren in "Rocky IV". The fourth
outing was somewhat controversial
with "Rocky" fans, as violence levels
seemed excessive compared to
previous "Rocky" films, especially with the savage beating suffered by Apollo
Creed, played by Carl Weathers, at the
hands of the unstoppable "Siberian
Express". Stallone continued forward with a
slew of macho character-themed films
that met with a mixed reception from
his fans. "Cobra" was a clumsy mess,
"Over the Top" was equally mediocre,
"Rambo III" saw Rambo take on the Russians in Afghanistan, and cop
buddy film "Tango & Cash" just didn't
quite hit the mark, although it did
feature a top-notch cast and there was
chemistry between Stallone and co-
star Kurt Russell. Philadelphia's favorite mythical boxer
moved out of the shadows for his fifth
screen outing in "Rocky V" tackling
Tommy "Machine" Gunn played by
real-life heavyweight fighter Tommy
Morrison, the great-nephew of screen legend John Wayne. Sly quickly
followed with the lukewarm comedy
"Oscar", the painfully unfunny "Stop!
Or My Mom Will Shoot", the futuristic
action film "Demolition Man", and the
comic book-inspired "Judge Dredd". Interestingly, Stallone then took a
departure from the gung-ho steely
characters he had been portraying to
stack on a few extra pounds and
tackle a more dramatically challenging
role in the intriguing "Cop Land", also starring Robert De Niro and Ray Liotta.
It isn't a classic of the genre, but "Cop
Land" certainly surprised many critics
with Stallone's understated
performance. Stallone then lent his
vocal talents to the animated adventure story "Antz", reprised the
role made famous by Michael Caine in
a terrible remake of "Get Carter",
climbed back into a race car for
"Driven", and guest-starred as the
"Toymaker" in the third chapter of the immensely popular "Spy Kids" film
series, "Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over".
Showing that age had not wearied his
two most popular franchises, Stallone
has most recently brought back
never-say-die boxer Rocky Balboa to star in, well, what else but "Rocky
Balboa", and Vietnam veteran
"Rambo" will reappear after a 20-year
hiatus to once again right wrongs in
the jungles of Thailand. Love him or loathe him, Sylvester
Stallone has built an enviable and
highly respected career in Hollywood;
plus, he has considerably influenced
modern popular culture through
several of his iconic film characters.