45 amazing facts about Sylvester Stallone! (List)

Read them here: 1. His parents are Frank Stallone Sr. and Jackie Stallone.

2. Sylvester is famous for his snarling look and slightly slurred speech – a result of complications his mother faced during his birth, as obstetricians had to use two pairs of forceps, which accidentally severed a facial nerve causing paralysis in the lower left side of his face, including parts of his lip, tongue, and chin.

3. He sold his first script, Paradise Alley, for $100 to help correct his bankrupt bank account.

4. Actor, writer, director and producer Sylvester Stallone was born on July 6, 1946, in New York City.

5. Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone, named after his parental grandfather, and was nicknamed Sly Stallone.

6. He starred in the 2000 thriller Get Carter, a remake of a 1971 film of the same name which starred Michael Caine.

7. He says about his personality that “I’m not handsome in the classical sense. The eyes droop, the mouth is crooked, the teeth aren’t straight, the voice sounds like a Mafioso pallbearer, but somehow it all works.”

8. One of the most memorable scenes of his career took place in Rocky III when Rocky fought Mr. T in a brutal boxing match.

9. His second starring role was in “The Lords of Flatbush,” for which he wrote the screenplay with Henry Winkler, in 1974. He also played a number of supporting roles in “Farewell,” “My Lovely”; “Capone”; and “Death Race 2000,” and also made a number guest appearances on the TV series “Police Story” and “Kojak.”

10. He married Jennifer Flavin – a former American model, on 17 May 1997 in a civil ceremony at The Dorchester Hotel in London, England, nearly 9 years after their first meeting at a Beverly Hills restaurant in 1988. The couple resides in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Beverly Crest, with their three daughters – Sophia Rose (1996), Sistine Rose (1998), and Scarlet Rose (2002). Sophia was born with a hole in her heart, which was cured, proving her to be a fighter, just like her famous dad.

11. His parents are Frank Stallone Sr. and Jackie Stallone.

12. His other first few film roles were minor including the psychological thriller “Klute” (1971), the comedy “Bananas” (1971), the Jack Lemmon film “The Prisoner of Second Avenue” (1975).

13. He had to spend most of his first five years in the care of foster homes, as his parents have constantly been on war and have largely ignored their children.

14. Sly once said that his interest in acting came from his efforts to get the affection of those strangers who tried to raise him.

15. His father Frank Stallone Sr was an Italian-American hairdresser, who built a chain of saloons – J Frank’s Hair Stylists, famous for his only book “Stewart Lane” published in May 2010.

16. Sly fell in love with the Pennsylvania actress Sasha Czack and married her on December 28, 1974. The couple moved to California to build their careers.

17. His mother Jackie Stallone is an American astrologer, former dancer, and promoter of women’s wrestling.

18. He appeared in a movie named “No Place to Hide,” in the 1970, which was re-cut and re-titled as “Rebel” featuring him as the star. This film was later re-edited and redubbed into an award winning parody – “A Man Called… Rainbo,” directed by David Casci and produced by Jeffrey Hilton in the 1990.

19. He also starred in the erotic off-Broadway stage play “Score” – 23 performances at the Martinique Theatre from October 28 – November 15, 1971. This was later made into a film by Radley Metzger.

20. Sylvester received an athletic scholarship for the American College of Switzerland, following his graduation, where he even worked as a girls’ athletic coach, while studying. During his spare time, he starred in “Death of a Salesman” – Arthur Miller’s school production, which inspired him to pursue a career in acting. Later, he studied drama at the University of Miami.

21. The said film was later released as “The Italian Stallion” after he became famous action star through Rocky. The name “The Italian Stallion,” is also from a line in the movie Rocky.

22. He auditioned frequently after moving to New York in 1969, while working a variety of jobs. He even resorted to starring a role in the soft core pornography feature film “The Party at Kitty and Stud’s” (1970), for which he was paid $200.

23. During his childhood days, he had always dreamt of being a hero, and has even worn a superhero costume under his school uniform. He attended Notre Dame Academy and Lincoln High School in Philadelphia. Little Sly has once attempted to fly out of his bedroom too.

24. He said that he had done the film out of desperation, after finding himself homeless for weeks. He said that he slept for nearly three weeks in the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York City before he saw the casting notice for the film. “It was either do that movie or rob someone, because I was at the end – the very end – of my rope,” Sly said.

25. In 1976, Sly gained worldwide fame with his starring role in the smash hit “Rocky” – an American sports drama film – written by Sylvester Stallone and directed by John G. Avildsen. The film was shot in just 28 days and was a sleeper hit that earned $225 million in global box office receipts. It was the highest grossing film of 1976 and won three Oscars – Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Film Editing.

26. His parent’s filed for divorce in the year 1957, when Sylvester was nine. He stayed with his father for few years. He had even more traumatic teen years, with being expelled from nearly 14 schools for his behavior problems.

27. It is said that Sly saw the Muhammad Ali–Chuck Wepner fight on March 24, 1975, and took that as inspiration for the script. It took only 3 days for him to complete the script. He tried selling it multiple studios, but finalized after a substantial budget cut, as he refused to sell it unless he paid the lead role.

28. Before he made “Rocky,” he was so desperate for that he had to sell his pet dog for just $50. But within just a week, with the money from Rocky script, he got his pet back paying $3000. “I sold my bull-mastiff Butkus to a little person,” Stallone said. “You can’t use the word ‘dwarf’ anymore? Let’s just say a little person. I tied my dog up at the store with a sign that said a hundred bucks. I got $50 from this guy called Little Jimmy. When I sold the Rocky script, I went to see Little Jimmy and begged for the dog back. He lined up his children, ‘Oh my kids love the dog’. I said, ‘You’ve only had him for a f***ing week.’ He wanted to fight me and said he was gonna kill me – he was a crazy little person. I couldn’t fight him, they’d arrest me, so I offered to pay double. Anyway, $3000 and several threats later …”

29. He moved to stay with his mother and her new husband, when he was 15 and was enrolled in Devereaux High School. He started lifting weights, practicing football, fencing, and discus.

30.  Sly ended up casting Little Jimmy in “Rocky,” in his effort to get back his dog. “Do you remember in Rocky where the little guy goes, ‘Hey, did ya win?’ and I go, ‘What are you, deaf?’ and he goes, ‘No, I’m short.’ That’s him,” Stallone said.

31. In 1982, he launched his next major franchise success with the action-war film “First Blood,” starring as Vietnam veteran John Rambo, with sequels “Rambo: First Blood Part II” and “Rambo III” following in 1985 and 1988 respectively.

32. Following Rocky’s success, Sly made is directorial debut in “Paradise Alley” (1978). He also starred in Norman Jewison’s “F.I.S.T.,” a social drama. In 1979, he wrote, directed and starred in the Rocky sequel – “Rocky II,” which grossed over $200 million, with “Rocky III” in 1982, “Rocky IV” in the year 1985 and “Rocky V” in 1990, garnering $270 million, $300 million and $190 million respectively at the box office.

33. Sly has starred as Rocky and Rambo in a total of ten films, for which he had undergone vigorous training – two workouts a day, six days a week, and has even met former Mr. Olympia Franco Columbu, to develop his appearance.

34. Sly and Sasha had two children – Sage Moonblood, born on May 5, 1976 in Los Angeles, California, was an American actor, film director, film producer, and film distributor, and Seargeoh Stallone, who was diagnosed as autistic in 1982. This stress broke the 11 years marriage and the duo separated on 1985’s Valentine’s Day – February 14. As divorce settlement Stallone paid $12 million to Sasha, which was one of the record payouts in the 1980’s.

35. “Rocky” was nominated for 10 Academy Awards including Best Actor. He is the third man in history to receive the two nominations – Best Original Screenplay and Best Actor for the same film.

36. Sylvester calling his third marriage as “a fantastic revival” of his life, said “As you know, my first marriage didn’t go so well, though I have a relationship with my sons, but this marriage has been a second beginning. I used to think my career was number one, so I was gone nine months out of a year, but I learned the hard way that the most important thing is that you start at home and then comes the career.”

37. On December 15, 1985, he married Brigitte Nielsen, who starred with him in his films “Cobra” (1986) and “Rocky IV” (1985), in Beverly Hills, California. The marriage lasted for nearly 2 years and ended in a highly publicized divorce.

38. Another franchise added to the list of Stallone’s is the “The Expendables,” a 2010 American ensemble action film written by David Callaham and Sylvester Stallone, and directed by Stallone, – with two sequels – “The Expendables 2” and “The Expendables 3” in the year 2012 and 2014. The franchise was a commercial success.

39. He has even made a cameo appearance in an Indian movie (Hindi) – “Kambakkht Ishq” as himself in the year 2009.

40. Sly even reportedly turned down certain roles that made his fellow actors famous, including the role of John McClane in “Die Hard” – Bruce Willis, “Superman” – Christopher Reeve. For the role of Beverly Hills Cop, he was said to be the first choice instead of Eddie Murphy. Even in the “Pretty Woman’ movie, he was asked to be wealthy womanizer, but Richard Gere stepped in.

41. Since 1980s, Sly is a boxing promoter and his company, “Tiger Eye Productions”, signed world champion boxers Sean O’Grady and Aaron Pryor.

42. Sylvester has a flair for oil painting and has been creating paintings for more than 50 years. He considers Leonardo Da Vinci as his personal hero. His first exhibition was held in Switzerland in 2011. His works are said to fetch Rocky-like prices, with just 2 pieces racking up nearly $100K.

43. He went on to add one more chapter to the Rocky Balboa saga in 2015 with Creed, in which he trains the son (Michael B. Jordan) of his old boxing rival Apollo.

44. Stallone won a supporting actor Golden Globe for the part, receiving a standing ovation as he took the podium for his acceptance speech.

45. A few days later he received an Academy Award nomination for the role, thus having earned two Oscar nods for the character of Rocky.