Little friend, let me tell you about Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone.
He is an American actor and filmmaker.
He is the third actor in film history to get nomination for two Academy Awards; Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay😲.
So, let us discuss a few interesting facts about the life and works of this amazing actor.
Mysterious Sylvester Stallone Facts
Stallone was born in the Hell’s Kitchen
Hey there, little friends, did you know that Stallone was born in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan, New York?
He was born on July 6, 1946.
His mom, Jacqueline ‘Jackie’ Stallone, was a dancer💃, astrologer, and promoter of women’s wrestling, while his dad, Francesco ‘Frank’ Stallone Sr., was a beautician and hairdresser.
Stallone has a younger brother, Frank Stallone, who is a musician and an actor!
Stallone’s father was of Italian descent, while his American mom was of French and Ashkenazi Jewish descent.
Stallone’s mother was an expert in “rumpology’
While Stallone was still a child, his parents got separated. His father, an owner of a beauty salon, was apparently prone to corporeal punishment, so he would cuff his child for misbehavior.
Stallone’s mom👩 later grew interested in the study of rumpology, or the study of buttocks. This study helps to reveal personality traits and future events.
Stallone and his heroic failures
The future star of Rocky and Rambo always dreamt of becoming a hero. In fact, the young Stallone loved to wear a superhero costume 🦸♂️ under his school uniform and even once tried to fly out of his bedroom window.
Actually, he wanted to halt his plummet with an umbrella.
However, as a result, he broke his collarbone, which was quite painful!
Stallone got his distinctive looks because of an errant pair of forceps
Can you imagine?? The amazing facial feature of Stallone was actually the result of a little bit of mishandling at birth!
When Stallone was born, the physician 👨⚕️ used a pair of forceps to deliver him. The malpractice resulted in leaving his chin, lip, and part of his tongue partially paralyzed because of a severed nerve!
Later, Stallone said that his awkward demeanor and face earned him the nickname ‘Sylvia.’ Even authority figured and told him that his brain was ‘dormant.’
Burdened with very low self-esteem, he turned to bodybuilding, which later helped him a lot.
Stallone was not a big fan of academics and hence, turned to acting
Stallone wasn’t built for academia, or you can say that academia wasn’t built for this young man, who had a habit of fighting, firing arrows, lighting fires, etc.
Due to these, Stallone was expelled from around 14 schools, and hence, his mom had to send her son to a US college in Switzerland.
It was American College, a university in Leysin, Switzerland.
There, he worked as a gym teacher and dorm bouncer, along with selling hamburgers 🍔 on campus!
It is the place where Stallone became interested in both writing and acting.
Before moving to New York, Stallone continued his education at the University of Miami
Prior to moving to New York, Stallone continued his education at the University of Miami. At that time, he was actually thinking about breaking into the entertainment industry.
While giving auditions, he even worked as a movie 🎞️ theater usher and also cleaned lion cages at the zoo.
However, Stallone was fired from the theater as he was trying to scalp tickets to a customer. Actually, Stallone didn’t know that the customer was the owner of the theater!
Stallone had a small role in a porno
While Stallone was struggling to be an actor, he was talked into making an appearance in a film named Party at Kitty and Studs.
It was a 1970 softcore adult movie that was actually not as explicit as other sex features of the era.
However, it still needed Stallone to appear in the nude. Though he was quite hesitant to take the role, he was nowhere to sleep 😪, so he took $200 for two days of work.
In 1976, following the success of Rocky, the producers of the movie re-released the film under the title The Italian Stallion.
Stallone was offered the main role in Beverly Hills Cop
Little friends, have you heard this amazing secret about Stallone? In 1984’s Beverly Hills Cop, Stallone was originally offered the role of Axel Foley.
However, Stallone didn’t want to make a comedy, so he rewrote the script to focus more on action. So, he wrote something like Detroit cop Foley stampedes through Beverly Hills to find the killers of his friends.
Stallone himself described the version as resembling “the opening scene from Saving Private Ryan on the beaches of Normandy.”
He also said that his climax included a game of chicken between an oncoming train 🚆 and a Lamborghini.
Stallone wrote a novel
In addition to his ambitions for acting, Sylvester Stallone also decided to pursue a career in writing.
After several screenplays, he even wrote ✍️ a novel named Paradise Alley. It was a novel regarding siblings who eventually get caught up in the circus world of professional wrestling!
Stallone completed the novel prior to deciding to turn it into a screenplay.
Later, in 1978, Paradise Alley was produced, and the book, perceived as a novelization, was published that same year.
Stallone wrote Rocky in just four days
I am really amazed to learn this wonderful fact about Sylvester Stallone!
The famous film that made Stallone and his life was definitely 1976’s classic boxing 🥊 drama Rocky.
Along with playing the title role of downtrodden would-be heavyweight champion Rocky Balboa, Stallone even wrote the movie.
It marked his debut as a writer for film, though previously, he had written an episode of The Evil Touch, a TV show.
Stallone wrote the first draft of the script of Rocky in just three and a half days, right after watching a boxing match between Chuck Wepner and Muhammad Ali.
Stallone is a decent singer
Stallone is a successful singer 🧑🎤 and has sung several tracks on a few of his movies’ soundtracks over the years!
For the 1978 movie Paradise Alley, he sang Too Close To Paradise. Also, in Rocky IV, he sang Take Me Back to Adrian, his onscreen wife.
Moreover, he even took the lead in 1984’s Rhinestone, a bona fide musical, in which he appeared alongside Dolly Parton, the country music legend.
Sadly, the movie bombed hard, and Stallone often expressed regret over it, as he chose this movie instead of choosing the male lead role in Romancing the Stone!
Stallone made history at the Oscars
The success of Rocky was truly fascinating!
At the 1977 Academy Awards, film Rocky was nominated in nine categories and even won three, including the two most prestigious Oscars; Best Director and Best Picture.
Stallone got nomination for two Academy Awards for the movie. Those were for Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay.
Although he didn’t win, Stallone was still just the third individual in the history of films to be simultaneously nominated both as writer and actor, after Orson Welles in 1942 for Citizen Kane and Charlie Chaplin in 1941 for The Great Dictator.
Stallone didn’t plan on the Rocky series to endure so long
Through the years, Stallone’s Rocky series has been extended to eight movies 🎬, including two spin-offs, Creed (2015) and Creed II (2018).
In the year 1979, shortly before the release of Rocky II, Stallone indicated while talking with Roger Ebert that Rocky III would conclude the series!
He said, “There’ll never be a Rocky IV.”
Later in 1985, while filming Rocky IV, Stallone said to Interview magazine, “Oh, this is it for Rocky.”
In 1990, after Rocky V was released, he declared that “There is no Rocky VI. He’s done.”
However, in 2006, Rocky Balboa was released, and nine years later, Creed was released.
Stallone was not a fan of the Rambo cartoon series
After the success of First Blood in 1982 and Rambo: First Blood Part II in 1985, Stallone was confronted with a litany of the merchandising of Rambo.
In 1986, he said to Chicago Tribune that he disliked the fact that the psychologically-tortured war veteran was being utilized as peddle toys.
When an animated series in 1986 on the subject of Rambo: The Force of Freedom featured a softened-up version of the character, Stallone didn’t like that.
He said, “First of all, that isn’t Rambo, but more important, they tell me I can’t stop them because it’s not me they’re using.”
Stallone and Richard Gere don’t get along
Have you heard this interesting fact about Stallone? No? Let me tell you.
During the filming of The Lords of Flatbush in 1974, in which then-unknown Richard Gere and Stallone played street toughs, the two actors actually got off on the wrong foot.
Stallone recalled that Richard drew his ire for being too physical during rehearsals.
Also, Gere even got mustard on Stallone during a lunch break!
Incensed, Stallone asked the director to choose one of them to stay and the other one to be fired!
So, Gere was replaced by Perry King.
For Cop Land, Stallone gained 40 pounds
Though Stallone is highlighted for his muscular physique, however, for 1997s Cop Land, he ditched gym.
He even joined an illustrious cast, including Harvey Keitel, Robert De Niro, and Ray Liotta, in director James Mangold’s hard-edged thriller.
In the movie, Stallone played the role of a dim-witted and overweight sheriff.
To embody the role fully, he gained 40 pounds, as he took a high-fat diet, including pizzas 🍕, pancakes, and cheesecakes.
Also, because the character is partially deaf, he even wore a silicone plug in one ear while shooting!
Really interesting, isn’t it?
Stallone is in the Boxing Hall of Fame
Stallone is, in fact, a professionally trained boxer and has never participated in the sports for real.
Despite this, after all, years of playing Rocky Balboa, he has participated in many boxing scenes and encouraged viewers to think about the sport.
Thus, Stallone was inducted in 2011 into the Boxing Hall of Fame.
His induction came back-to-back with famous boxers like Mike Tyson and Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr.
Stallone even admitted that he was embarrassed to receive the honor, as he isn’t really a fighter.
Dolph Lundgren put Stallone in hospital
Rocky IV experienced Rocky Balboa stepping into the ring opposite Ivan Drago, a Soviet boxer. This came as a breakthrough role for another of the notable action stars of the 80s and 90s, Dolph Lundgren.
Unlike Stallone, Lundgren was a fourth Dan black belt in Karate and also was European Karate Champion between 1980 and 1981.
To make their climactic fight more realistic, these two agreed to hit one another for real!
Dolph hit Stallone in the chest so hard that his heart swelled! If Stallone didn’t receive immediate medical attention, he might be dead!
He even spent some days in the hospital🏥.
Brigitte Nielsen claimed that Stallone begged her to marry him
I am really amazed to learn this fact about Stallone!
When 39-year-old Stallone met 22-year-old Brigitte Nielsen, he was in the process of divorcing his first wife, Sasha Czack.
Later, they became a couple, and Stallone cast Nielsen in his movies Cobra and Rocky IV.
Though they got married 👰♀️ in 12985, they later split up in 1987.
Gossipers accused Nielsen of marrying Stallone because of his money, but Nielsen insisted, “he begged me to marry. He begged me.”
Later, Stallone married Jennifer Flavin.
Stallone was once tricked by Arnold Schwarzenegger into starring in a box-office bomb
Stallone has often talked about his rivalry with Schwarzenegger, as these two were believed to be the two biggest marquee attractions in the 1980s.
While talking about his 1992 film Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot, Stallone said in 2014 that he believed Schwarzenegger was to blame 😄.
He said, “I heard Arnold wanted to do that movie, and after hearing that, I said I wanted to do it.” He tricked me. He’s always been clever.”
Summing up
So little fact explorers, how are you feeling after knowing so many amazing😲 facts about Sylvester Stallone?
We have tried to collect as much information about him as possible… and we are sure you are satisfied.
Looking forward to getting your feedback!
I’m a former teacher (and mother of Two Childs) with a background in child development. Here to help you with play-based learning activities for kids. ( Check my Next startup Cledemy.Com)
